Halloween 2020 - Thanksgiving 2020

We definitely found more festive fall fun in Utah during the pandemic than we would have in Washington, but Halloween back home was still pretty great. The kids got to Trick or Treat at their virtual learning camp the day before, then on Halloween day we took our Elsa girl and Triceratops boy up to Arlington for our ward party. They held an outdoor drive-in get together at Cascade Park where our family won "best overall pumpkins."

I think our win was mostly due to people being impressed with our tall pumpkin and our variety of pumpkins, but I did put quite a bit of effort into my "Happy Halloween" carving. I honestly don't believe I'd ever carved a pumpkin before. I'm not very artistic with my hands, and I have a pretty big fear of knives. Well that day we had a page of templates and small, cheap carving tools, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Unfortunately the "most difficult" template was the only one that would fit a pumpkin this size, and this particular type of pumpkin has extremely thick flesh, but after about an hour I managed it. It's not perfect, but I felt proud and exhausted. I also carved the orange pumpkin next to it, which was yellow when we picked it but had turned orange by Halloween. That one took me less than 10 minutes. The template was easier and the flesh of the pumpkin took much less effort to carve through. 

Here are some of Tyler's Halloween art projects and Rich Davis's dinosaur display at the ward party.

I'd found a map of Arlington homes that were decorated and/or giving out candy, so we looked up the most dense areas and made the most of it. Many people had candy chutes, tongs, or simply left goody bags out to help make things as safe and contact free as possible. I don't think they'll feel this Halloween was in anyway lacking compared to other years (though they might remember trick or treating with their masks on).

The kids found a neighborhood playground and wanted to play on it in the dark. One of the homes had a really decked out house entry.

Even with less people participating we still ended up with a huge haul, which the kids spent the next morning separating and organizing. Tyler was thrilled to be able to spell out the word "Snickers" in miniatures.

Several of the boys in Allison's virtual preschool class have long hair, so she keeps assuming they're girls. Here's the awkward conversation that followed. 

Me: No honey. Some boys have long hair and some girls have short hair. Wouldn't you still be a girl even if you had short hair?
Allison: Yes!
Me: (sensing she needs a little more understanding but not wanting to discuss genitalia) Girls can have babies in their bellies, just like mommy had you and Tyler in her belly. Daddy couldn't have had a baby in his belly because he's a boy.
Allison: (touching her belly) I can feel my baby now!
Me: Not yet honey. Your body's too little to make a baby yet. And you'll need help from a boy before you do...

After that I just let it trail off and was relieved when she didn't ask any follow up questions.

Here are some of the kids' fall projects during distance learning. Tyler even used some of Allison's extra materials to make a Thanksgiving chain. Tyler often puts a lot of time into his art. That hand on the left took him around an hour. Allison's been more crafty lately thanks to preschool, but her projects tend to only last a few minutes. She's more an active, social girl who wants to play.

For two blissful weeks we re-enrolled at the YMCA since they had child care again. Then our state reinstated more restrictions and now we can't go anymore. It was great while it lasted. One night was super rainy, but the kids enjoyed stomping in this "pool puddle" as Allison calls it.

After camp one Thursday I took the kids to a playground in Snohomish they'd never been to.

Allison found some little friends around her age. Tyler had fun climbing up the structure and coming down the pole and slides. It's so good to see them playing and having fun outside, even when it's chilly.

There was a huge pile of leaves under a big tree nearby.

We definitely got our fall fun on!

Here are the kids playing "the floor is lava" for Tyler's PE class.

We've been appreciating our cats more since we returned from our Utah trip. Just before Thanksgiving Fry continued his customary tradition of sitting on all things holiday by sitting on Tyler's turkey projects.

We had an excellent socially distanced, pandemic Thanksgiving! Since I knew the kids probably wouldn't eat much of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and since we couldn't be with our families and friends, we wanted to have some additional activities to help it feel more like a holiday for them. Oscar had us all go on a turkey trot by running three laps around the Mariner High School track. The kids and I pretended to be turkeys running from Chef Gourmand (a villain on their favorite show "Wild Kratts"). 

