A Week in Review

Kent spent this past week in Las Vegas at World of Concrete.  We missed him.  A lot.  Kent rarely travels for work, essentially only to the trade show once a year.  Last year we all went, but this year we didn't.  I had thought about taking the children, along with my mother, to Disneyland, traveling with Kent to Las Vegas and then meeting him for the drive home, but we put a lot of money into our house and couldn't afford it this year.

Instead, while Kent was gone, we did some things around town so we didn't feel like he was having all the fun (yeah, right).  Tuesday afternoon we went miniature golfing, Wednesday afternoon we went swimming at the Lehi city pool, Thursday we went to the Discovery Museum in Salt Lake, and Friday evening we went to see Merchant of Venice at BYU.

Miniature golfing was wild.  Cousin Lyla was in the hospital again, so we were joined by Ava, Crew, and Griffin.  Little actual "golfing" occurred.  There was whacking and throwing, rolling and leaping, and everyone stood in everyone else's way.  We didn't really follow any course outline, and we certainly did not bother to keep score.  We finished up our round of golf with somewhat frantic arcade playing and came away with valuable prizes purchased with tickets won.  Five dollars worth of tokens produced 110 tickets.  With those 110 tickets, Blythe was able to get three pieces of candy and a plastic top, and Brandt got two pieces of candy, two plastic army guys, and a plastic top.  If I had gone to the store to purchase those items I probably would have spent less than one dollar.  It's a racket, but it got us out of the house.

Our Wednesday swimming was wonderful.  There is something of the guilty pleasure in swimming in January, even if it is indoors.  The Lehi pool has a play area complete with small water slides, spraying features, a lazy river, and beach-like sloping bottom.  It is like the Veteran's Pool in Provo, only indoors.  It was fantastic.  The kids swam and slide, floated and splashed.  The pool has a big twisty slide that Blythe wanted to go on, and I agreed to take her.  After we climbed all the stairs she was very hesitant to go, but I promised I would hold on to her the whole time.  The inside of the slide was pitch black; you couldn't see a thing.  I said encouraging words the whole way down, but I could tell Blythe was scared.  After we splashed out at the bottom, Blythe said, "I did not like that."  Brandt wisely chose not to go.  I love how swimming wears the children out.  When we got home, they were tired and fell asleep quickly.  I think we will go again before the winter ends.

Our trip to the Discovery Museum came about at Brandt's request.  When I asked the children what they would like to do, Brandt said, "I want to go to the helicopter that you can climb into and drive."  So we did. Auntie Lala joined us which was good because Brandt wanted to be outside in the helicopter and Blythe didn't.  So I sat in the rain for twenty minutes and Mikayla followed Blythe around inside.  Both Brandt and Blythe were totally engaged in their play, interacting with others as well as each other.  They especially liked the grocery store.  Both children wore aprons (Blythe's said "clerk" and Brandt's said, "butcher"), they put food in baskets, and they scanned purchases.  At one point, Mikayla and I were sitting watching the action.  Brandt ran by and said, "It's double coupon day at the market!" and then raced on.  We had a fun time.

I had told the kids that on Friday we would get a Redbox movie and have popcorn.  Our plans changed just a bit.  As we were just walking out the door for school, Brandt complained he had a stomach ache.  He had a huge breakfast (I had made waffles), so I thought he had probably had too much to eat.  Turns out he really did have a stomach ache; he threw up at school and I had to get him early.  Popcorn was right out, but we did get a movie, Cars 2.  Between noon on Friday and noon on Saturday, Brandt watched it four times. Four!  He liked it.

Although Brandt wasn't well in the morning, having thrown up seemed to help him feel better.  He seemed right as rain the rest of the afternoon, so Friday evening we went to the play.  BYU's Theater for Young Audiences did Merchant of Venice, and we got to participate.  It was theater in the round, we sat right on the front row (we could have been on the floor, but Brandt didn't want to be that close), and at one point in the show, we got to hold up a banner.  Brandt helped.  He was very engaged in the story (I gave him a rundown before it began), Blythe wasn't.  About half-way through she turned to me and whispered, "Mom, I'm ready to go home now."  She did last until the end, but she was bored.  I think Brandt actually liked it.  I took them for an ice cream cone afterwards which they both liked.

For all that activity, I got one picture.  My camera batteries died, and I kept forgetting to replace them before we left the house.  So for the week, here is the shot.  We were at the play.  We were all happy that Kent made it home.  Saturday morning the children both ran in and squealed with delight to find him in bed with me.  I was pleased to have him there too.