Tooele Fireman, Mining, Railroad and Pioneer Museums

We made a list of all the museums in Tooele County, and got to four of them before we were worn out. Grandma Rainey showed us the Utah Firefighters Museum in Deseret Peak Complex. The fireman guide had little vehicles ready for the kids and they had a great time screeching around while we checked out about a million fire trucks.

 

 

We talked the fireman into letting us in the Oquirrh Mountain Mining Museum, which seemed mostly to be mining company propaganda (no judgement!) with some cool trains outside.

 

 

 

Next stop was the Tooele Railroad Museum which was predictably fantastic.

The kitchen in a military personnel car.

The refrigerators in the personnel car.

A model train inside another personnel car.

This bike runs on rails inside a mine.

We had lunch on the pretty grounds. They give rides on a garden train on the weekend, so we'll have to come back.

 

We hit the Daughters and Sons of Utah Pioneers museums next. We had the most patient, most kind, most interesting guide ever at the Sons of Utah Pioneers museum. The woman at the DUP museum was his wife and she was pretty likable herself.

Good luck to Ikey's preschool teacher this fall.

  

 

 

Cowboy Legends at Antelope Island on Memorial Day

They have mastered "pouty face" and "far-off look" in modeling class.

Cowboy Legends is a music and poetry festival at beautiful Antelope Island. We loved it last year so we were excited to go back. We rode a covered wagon. (Ikey told everyone, "My mom is a paleontologist." I'm not.) We stamped dolphins, Native American pit houses, and dragons into leather necklaces. We ate pulled pork sandwiches and brownies. We sang along to cowboy songs and laughed at cowboy poems and watched a big crowd follow a four-foot-long snake.

 

Jordan River Parkway...more of it

Despite TB's wish to never repeat an activity (especially two days in a row!) we rode our bikes on Jordan River Parkway again. Ikey said he thought he could do six miles this time, and he did.

Jordan River Parkway Bike Ride

We took Ikey's new bike on Jordan River Parkway for the first time. I have a 5K measured  from the parking lot at 4800 South, so we started there and headed south on the boardwalks.



Jovie took photos during her ride as usual. The view only changes if you're the lead dog.

We rode for 1.55 miles and stopped at a park to eat a picnic. I left the kids with TB at the park so I could get a quick 20 minute sprint in while they ate and played before we headed back to complete the 3 mile trail.

Ikey rode a 5K with no problems, so we're going to keep going longer distances so he's ready to ride the 14 mile Trail of the Hiawatha in northern Idaho this summer.

Nature UNLEASHED and Shoreline Trail

Natural History Museum of Utah had a member preview day for the new exhibit called Nature UNLEASHED. We had muffins and red punch and hung out on the deck. It was a truly beautiful day. The new exhibit is awesome! It's about volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes and there are tons of things for the kids to try out. We were in that exhibit for about two hours! We ate a picnic lunch on the patio with dinosaur cookies from the Café.

Everyone knows Ikey can't be dragged away from a hike, so he headed right up the switchbacks to Shoreline Trail above the museum and Red Butte Garden. We were all wearing shoes that weren't perfect for hiking, but we soldiered through. Ikey ran down and it took a long time for Jovie and me to catch up.

Mountview Park, Famous Dave's, Zoo

We went to the Mountview Park in Cottonwood Heights with Joelle, Ellie and Avi and the kids climbed everything.

 We went to lunch at Famous Dave's.

The waitress said, "Hi, I'm Famous Kim."

The kids said, "Hi. I'm Famous Isaac."

"I'm Famous Jovie."

"Josie?"

In unison, "JoVEEEE!"

Jovie said, "Act like you're kissing me."

We went to the zoo but we mostly got caught up with the Lego playland. Ikey and I built a train.

 ...and a tunnel.

Jovie built Rapunzel's castle. (Note: Jovie usually gets out of bed after being tucked in and sneaks over the computer with her hands over her eyes and says, "I want to read ONE blog. Just one." I can hardly say no, so she sits on my lap and wants each entry read to her and then she makes editorial comments. She told me tonight, "Rapunzel does not have a castle. This is Rapunzel's tower.") 

 TB was in San Diego at Torrey Pines. No, not to golf. Working only. =(

Silver Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon

We didn't know if we'd see snow on the trail. We did! Ikey reminded me that "we've been in spring and summer for a long time at home".

Me: If you step in that puddle, your feet will get wet and they'll be cold.
Jovie: I like being cold. It's my new philosophy.

In the hot tub the other day, Jovie said, "What does elaborating mean?"

Isaac was looking at a book and saw a picture of Cinderella working. He said, "Mom, what's that thing called that is a sweeper with no motor?" I said, "A broom?" Isaac said, "Yeah, a broom." It appears that I'm a very lazy housekeeper.

H Rock

We hiked behind the H Rock in the beautiful wildflowers. The kids can pick out the H Rock from any point in the northwest of the valley now.

 
 


Ikey makes weird faces in most pictures.

Deb's Birthday

Deb's 40th birthday party was a rainy affair, but they had a big tent and tons of food so everyone stayed dry and happy.

The face painter was really talented.

Jovie dances with Deb's girls.

 

Road Island Diner in Oakley

We've been watching the developments of the Road Island Diner in Oakley since it opened seven years ago, but have never been, so we took off on a "Friday trip day" to check it out.

We headed up Parley's Canyon (Jovie reminded me to drive carefully so I don't make her sick.) then I40, then the road toward Kamas. We took our first drive through Brown's Canyon (so PRETTY!) and just had to stop at the cemetery in Peoa because it was so peaceful.

This one breaks my heart. I can't even imagine...

 I thought this was a dining car/trolley converted to a restaurant, and of course Ikey was excited about that. It does kind of look like one from the outside, but once you get inside, you'll realize it's way too wide. We took seats at the bar and ordered rootbeers and corndogs and a philly chicken sandwich. We read the book about the restaurant (look for it on the counter) and found out that it is a manufactured building from the 1930's that was completely restored when it was moved from Connecticut/Massachusetts/New Jersey to Oakley. The building is really fantastic! The countertop is worn marble and all the fixtures are so shiny. The waiter was named Frosty, but his nametag said "Julius" because they have to use period names. He wore a paper hat and a bowtie and was really friendly. We investigated every detail and played a bunch of songs on the tabletop jukebox and ate slowly and it was two hours later when we finished our cherry pie and ice cream. We were the only customers the whole time we were there. The food was good - a little expensive - but it was a destination meal and we thought it was great. 


Our first time sitting on the barstools. No one fell off.

Tucking her into bed tonight, I told Jovie: Good night. I think you're fantastic.
Jovie: Good night. I think you're not predictable.

Bees Triple-A Baseball

The Wans, Preeces, Bibles, Hopewell, Burrows and Grandpa Faucheux sat on the first row at the Bees game, just behind the bullpen. It was a popcorn/hotdog fest with plenty of wrestling of kids. We'll do it again next year.