Then I made a Cornucopia Hunt for them with sugar and waffle cones filled with fruits, vegetables, and clues to find the next cornucopia. Most of the clues were recycled from our Easter egg hunt, though I don't think the kids ever realized it. I had enough new ones in there to change it up a bit, and the cornucopias were filled with produce instead of candy. They learned about being grateful for a successful harvest, they ate quite a bit of the fruits and veggies while we played, and at the end they got a prize bucket full of dollar store goodies. 

For the dinner itself we made mashed potatoes, homemade candied yams, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and a Turkey en croute from Trader Joes. It's like the turkey version of beef wellington. A friend traded me some of her homemade bread in exchange for some of our turkey en croute, and Oscar made a gourmet mac and cheese just so we could make sure there was something the kids would eat. I think we made the most of Thanksgiving in the time of Covid.

The week before Thanksgiving President Nelson challenged us to flood the world with gratitude. I put a lot of thought into these Facebook posts so I'm copying them here too to preserve them. 

Gratitude posts

Day #1 I am grateful for President Nelson. As a server at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building I was able to meet him several times. Apparently people like inviting him to their wedding receptions. He literally shines, and this was 15 years before he became the prophet. I nearly knocked over the slice of cake I was trying to serve him because I was so drawn to his light. I'm grateful for his timely message and the hope it brings me today.

Day #2 I am grateful for my husband Oscar. Shortly into the pandemic I found a meme that said "Ladies, marry the funny one. You never know when you're going to be quarantined together." I couldn't agree more. Laughing with Oscar keeps me going when the days are rough. In addition to being a great companion he is a good provider, super handy around the house, and an awesome daddy.

Day #3 I am grateful for my Tyler boy, and not just because he made me a mommy after 7+ years of infertility. I am grateful for everything he is and everything I've learned from him. Though distance learning has come with its share of challenges, I have loved being able to see him learn and watch his brain at work. Look at his recent artwork. He puts so much thought and effort into it. Some of his art, like the one with the hand and all the colors, takes him well over an hour of being hyper focused solely on what he's doing. I never would have put this much detail into my artwork at 7 years old. One of the benefits of doing school from home is that he has more time to work on his projects rather than being forced to move on to the next subject with the rest of the class. 

Tyler is also naturally receptive to the Spirit. Even as a baby we could see its effects on him. He thrives in a church at home environment. The more effort we put into our Come Follow Me and FHE lessons, the more responsive he is. Lately I've been teaching Tyler a new Christmas carol every night before he goes to bed. He asks so many questions I've ended up teaching him a lot about the Christmas story and a lot about how music works. The other night I told him "I'm not always great at teaching school to a 2nd grader. Your teachers have gone to college and taken classes to help them teach 2nd graders far better than I ever could. But there are two things I know a lot about - the gospel and music. I teach those things better than I teach anything else. I love singing these carols with you because I get to teach you about both of my favorite subjects at the same time!"

Day #4 I am grateful for my delightful little Allison. Her smile lights up any room. She's pure concentrated joy in the form of a child. She is a natural born performer with an innate sense of excitement and passion. No one plays pretend better than she does. She loves to roar, stomp, and bite like a Tyrannosaurus Rex and then run back and forth in front of the house wearing her fairy wings pretending to fly. Though she'll happily ride whichever roller coasters she's tall enough for at a theme park, she's equally thrilled sitting in the tester seats pretending to ride the ones she's too short for. She's a total social butterfly who's struggled a bit wishing the pandemic could be over so she could get back to all her favorite places, but she's still rocking her virtual preschool class. Her teacher told me her mission is to develop a love of learning in all of her students, but that Allison already has that in spades. 

Allison's energy can be a lot to handle. Her immense joy is equaled by her frustration when toys/electronics/people etc. don't do what she wants them to do. She's used to adults putting her in time out because she won't stop certain negative behaviors. For that reason she was incredibly touched by the scripture "“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." She enjoyed hearing about how the disciples initially told the people that Jesus had too much important work to attend to, but that Jesus rebuked them and encouraged the children to come to him. She lit up during our Come Follow Me lesson and talked about all the fun things she would play with Jesus. She's asked me to repeat the story to her several times. She knows in her heart that Jesus loves her unconditionally.

Day #5
I am grateful for my cats. We adopted two kittens, Fry and Leela, in 2006 and another kitten, Nibbler, in 2009. All are sweet and affectionate. Nibbler in particular is so lovey we joke around that he must be part puppy. He's the type of cat you can just pick up whenever you feel like it, and he'll immediately start purring and nuzzling. Even people who don't particularly care for cats often find themselves charmed by our cats. 

Our cats were our babies before we had babies, then through no fault of their own they were demoted to pets after the kids were born. They took it in perfect stride though. Nibbler would often find a spot on me while I held my babies. Since the pandemic began I've been appreciating their presence in our home that much more. Their soft fur and rumbling motor purrs are soothing to my soul. They are very tolerant of children, even before we had any of our own. Allison can be very rough with them (she's seriously like Elmyra from Tiny Toons), but they never get aggressive with her. I've noticed after we return from vacation they're even more tolerant of her than usual. It's like deep down they realize while her love may not be their favorite kind of attention, it's far better than no love at all.

They're getting old now, which is bringing out all sorts of new emotions in me. This is my first time seeing an animal go from the flower of its youth to suffering from the frailties of old age. Leela was a sweet tiny kitten with boundless energy. Now she hobbles around with arthritis. Fry is her exact same age, yet he doesn't have arthritis. In fact when he went missing for 2 months and was brought into the Everett Animal Shelter, they examined him and estimated him to be 3 years younger. It seems so unfair that Leela has to suffer from this ailment when Fry doesn't and they've lived identical lives. She was such a jumper! It breaks my heart to watch her struggle with tiny jumps when she used to jump to the top of my closet several times a day. Some of my friends have had to put their cats down around Leela's current age to relieve them of their chronic pain. I broke down in tears the other day watching her wince and wondering at what point we'll need to do the same. Though it makes me sad sometimes, I'm grateful for it. It gives me a glimpse into what it must be like for Heavenly Father to watch us grow up and struggle with age too. 

Fortunately Leela still has a few more years left in her. In fact she made some impressive jumps at the vet's office exploring her new surroundings trying to find a safe place. Turns out she can still jump pretty well horizontally.

Day #6
I am grateful for connections, both with people and with nature. Our great great grandparents were blown away by the invention of the telephone. Suddenly they could call people who lived several miles away. What a miraculous achievement! Telephone reach has come a long way since then, but those of us over 20 can still remember when long distance phone calls were incredibly expensive. I'm grateful I can call my family in Utah anytime I want to and talk to them for as long as I want to without needing to worry about cost. If I so desired I could instantly send video to someone on the other side of the globe completely free of charge. My friend Amy and I have even figured out how to play shared board games together with the help of Google Duo and a tripod. Though social media can easily become a vice (I've certainly struggled with managing it in moderation), I would have long lost contact with many friends from high school, college, and my mission if it weren't for Facebook. And while I'd vastly prefer in person worship services and school, I'm grateful for conference apps like Zoom for making virtual church and virtual learning possible. I'm grateful to my kids' teachers for exploring these new outlets and making the most of what they have in this unprecedented situation. If the Covid-19 pandemic had to happen in my lifetime, I'm glad it's happening now and not 7 or more years ago. It's amazing how far technology has advanced in just these past few years since my kids were born.

I'm also grateful for waterfalls and how revitalized I feel after spending time in the great outdoors. I've noticed I cope with the isolation better the more I can get outside. It's why parks, beaches, and hiking trails being closed from March through May was so rough on me. The kids did not do well with taking walks around the neighborhood early in the pandemic, but their stamina for walks and hiking has improved since then. Their appreciation for the beauties of nature is also increasing, particularly in Tyler. During the pandemic we were able to hike with them to Ponytail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, Twin Falls in Northbend, Wa, Cascade Falls on Orcas' Island, and the Living Room lookout in Salt Lake City. Before we had kids we hiked to over 100 waterfalls and other beautiful scenic lookouts. I've missed it, but it wasn't worth the frustration of throwing off their sleep routines to try hiking with them while they were babies and toddlers. I'm looking forward to exploring and adventuring with them more in the future.

Day #7
Many of you have noticed I haven't published any Theater Thursday songs for about a month. The bad news is today will be no different. I'm postponing all Theater Thursday recordings until after the new year. The good news is I've been hard at work practicing and recording Christmas music! I've even been making music with someone else for the first time in nearly a year. Meledie Knopf, who played the piano for me at the Arlington and Bellevue Nativity Festivals from 2017-2019, happily agreed to work with me again for a virtual nativity festival. We'd already performed around 30 songs over those three seasons, so we figured why not post one each day and make a musical advent Calendar out of all of them. I'll post the first one tomorrow and will continue to post a new one everyday through December 26th.

And on that note, I am grateful for music and how much it's enriched my life by getting back into it regularly (you can read more about that here). As much as I'd still enjoy performing big roles on a big opera stage, it's not my main motivation anymore. Now I sing purely for the love of singing and the joy that making music brings me. For years I talked myself out of posting my singing (read this and the above link for a more detailed explanation about why). The first video I posted was made while I was singing through a challenging opera aria I hadn't touched in 10 years wanting to hear what I sounded like singing it now. As I listened I realized it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be, and I shared it on Facebook simply to let you all know how happy singing again was making me feel. It was incredibly well received, more than I ever would have predicted. Many requests came in urging me to post more songs. This reignited a spark in me I hadn't felt in years. This was early in April when stay at home orders were at their most stringent, and here I'd found this wonderful way to connect with others. Maybe it would have been different if I'd been making these videos before the pandemic, but in that lonely period of time these videos helped people feel like I was inviting them into my home to share something special with them.

I was especially affected by the comments I received from people I'm sure had never intentionally listened to opera in their lives. I felt honored to be bringing classical singing to those who would have otherwise never known they could enjoy it. For many people it's more pleasant to view my short videos on Facebook than it would be to come and see me in a 2-3 hour performance. Operas are long for a reason. They catered to their audience of the time. People would travel by carriage many miles away to see an opera. They didn't want it to end quickly. We live in a different time with our entertainment catered to shorter attention spans, and our popular music is enhanced by ever evolving technology. The art of producing a sound that can be heard and enjoyed from a long distance away has become less necessary since the invention of the microphone. While that may be true, that doesn't mean it can't still be appreciated and enjoyed. When I sing in church people often remark how impressive it is that I don't use a microphone, which I don't do to impress people. I do it because a microphone would throw me out of balance with the piano, and my high notes could potentially cause painfully piercing audio disturbance. This and other outreach efforts (like the Ballard Opera Man who puts on concerts from his front lawn) have shown me there's a much wider reception for classical singing than I ever imagined. I believe we in the classical singing community need to find different avenues to bring our music to those who are unlikely to ever show up at a concert hall. I'm grateful the pandemic has provided this opportunity for me to share this beautiful art form in a more accessible way.

October 2020 Utah Trip

When our Covid numbers started rising early in October, our school district announced we would not be returning to in person school anytime soon. We'd already been thinking about taking a road trip to Utah in October, so that news just clinched it. On top of that Oscar's parents called to let us know they'd be heading out of town from the 16th - 24th and could house sit for them if we wanted to. I returned from Mississippi late on Monday the 12th, and we planned to set off for Utah mid-day on Friday. Everything looked good until Oscar started feeling very sick on Tuesday evening. We have no idea how he managed to pick up anything since he was almost always at home. He'd gone to the pharmacy once to pick up Tyler's medicine and otherwise just dropped and picked up the kids from camp. Though it was an unpleasant few days for him, he didn't pass it on to any of the rest of us, and it didn't end up being anything too serious. He was tested for both strep throat and Covid and both were negative. The Covid test took until Friday morning to get results, so we had to just keep packing and planning on leaving in the hope that it would be negative.  

The forecast said we were going to trade poor weather at home for good weather in Utah. This was true up through Wednesday. The weather was nice and sunny reaching as high as 73 degrees on Wednesday. On Saturday we drove through clouds for a couple hours, but the sun cleared them out before too long. We ended up stopping at a view lookout so Allison could go potty since we were at least 30 minutes away from anywhere that would have a toilet. 

Oscar still worked a 1/2 day and the kids still had their Zoom meetings that morning, so we knew we'd never make it all the way in one day. We booked a night at the Bridge Street Inn in Bakers City, Oregon and managed to make it there by around 9pm. The kids were fascinated by how the beds were set up across from each other. This was a really nice hotel for the price. It gave me hope in booking budget hotels again. 

The next day we finished up our drive then met up with my family at Lagoon. It was already extremely crowded, but a lot more people were wearing masks than I'd ever seen. They got rid of their social distancing on rides policy and replaced it with a more stringent mask policy. It was definitely a good swap. The lines moved much faster than they had in the summer.

After a few rides we took the kids to the Trick or Treat areas. I'd remembered them being festively decorated when we'd last come in 2016, and they didn't disappoint this year. In previous years the kids would get a small treat or toy at each station, but this year they were prepackaged in small bags they picked up at the end. 

There was an additional trick or treat area that hadn't been available 4 years early. This one used the space in the back of Lagoon-a-beach. Each station was themed liked one of the rides, and each had a task for the kids to perform (for example, in the Colossus station they had to look for golden plates and then flap their dragon wings to the next area). 

The kids finished off trick or treating in the hay maze at Pioneer Village, then mom and dad stayed with Allison while the rest of us went off to ride Wicked.

Mom and dad took Allison on the train, then we met back up and decided not to do too much more since the crowds were getting really big. They did squeeze in a little Puff the Magic Dragon, Bambora, and Jumping Dragon before we left. They were also thrilled to see a male and female peacock together near the train. We decided to come back the next day when the crowds weren't so nuts.

The next day we arrived around 2pm. We got there before Mom, dad, and cousins. I took the kids on the Bat since the line for that one is always pretty slow and only gets worse throughout the day.

Once everyone else arrived Mom and dad took Allison while the other kids and I went on the 46+ inch rides. We got to ride Cannibal this time, but Tyler really wanted to do it again that evening in the dark. 

Allison made a new friend on the cars. 

Here are 48+ inch kids on the swings. Tyler rode tandem with Ethan. All the kids got to ride Tidal Wave too.

Tyler joined Allison for a little trick or treating then took one last ride on the Carousel after mom, dad, and cousins had left. They had to be home by 7. I had Oscar come pick Allison up so she could play her tablet in the car while Tyler and I got in line for Cannibal.

We timed it perfectly. Tyler pointed out the glowing, rotating toilet and the masks on the lions while we were waiting in line. It was a great ride too! It was everything I wanted it to be for him. It was nice and dark by the time we were seated, we got to be in the front seats, and the wind was just right. He loved it!

The next couple days were spent getting back into our usual distance learning routine but doing it from Marcus and Martha's house. I loved that the kids could go outside whenever they wanted to. They got far more outside time in Utah than they ever get here in Washington on school days. 

On Monday evening we went to Mike's house to celebrate Ethan's first song release. On Tuesday evening Julia invited us over for dinner and cousin fun.

