Fun at the museum

Last week we went to the Discovery Gateway with my sisters. It's a children's museum, and my children gave it their seal of approval.

Below is Allison at her favorite spot in the whole place -- the water feature. It was creatively designed, with pipes and mini waterfalls and bowls and tubs. She would have stayed there all day.

Below, Olivia is in the doghouse.

Next, you'll see Olivia in her favorite area of the museum -- the play house. There was also a little grocery store.

Allison loved spinning the gears on the giant magnet board.

There were towers to build, magnets to move and paper cups to fly. There was a little earthquake simulator to knock down your creations.

Below are the cousins: Olivia, Allison and Kade.

Laura needed a shot with her little one.

Below is Jackie the news anchor. The museum had computers for older kids to create their own news show, complete with a green screen for the weather.

There was a little stage for the kids to put on a play. Olivia found a unicorn pullover, and Allison is in some sort of Shrek get-up.

Our last adventure was to climb inside a real helicopter on display at the museum. It's an old Life Flight copter.

A house of God

Our family visited the new Oquirrh Mountain temple during its open house. It is now the 130th temple in operation worldwide for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is beautiful and peaceful there. To learn more about our church's temples, click here.

Our good friend Roy G. Biv

Behold the rainbow we saw Sunday evening. It was a full arch, and Olivia thought it was beautiful.

*Note: Modern scientists no longer recognize indigo as a color on the spectrum (no one ever really knew what it was anyway, right?), so our friend is technically Roy G. Bv. Doesn't quite have the same ring, does it?

Out of town

We went on a church camp-out last weekend. The people in charge did a great job, and we had a lot of fun. It was Allison's first time sleeping in a tent. The girls did OK, but I froze my tail off. I hardly slept a wink. For me, sleeping in a tent is like having babies: No matter how terrible the experience, I somehow look back with fondness and eventually want to do it again.

Below is Olivia with her friend Aspen. They loved playing in the tent.

Below, Joe is having breakfast by the fire.

Cousins

The three beauties standing with me are my girl cousins on my mom's side. Their baby brother just got married (congrats, Blake!), so I made sure to get a photo with them on the big day. We have had a lot of fun over the years.

From left to right are Kristy, Marie, Sara and Amy.

Rewind more than two decades.

From left to right are Sara, Kristy, Amy and Marie, circa 1987.

I love you, girls!

A fair to remember

The theme of this year's county fair was "Go Wild," so we did our best to oblige. We got down with the farm animals and befriended the creepy-crawlers. The county did a good job this year. Everything we did was free of charge. We came away with the validation that our girls were born to be wild.

Below are Marie's two sisters and nephew.

Below is Olivia with a Brahma bull.

Below are my sister and mom with the girls.

What are you staring at? Is there something on my face?

Below is Olivia brushing an animal's back.

Below, everyone puckers up for the zebu.

Olivia took a liking to the little donkey.

Below is Allison in a pen with a tortoise.

Olivia held very still while she held this Chilean tarantula. It didn't seem to faze her a bit.

She got a stamp on her hand to prove she had held it.

Next, she held an emperor scorpion, which is the least poisonous. The guy said its sting would be comparable to a mosquito bite.

Below, I am holding a Trinidad cockroach.

Olivia loved the water experiments in the science tent.

Allison was interested in the Burmese python, but hesitant at first.

Then she reached out.

One of the main events at the fair was an alligator show. The team is from Florida and travels around the country.

Below is Allison petting a 3-year-old alligator. She also tried to squeeze it.

Below is Allison on her first pony ride. She took it very seriously, but we think she liked it.

Click on the video below to watch little Alli go around.

Splash

For a fun, free way to beat the heat, Olivia recommends South Ogden's splash pad.