The Living Planet Aquarium

Today we were able to spend the afternoon at The Living Planet Aquarium with Grandma and Papa. We haven't been to the aquarium in a while, so it was nice to go and explore. Elizabeth loves the aquarium and I was excited to see how Zachary liked it. Zachary started out in grandma's arms. He seemed really interested in all of the different fish. He would get so happy when a fish would swim by. It was cute to see him smile, point, and "talk".

Elizabeth loves playing with all of the displays. When Zachary saw her spin the salmon display, he had to do it too. He is becoming quite the copycat lately! He doesn't want to miss out on anything.

Elizabeth's favorite are all of the little frogs. She has loved them ever since she was little. To this day, they are the thing she gets most excited about. It seems as though the love of frogs is genetic because Zachary absolutely loved the frogs.

Throughout the day, Zachary kept going from one person to the next. He would spend a few minutes with Grandma, then switch to me, then he would want Papa. I guess he didn't want any of us to feel left out.

Elizabeth discovered this fun water pump and loved trying to pump water. She would lift the handle and high as she could reach and then slowly lower it back down. She is getting so big!

One of my favorite parts of the aquarium is the jellyfishes. I love the magnification window that lets you get a closer look at all of the jellyfishes. Elizabeth and Zachary seemed to enjoy it too!

I love all of the different types of sea life we are able to see at the aquarium. It is such a fun place! We saw lots of fun things today.

Zachary was so cute. At times, we had him in his stroller and he would look from side to side...pointing and grunting. I love seeing him so happy!

Before we could leave, we had to visit the "bee frog". Elizabeth discovered the "bee frog" on her very first visit to the aquarium and insists that we see him each visit. Today the little frog was right up front near the glass, so we got a really good look!

We looked around the gift shop, where Elizabeth fell in love with a dolphin purse and a tub toy. Zachary must have hugged every stuffed animal in the store before deciding on a seahorse. Thanks Grandma and Papa...you totally spoiled us!

Swimming at Meme's...Again

Elizabeth has become quite the little fish and loves to go swimming. We are so lucky to have Meme's pool that we can pretty much use whenever we want. Today was a beautiful day so my mom, my dad, the kids and I all headed over to Meme's to swim! My dad was quite the trooper and worked hard to get all of the various floatation devices and swim toys pumped up!

Elizabeth is so much more comfortable in the water this year. She "swims" all over the pool and loves to have us watch her kick and splash. It is so cute to see her wearing her little tube floating all over the pool.

Zachary likes being in the water too...as long as I am right by him. He will stay in his little floating device for a while but prefers someone to hold him.

Luckily, Zachary has a grandma that loves him and will spoil him by carrying him around the pool!

I am so grateful for days like these. It is always so nice to get out to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. Especially, when we are able to spend time with family while we do it! Thanks Meme, for sharing your fun pool with us!

Pioneer Day Parade Float Preview

This morning, as I was looking on Facebook, I saw a "friend" had mentioned that they had gone to the Pioneer Day Float Preview. I had no idea what this was, so I "googled" it. I learned that today was the last day of an event where some of the floats are available for an up-close peek. I was so excited and immediately told Matt that we needed to get ready to go!

It was so fun to look at all of the floats so close...and in an air-conditioned environment! I could not believe the amount of work that must have gone into these floats. They were beautiful and so ornate! My favorite was the oriental dragon float.


Elizabeth's favorite float had an ocean theme. There were tons of fishes and plant-life...and even a mermaid. Elizabeth was so excited when the mermaid gave her a real seashell!


Zachary really seemed to enjoy looking at all of the floats. He would turn from side-to-side and point in all different directions. One float had a rabbit that was playing peek-a-boo and Zachary's face just lit up when he saw it. He pointed and laughed...it was adorable!


It was cool to see that each float had a motto and a story behind its' design. We even got to talk to some of the designers. I love seeing all of the colors and textures. It gives you a whole new perspective to see them up close. You do not get to fully appreciate all of the time and effort that goes into these floats when you see them at the parade on TV. It was an awesome experience to see them so close!


This float was so colorful and had so many fun things to look at. The best part was every half hour or so, they had people in bee costumes that would come and drive the cars. The wheels would spin and exhaust would come from the tail pipes. So cool!


Matt's favorite float was very ornate. It looked like a miniature town and was made all from wood. It reminded me of a bunch of fancy, old-fashioned doll houses. It was beautiful and unique. While a lot of the other floats focused on color, glitter, and sparkle....this float seemed to focus on using simple textures and basic colors to create a replica of downtown Salt Lake. It was very elegant.


They had the award winners from the Pioneer Youth Parade on display as well. It was neat to see some of the floats up-close that we had seen while walking in the parade!


I am so glad that we were able to attend this fun event today. What made it even better is that Matt was off work and was able to come with us! Things are always more fun when Matt is around. I really enjoyed this experience and hope to be able to do it again next year.