Matthew took today off and we let the boys stay skip school. I made pancakes with lots of fun toppings for breakfast. While I cleaned up and prepared for our outing, the boys enjoyed the glorious New Mexico morning in the back yard. I'm so grateful for our back yard.
It was a beautiful day, Esther was feeling much better, and we were all looking forward to a full day of fun. Our first adventure was the Aquarium. We were able to get everyone but Abe Redd in on our pass, so the BioPark was a good option. The Aquarium isn't huge, but since the Redd's had never been, we spent much longer there than had it just been our family.
It was about lunch time when we were done looking at fish, so we found a nice spot just inside the Botanic Gardens to eat a big snack. After our bellies were full, we spent quite a while in the Enchanted Garden. The kids especially loved the little maze. We then wandered back through several other gardens, culminating in a thorough exploration of the Japanese Garden. After that, we stopped for a quick little snack near one side of the duck pond where Hyrum and John particularly enjoyed treating the geese to potato chips.
Next we went to check out the model trains, which it turns out don't run on Monday's, and then finished our trip to the park by visiting the Bugarium. We spent a long time there looking at every bug and beetle and spider and all manner of creepy crawly creatures. It was a big hit. It was about 3:00 by this point and while there was talk of heading over to the zoo, the youngest members of our group were definitely starting to wear down so we decided to pick up some real food and head home.
Ryan and Kristine (with Abraham, Abraham, and Esther) picked up our evening meal while Matthew and I (with Hyrum, John, and Mercy) stopped by Smith's to mail a package and purchase items for our FHE treat. We ate big early dinner then spent the remaining daylight at the dog park flying kites.
Once it started getting dark and the temperatures dropped, Matthew built a fire in our fire pit and we enjoyed Family Night together in the back yard:
Prayer: Abraham
Song: Hyrum chose Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam
Lesson: Ryan gave a lesson about baptism
Activity/Treat: Mercy and I teamed up to roast marshmallows and make S'mores
After such a full day, the kids fell asleep without any trouble and the adults enjoyed another late evening talking.
No comments:
Post a Comment