Wednesday is always a heavy homework day for Tyler, but we finished as quickly as possible so I could take the kids out to Cornbelly's Farm. They didn't open until 4pm, which was astonishing to me for a weekday. Here our farms close around 6 on weekdays, but Cornbelly's was open until 9pm. I wish I'd known the parking and line to get in would be so crazy. I would have left 30 minutes earlier. I've never seen a farm so full on a weekday. They could easily justify opening earlier. 

I have to say that this really is the farm of all farms - the farm to rule them all. There was so much stuff to do! Everywhere you looked you found something new. We were absolutely delighted to see jumping pillows. All the jumping pillows at our local farms were shut down due to the pandemic.  

They had some great areas for playing pretend. Allison liked pretending to rescue me from the dragons. Mike's family arrived, and they played with the kids for a good long time. 

They could have stayed there all day, but eventually I dragged them over to the other side of the farm where they went down the super slides. Both Ethan and Tyler got stuck going down the slide, but at different times.

Next to the slide was the Cow Train. I'd never seen a double cow train before. They also had some fun decorated haystacks to see as we passed by. I later found out we could buy a bounce back pass to come back another day, which I wish I'd know before we waited in the long line for the train. This line was far shorter when we came back on Friday morning. 

There were so many play structures. I think there must have been at least 20. The kids spent a good long time at Ropes Course Ranch too. That's when I walked back to the car and got us our coats. It'd been a really warm day until the sun went down.

Here are Tyler, Allison, and Sophie on the Corn Flyer. I waited in a tremendously long line to get donuts just to have them run out of apple cider donuts when I got to the front. We had to content ourselves with pumpkin and blueberry donuts. We made sure to get some apple cider ones when we came again on Friday.

My friend Rebecca met up with us there too. I let the kids get one last jump in on the jumping pillows before driving back to Marcus and Martha's house. The kids were so exhausted we didn't even stop for dinner. Allison slept on the drive then went right to bed once we got home. 

 

The next morning I woke up far too early and went on a walk. I passed this house impressively decorated for Halloween. After we finished up their school work we went out to mom and dad's apartment to sit in the hot tub before going to Leatherby's. Allison climbed up into the high chair and sat herself down in it. She got so stuck, though, that mom had to gently lay the chair down on the ground so she could climb out.

The kids had Friday off school, and Cornbelly's was open much earlier, so we spent most of the day there doing all the little things they'd missed on Wednesday. The only detriment is that it was much colder. It'd been 73 degrees on Wednesday, on Thursday the high was 53, and on Friday the high was only 47. It was in the 20's when we woke up that morning. Brr! As you can see from the forecast at the top of this page, we did not come prepared for this kind of weather. Fortunately I had brought a few winter things the kids had outgrown to hand down to cousins, and mom had purchased a few warm clothes to give to the kids. She also let me borrow some sweats. The temperature remained low, but the sun did come out a couple hours into our visit, which helped a lot.

The kids had fun on the ziplines. There were barely any lines for anything, so they were able to play as long as they wanted to on nearly everything.

If we had a farm like this near us I would totally get a season pass. Even with a second day I still don't think we got around to playing on everything.

Both kids really liked the pumpkin Plinko game. Tyler picked the "Oscar" Jack-o-lantern when we played "Who's Your Pumpkin?." I picked "Vinnie."

Since we'd done the cow train the previous Wednesday we decided to try out the tractor ride this time. When Tyler bundles up and wears a mask I can barely find his eyes.

We liked the Halloween themed mini golf.

We took a break for Cheetos, apple cider, hot chocolate, and apple cider donuts. Tyler insisted on getting an apple cider slushy, even though it was in the 40's and they'd given us painful brain freeze headaches when we had them on Wednesday. The slush had also kept clogging up, and I didn't want to have to carry around an ice cold drink all day when it was already so cold. Fortunately I figured out a solution to prevent both. I bought a regular cold apple cider to dilute the slushy when it became too icy, and occasional sips of hot chocolate kept us from getting the headaches (they had hot apple cider too, but I'd tried it the other evening and it tasted like the yucky powdered stuff. I can do powdered for hot chocolate, but not for hot cider). 

