Discovery Gardens

I've known for a long time that the Discovery Gardens at Thanksgiving Point existed, but I had no idea how INCREDIBLE they are. My friend Mary invited us to go with her and her boys, and we gladly accepted the offer to go explore with friends. I had no idea there were so many things to explore, discover, and play with in there. Not to mention it's just a beautiful setting.

We started with a little stop at the splash area. I somehow missed the 'memo' that this was a swimming type setting, so the boys were pleasantly white trash in shorts and diaper only.

After splashing around for a bit, we wandered down to the "Float a Boat". K had loads of fun trying to climb into the pool, and Noah was running up and down the hill over and over to send his boats on down the river.

Next to the boats was a giant sand box, and what kid can resist that?!

Noah eventually decided it would be more fun to go build a 'fire' with the other kids, so he headed over to that area.

After spending 3 hours, we were all tired, and hot, so we headed back to the entrance to play in some more water for a bit.

We had so much fun on Friday that we went back again on Saturday to discover the rest of the gardens! Both boys loved the Pebble People. Noah had lots of fun finding them and putting them back in the box, and K was just happy that there were rocks he could play with.

And Noah gave us a nice little concert to finish off the day.

Sleepy Noah

Evidently he was too tired to eat dinner, or even get in his chair. There's even a puddle of drool involved.

Another Book Finished

I purchased this book in college for a Myths and Legend course that I took. We only read bits and pieces of it then, and I decided I should finish it. Greek mythology has always been really interesting to me, and this was a quick way to get through some of the more prominent stories.

Island Park and Yellowstone

Last weekend ago we went on a trip to Island Park with Z's family. I'm not sure if I can express how excited I was to go up there again. My family had a cabin up there when I was growing up, and we went up there a LOT. I haven't been in over 15 years, so I was excited to see it all again, and test my memory on where things where. We stayed in a cute cabin built by Susan's Great Uncle in the Mack's Inn area. After arriving Friday afternoon, we hung out, went for a walk, Noah went fishing for the first time, we had dinner, and crashed.

Saturday morning we headed out to Big Springs. The water is still amazingly clear, the scenery is beautiful, and it's just amazing to see how much water is pumping out of the ground all on it's own. Sadly there weren't any fish or otters, and there were about 5 million mosquitoes.





Later that day we found that we had some time on our hands, so we figured we'd drive up to West Yellowstone (about 20 min) and wander the town and see the touristy shops. Noah fell asleep on the way, so we decided we might as well keep driving and go into the park and let him see Old Faithful. As we pulled into the parking lot we could see the geyser spurting up over the treetops. How's that for really bad timing? So we went into the gift shop, got some drinks and new sunglasses for Noah, then hung around on the boardwalk for the next 90 minutes waiting for Old Faithful to go again.

Typically touristy cheesy photo that I absolutely love.

Noah took this picture

I've seen Old Faithful a dozen or so times, and I still think it's amazing, and even more so to watch through the eyes of my three year old.

When we got back to the cabin we had hotdogs and s'mores over the fire. Sadly the mosquitoes were out in force again, so we mostly just cooked the food outside and ate everything inside.

Have I ever told you how much Noah loves Auntie Lisha? They're best friends. Seriously.

After dinner we got loaded up and headed over to Dan and Krystal's house in Victor. When we got there we got the boys to bed, then stayed up until about 2am talking with D and K. In the morning we had breakfast, played, watched the boys run and run and run, had some lunch, then headed home. The drive out of Victor and into and through Swan Valley is absolutely beautiful. Last time we drove it, there was a ton of snow covering the landscape, it was still pretty, but nothing compared to the greener version. It was so pretty we took pictures from the car while we were driving.

Date a Girl Who Reads

If you're thinking to yourself "Man, Em has been reading a lot lately," here's my response, stolen from a fellow reading devotee.

Date a Girl Who Reads by Rosemarie Urquico

Date a girl who reads.
Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books.
Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.
She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love.

Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by God, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not?

Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you.

She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes.

She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day.

You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable.

If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone.

If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes.