Spencer has been taking a gymnastics class this winter and his final performance coincided with the last day of school for the girls, which made it a hectic, but fun morning.
Since his birth Spencer continues to be a freak of nature. Considering his parents' gene pool (no offense to all of you relatives out there) we're not sure where it comes from. Spencer has some serious muscles and is an athletic kid. His teachers were amazed by him - he was far beyond all the kids in his class, and this was only his first time taking a gymnastics class.
It was really fun watching him!
While we were at the Little Gym, David ran up to me in the middle of the routines saying he needed to go to the potty. So we HURRIED, got him on the potty just in time, but not pointed in the right direction and my leg and the floor took the full force of his urgent need to go, until I got him aiming down. (We have since been practicing going standing up and he likes to aim his 'little hose' [greatest euphemism ever, thanks to cousin Mary] to spray the water.)
Following the gymnastics showcase we needed to go to Target. It was right across the street from the gymnastics and I wasn't about to drive all the way home to change and haul everyone back. This was my first time this summer (and hopefully a rare experience) taking all 4 kids to the grocery store at the same time, but we needed new summer shoes for the oldest of each gender, so I figured I would just grit my teeth and get it over with.
So there I was, with my fire-hydrant pant leg, trying to help my kids pick out decent shoes. (Can I just say here that Target let me down for the first time in 10 years? Not a great girl selection in shoes this spring.) While we're looking for the right sizes, the child who doesn't need shoes (Emma) is happily walking around in turquoise patent-leather gladiator sandals, the boys are not going for the generic shoes but begging for the light-up Spiderman sneakers ("because they make me run REALLY fast, mom!") and I'm trying to swallow the fact that Catherine has really grown 2 shoe sizes since we last bought her shoes.
Then while we pick-up the necessary groceries Spencer keeps asking why we aren't buying "the super-absorbent Ultra Charmin" or the Juicy Juice with antioxidants "because this will boost kids' immunity mom!" And I'm feeling the guilt of letting him watch just a little too much television over the past few days.
Finally we get home after a super busy morning, get everyone fed, my pants changed, David down for a nap, the older ones playing with the pre-arranged post-last-day-of-school playdates and I'm ready to sit down and sew or something. Then I look outside and see Emma wearing the turquoise gladiator sandals! My first thought is that she somehow smuggled them out under her shirt and I have a thief on my hands. When I ask her about it she timidly says, "I just put them in the bottom of the cart."
Well, I've had plenty of times where my sneaky children put stuff in the cart, and because I'm a sneaky mom I always find it and stealthily hand it to the cashier saying "We aren't really getting this Transformer today." This was the first time I actually bought something I didn't know was there! I allowed her to keep the sandals (partly because the tags were cut) because she always gets the hand-me-downs, but I told her if she ever does it again, she's paying it ALL out of her allowance.
Clearly I need to find some other way to do my grocery shopping this summer with out bringing everyone with me. Last summer I got to the point where I kept pulling food out of our food storage before I finally had to cave and go to the grocery store.
We have officially made Wednesdays this summer as our day for an outing, usually concluding at Grandma and Poppy's house because Poppy has the afternoon off. So many of our outings take us north to Salt Lake. We've also had a rainy month, so we've been saving some of our outside excursions for better weather. We had one such excursion a week and a half ago. It fell during the week that Michael was out of town for 6 days and I needed a boost myself. It was rainy and I was racking my brain to think of some place new (and inexpensive, and indoors) to take the kids.
Voila! The Conference Center. My kids have never been there. Of course they complained the whole way there saying they didn't want to go, it would be boring, etc. In the end, they loved it. And we had so much fun! [The Conference Center is across the street from Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake. It is a huge building constructed mainly for the purpose of holding a Church-wide conference every 6 months where our prophet and leaders speak to us. Always a highlight of my year. The Conference is broadcast all over the world, in numerous languages, so that it is widely available for anyone who wants to watch. Previously this meeting was broadcast from the old Tabernacle on Temple Square that held about 2,000 people. This building was built about 9 years ago and seats about 22,000 people so that more people could participate in person. It also hosts concerts and other performances and meetings throughout the year.]
David in front of the creek running outside.
The inside is beautiful. The kids were fascinated by the different water features outside. They were extra excited by a water fountain inside too!
This beautiful star window (reflected in the glass) is directly above the fountain.
A nice older man gave us the guided tour of the building. He was an experienced grandpa, so he kept it all at the kids level and we moved along quickly.
This is the interior of the center. The kids are familiar with this building because they watch Conference and see our leaders speak on TV broadcast from this building, but they were amazed by the size in real life.
The Conference Center also has some gallery space with some wonderful original artwork. The kids (especially the boys) were so excited to see these paintings. They have the prints hanging on the walls of their rooms and love the stories. (Our guide was really impressed that they knew who they were.)
I love these Arnold Frieberg paintings too. But I especially love seeing my boys with their heroes.
I'm always amazed how huge this mural is of Christ visiting the people in the ancient Americas. Massive.
Here's looking down at the fountain from three stories up. (I used to laugh at my mom when she would hate us getting close to balconies. Now I totally get it. I almost threw-up just taking this picture. I am getting way more scared in my old age.)
Spencer with Spencer Kimball
At the end of the tour we got to visit the roof. The kids loved fountains and gardens on the roof. Also the view of the Salt Lake Temple. For some reason I didn't get a picture of all the flowers and trees up there. I love that. It's so pretty, but also camouflages the vastness of this huge building and keeps it from looking like a massive sports arena, even though it's the same size.
A really fun outing! The kids were so good and we had a fun, special time together. It also kind of amazes me that we went with no stroller and and no diaper bag. Wow. We really are heading into a new stage of life!
