Trip, Part III: Jensen Reunion in SLC

So the Jensen family met this year in Salt Lake City atBrian's Grandma Jensen's house. We all stayed there and spent 6 days doing tons of fun things (we joined them for the last 4 days).

Sunday was pretty low key, but we did get Brian's family's yearly picture done, (sorry no clues here. You'll just have to wait for December) as well as playing some games and just hanging out together.

Monday we hit the ground running. We started the day at the Hogle Zoo.

Dinosaurs were visiting the zoo as well, so we saw some big ones:

 had some spray at us:

 and even checked out the teeth on one:

 We played with Eliza some

 rode a rhino

 and dug in the sand pit.

 We saw giraffes and many other animals, but only the giraffes got their pictures taken apparently.

 We ate lunch together with everyone at the zoo, saw an elephant show, and a bird show before deciding we had seen all the zoo had to offer.

Then, after our little bodies cooled off in the car for a little while (it was pretty hot and we weren't used to it yet, so we took a little break) then we caught up with everyone else across the street from the zoo at Heritage Park. None of our little family had ever been to Heritage Park, so we were excited to explore. It's basically a pioneer town of actual pioneer homes moved to this one location.  You can explore houses, shops, etc and experience things at it would have been in pioneer days.

We started by trying some chores:

 We all tried washing some clothes:

 And the boys took turns cleaning the rugs:

 Dad even tried stilts.

 Clark also tried the circle and stick game (where they try to keep wire circles rolling by hitting it with a stick) and was pretty good, but I failed to get a picture.

Next, we went to school and learned a few things from the school teacher...the one working there...not Dad.

 They had pony rides for the kids

 as well as a little train we all took a little ride on.

 Then we panned for gold

 and both boys were successful, plus it was nice to get a little wet in the stream (it was really hot by then).

 We also learned how to make a rope as a family and we stamped leather. We carded wool and learned how they would spin it into thread. We saw a black smith and tin shop and so many other cool places. We definitely could have spent more time, but we got a lot done before they closed.

It was a long day, but so much fun and our two little ones did amazingly well....and yes they slept great that night!

Day 2, Tuesday, we headed to Thanksgiving Point. Our little family met an old roommate of mine and her boys at the farm there first thing in the morning (which I'll post about later) before meeting the family at the gardens.

Thanksgiving Point has acres and acres of beautiful gardens! There was no way we had time to see all of them, so we split up to see what we wanted. I headed off with the girls to see the secret garden (which is a replica from the book) which was fun to see while the boys went to the Italian gardens, which they said was fun (because Dad let them take their shoes off and go swimming in the upper pools. We also saw the butterfly garden and a maze as well as some others before meeting up at huge waterfall for lunch with everyone.

After some fun in the gardens, we headed down the road to the Dinosaur Museum. It happened to be the museum's birthday, so they had a pirate themed party going on in the lobby which was a bonus.

The boys made hats, played games and went into the pirate cove to hear stories and make walnut shell ships all before even going into the museum.

Here's Clark listen intently to the pirate story with Aunt Natalie:

 and showing off his walnut ship he made in the pirate cove.

 Then it was off to the actual dinosaur part.

Logan found one just his size:

 And we managed to get at least one family photo on the vacation:

 The boys almost got eaten by a HUGE shark:

 Don't you love Clark's expression when I told him the shark was going to eat him?! :)

Once we were done with the dinosaur museum, Brian joined the rest of his family when they decided to run to the planetarium for a show there. Then we rejoined them for dinner at the Lion House (which was only ok in my opinion, but at least we can say we have tried it now) before calling it a day.

Wednesday, was our last day all together. Though some of the group was not quite up to all the fun and took a little breather for a while this day, the four of us were game and up for more fun, so we headed to Provo back to the good old campus of BYU!

We hit the bookstore for some shopping before joining the rest that were coming for some bowling at The Game Center for the 3rd annual Jensen Family Mini-Cup.

It was the first time the boys had bowled and it was great to have not only bumpers for them, but ramps as well. The boys got pretty good and enjoyed playing.

 They both did pretty well. In fact, while Dad had no problem beating the boys, Mom actually had to work a little not to lose to a 3 and 5 year old...guess I should practice. :)

Plus, can I just say I love this picture and the little bowling shoes on Clark's feet:

After bowling, we ate at the Cougareat...since Mom really can't be in Provo without getting a wrap from L&T then we took a little drive past old apartments and other places special to Brian and I before heading to a little water park to meet Grandma and Grandpa for an afternoon of fun in the water.

I have no pictures since really who would take a camera to a water park?! But the boys had a great time and Clark really just did his own thing and played on the whole time. After 3 hours, it was sadly time to go, but it was a great family afternoon.

We dried off and then headed over to Steve and Elli's for dinner and to meet up with the rest of the family. Dinner was great and so was the Just Dance Wii game entertainment that night.

All too soon, it came to an end and the good-byes had to begin since almost everyone headed home that night. It was so fun to see everyone again. It was definitely a busy week, but a great time was had by all of us. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for all the fun!