The kids had a lot of fun in the upside down barn. There was also a car you could draw on with chalk. Tyler was very proud of how he wrote "Cornbelly's" on it (you have to look close. He wrote it over the "Trump 2020.")

We also had fun in the corn maze. I'm glad we did it in the daytime. We probably would have gotten pretty lost in the dark. 

The kids also enjoyed the pigs' race and dog show. I only wish we hadn't waited around 12 minutes for a horrible spot. We thought we were in a good spot on the bleachers, but the best views were on the ground. We were totally blocked on the bleachers.

More fun on the jumping pillows!

Tyler could have played with these magnetic Mr Potato Heads all day. Allison insisted on sitting on the purple tractor before we headed back north. We swung by mom and dad's apartment on the way back to drop off the warm outfit I'd borrowed. 

The next day we had our final day at Lagoon. The kids and I went on The Bat first.

Mom, dad, Ethan, and Sophie came later, so I took the kids on kids' rides until they arrived.

I like this panorama Google made on the cars. Apparently I have three sets of kids! 

We also did all the trick or treating areas before the family joined us on the last one. Tyler was bummed he never got a fidget snake. He'd gotten one when we came the previous weekend, but he broke it during the week. He was really hoping he'd get another one.

The Bulgy the Whale ride was damaged during a big September windstorm Utah had. They turned it into a memorial with a skeleton riding it.

Everyone except I rode the teacups, then Ethan, Sophie, Tyler and I went on Cannibal. After that the lines were starting to get really long, and we were all getting pretty worn out. We took the Skyride over to the other side of the park to try a few more 48+ inch rides, but before we got off we could tell the lines were far too big to be worth waiting in. We decided to meet back up with mom, dad, and Allison and call it a day. She'd wanted to go trick-or-treating again, so we found them in Pioneer Village and let Tyler join them just as they were walking into the last area. To his great delight, he and Allison both collected a fidget snake at the end.

Since this is Utah, it snowed and the temperature plummeted. After our first 5 days in the high 60's and low 70's, Sunday and Monday only reached the mid 30's with lows in the low 20's. Marcus and Martha returned late Saturday. We stayed a couple of days so the kids could have a little quality time with them too.

Ms Allie enjoyed getting a bath with dinosaurs in granny's jetted tub.

I hadn't come prepared for temperatures this cold (see the forecast at the top of this post), so we didn't have much in the way of winter clothing. We had, however, brought their costumes, which are plenty warm (I'd assumed they could wear them at Lagoon only to find out they couldn't). They spent hours outside in those near freezing temperatures playing with water! 

Tyler's costume had several holes and Allison's tail was losing it's stuffing. Granny was nice enough to stitch them up for us. 

Tyler stuffed his costume full of all the toys he could find in the shed. Afterwards he "puked" them out. 

For Allison's belated birthday present granny gave her a dress up unicorn with handmade dragon, dinosaur, mermaid, and fairy costumes. 

The next morning we woke up early and drove back home. We decided to make the whole drive in one day. Granny had us write on rocks that would one day become part of the Layton temple foundation. It's being built within walking distance of their home. 

The kids managed to do most of their Zoom meeting and homework on the drive since we had pretty good data service going through Idaho. We also checked our home cameras and were happy to see Nibbler sitting on Allison's bed. He often hides while we're gone. It was good to see him out in the open, and seeing the video helped motivate the kids to get back home. 

In northeastern Oregon we stopped for gas at a Sinclair where the kids had fun riding the dinosaur. After those two days in the 30's it felt so nice to be outside in the sunlight and low 60's. If we hadn't had 6 hours of driving left I would have taken them to a park.