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!
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!
2 comments:
We would love to meet up with you for one of these Salt Lake excursions. Give us a call sometime!
That sounds like a great place to go, I've never thought of that. Did you have to set up a tour or are there people just there to give you one if you want one?
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