Jinks, You Owe me a Soda

Andrew had an itch on Friday to get out town for the weekend. He originally discussed LA or San Diego, but the thought of that many hours in the car was too much for me, so we agreed on St. George. The kids got out of school and I quickly started packing a few things and told the kids where we were going. Once Andrew got home from work we packed up and hit the road. The kids turned on a movie and it was a pretty quiet drive all the way to our destination. Of course they all fell asleep about 10 minutes before we got there, so once we checked into our room, it was after midnight before we got them all back asleep.

Can I just say how much I love those blackout curtains in hotel rooms? We all slept in a little the next morning, then got up and hit the hotel breakfast buffet. After Mason's vomiting episode in the lobby hallway (I'll spare you the details) we got on with our day. We didn't have much of an agenda, just wanted to take it easy and have fun. We thought the kids would enjoy seeing the dinosaur tracks exhibit, so we headed over there first. Unfortunately, it didn't hold much interest for the majority of our family. Andrew liked it the most. Taylor was less than thrilled as you can tell. The kids had more fun in the gift shop.


After a lunch break, we decided to try the natural history museum. This activity proved much more successful. Each of the kids were given binoculars so they can 'explore' and each exhibit had recordings you could listen to to learn more about the animals. Taylor liked it, but had a hard time looking directly at the animals and said they were giving her the heebie jeebies! There was a neat interactive room where the children could do puzzles and pretend they were camping in the wilderness. Our kids really liked it in there. Tanner was mesmerizied by the hyena's teeth and just sat and stared at it for awhile.

The only negative thing about our museum experience was a family that was there the same time we were. It was a woman with 4 kids plus another female. As we made our way through the museum, I noticed how this woman didn't pay close attention to her kids. Her children were roaming freely thru the exhibits while their mom and the other female were either chatting with each other or sitting in a corner talking on cell phones. These kids were running around, climbing up on some displays, knocking over signs, etc. This family stayed at the museum as long as we did. As we were leaving, I overheard that mom tell the guy at the counter that the entrance fees were way overpriced and asked to speak to the manager. Andrew and the kids started to head for the exit, but I lingered close by so I could hear what this mother was saying - she complained to the manager about the admission prices being way too overpriced and that they didn't get what they paid for...yada, yada, yada. You knew she was trying to somehow get her money back so her little museum trip could be free. I was so disgusted and walked off to find Andrew. I felt like I should have told the manager that if anything, that woman should have paid more money to cover any possible damage her disruptive kids could have caused the museum! Uggh, it made me so mad!

After the museum, Andrew wanted to take a drive up in the mountains and show me Pine Valley, so we headed up there and enjoyed the beautiful, scenic drive. We hit the town of Pine Valley and drove around for a bit. On our way out though, Andrew got pulled over by a cop for going 41 in a 30. He was so mad, but luckily the cop only gave him a warning. On the way back into St. George we stopped in Veyo at a place that is famous for their homemade pies. We pulled up to find a 'Closed' sign on their door. What kind of a pie establishment is closed at 3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon? We headed back to St. George a little miffed that our scenic drive turned out to be a bust. By this time the kids were begging to go back to the hotel so they could swim. After a quick trip to Taipan Trading (where I could have spent hours and hundreds of dollars) and dinner at Pizza Factory, we made it back to the hotel. I took the kids downstairs for a swim and hung around the hotel for the rest of the evening.

On Sunday we headed over to take a tour of Brigham Young's Winter home. I really enjoyed looking at the antique furniture, beautiful dishes, and craftmanship of the home. We then spent some time at the temple visitor's center and watched the Joseph Smith movie before finally driving back to Vegas.

Here are some funny sights and sounds that we will remember from our weekend:

• Seeing a grandpa driving down the street on a scooter - he had to be about 80 years old


• While eating breakfast at the hotel, Zachary looked around and asked, "Mom, why are there so many old people here?" (come to find out the Senior Games were in town)


• Driving by an office building and seeing the sign for the law offices of Read and Wright


• Hearing Taylor and Zach say the phrase "Jinks, you owe me soda" over and over and over and over.........


• While taking the tour of Brigham Young's home, Zachary asked the tour guide missionary if Brigham Young had any pets


• Hearing Mason say the phrase "Oh, my stomach....over and over again


• Taylor asking me out of the blue, "Mom, were you popular in school?"

It was a nice weekend and for the most part we had a good time. Andrew and I agree that we would love to do it again soon, only without kids.