Being Young Again

I pretended, this weekend, that I was 10 or 12, rather than 65, as I planned fun days for my grandchildren.  On Friday night, August 14, 2015, Bryce and Alyssa arrived back in SLC after four days in St. George with Aunt Camille and their Ebert cousins.  Before Bryce and Alyssa left for St. George, Dave and I had practiced being "good guests" with Bryce and Alyssa.  "What do you say if Aunt Camille asks if you want to go on a hike?"  "Yes!" Bryce and Alyssa exclaimed.  "What do you say if Aunt Camille asks if you'll pick up your clothes?"  "Yes!"  Camille confirmed that Bryce and Alyssa had, indeed, been "good guests."   

On Friday night, I took Sophia and Mia Ebert, as well as Bryce and Alyssa, to Clark Planetarium for an IMAX movie about humpback whales.  We all loved the movie, as well as exploring the science toys in the lobby, such as a huge pendulum that swayed with the movement of the earth.

Afterwards, we ordered hamburgers and fries at Hires, an old-time diner on 7th East.

I pulled my bag of gum balls from the trunk of the car and shared them with Camille and the kids.  "A bag of gum balls is essential for the well-stocked car," I instructed Camille.

On Saturday morning, Dave and I took Bryce and Alyssa to the Pioneer Park Farmer's Market for brunch.  Bryce and Alyssa ordered sausage sandwiches at the stall for Marcello's Italian Restaurant.

The Farmer's Market is full of wonderful things.  We paused to let Bryce and Alyssa touch an owl displayed by a man with a conservation mission.  We handed a dollar to his pet crow, who took the bill from our fingers and stuffed it in a box!

 

We stopped next at the Museum of Natural Curiosity, at Thanksgiving Point.  The kids loved the museum. They raced from hurricane wind chamber to water area to rope bridges.  It was too noisy and chaotic for adults, but today I was a kid, and I didn't care.

 

Cascade Springs is an old favorite of Dave's and mine, and a new favorite for Bryce and Alyssa.   We walked along a boardwalk, gazing at the burbling springs, little waterfalls, and a rushing creek.  Alyssa slipped off her sandals and bathed her feet in the ice-cold mountain water.  Bryce pronounced, "This would be a good trail for running."  Bryce and Alyssa already run in races, like their older brothers and sister.

We then drove over the mountain to Heber City and had ice cream cones at the cheese and ice cream store.

 On Sunday morning, we took Bryce and Alyssa to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing on the "Music and the Spoken Word" TV program.  They had never attended that event before and were impressed.

 A guest soloist sang "Abide with Me" so beautifully that she nearly brought Dave and me to tears.

 After the performance, we listened to a choir of lady missionaries sing on the Conference Hall plaza.

Other missionaries stood with placards announcing the languages they spoke.  A woman led a little girl to the "Urdu" speaker.  I guessed that the little girl spoke Urdu, too!

 Camille's family and Mike and Heidi joined us for Sunday dinner.  I cooked a Norwegian feast in honor of Mike and Heidi's recent trip to Norway and Iceland.  Dinner included Gouda and Jarlsberg cheeses with crackers, pork loin stuffed with apples and prunes, mashed potatoes, braised red cabbage, green salad, and homemade rolls with lingonberry jam.  Maybe it was the mashed potatoes, but Camille sighed, "This is so much like dinner with Grandma Rose."  Afterwards, we watched Mike's gorgeous photographs from his trip, shown on our family room TV screen.

The treat was Norwegian cream cake.  I split two layers of sponge cake in half and filled them with homemade custard, raspberry jam, and fresh strawberries.  "I want the recipe!" Heidi urged, and Camille said, "This is like the almond cream cake at Market Street Broiler, but better!"  Emilie Ebert is just back from a humanitarian trip to Peru to help build schools.  I told her if she'd show some pictures and tell some stories about her trip to Peru, I'd provide the Peruvian meal!  After everyone went home, I found recipes for "Peruvian beef kabobs with pepper sauce" and "Roasted Peruvian potatoes."  I'm on my way!

With the Grandkids

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"  That's the way I felt after a day with Alyssa and Bryce Flindt at Lagoon.  The two of them flew from Seattle to SLC on August 7, 2015, for a two-week visit with their Utah relations.  Our goal at Lagoon was to ride Cannibal, the brand-new, baddest Lagoon roller coaster.  Each car entered through a door in a huge brown monolith and then plunged straight down hundreds of feet, before jerking up and around in a spiral.  We waited two hours in line and were within twenty feet of the cars when the line shut down for "technical difficulties."  We waited in line, later, for another half hour, and the line shut down again.  Bryce and Alyssa ran into their Flindt cousins at Lagoon, who said they had finally ridden Cannibal, after waiting for 5 1/2 hours!  Maybe next year it won't be so popular.

 We did ride other notorious Lagoon roller coasters, including Colossus and Wicked.

 We also rode Samurai, which flung us up and down and around in loops, with our feet hanging in open space.  Dave opted out of the roller coasters and variations thereof.  He said just looking at Samurai made him sick to his stomach! 

By Sunday morning, we had recovered.  Alyssa and Bryce helped me make scones for our Devonshire tea.  We spread the scones with raspberry jam and served them with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.  Bryce and Alyssa chose their favorite tea cups from my collection, and Bryce made a pot of hot cocoa.  All the grandchildren love the corner of the family room next to our collection of grandchildren's baby pictures.  They pick out their own and explain why they were the cutest baby.

 We went back to the cabin on Sunday afternoon.  While Dave resumed his war on the carpenter ants, Bryce, Alyssa and I rode the four-wheelers around Pine Mountain.

There are all sorts of fun things for kids at the cabin--swings, tree stumps, a playhouse in the tool shed, and a game of horseshoes.

 We ate Sunday supper at the new Mexican restaurant in Midway, which offers 20 or more salsas with its chips.  Alyssa and Bryce chose tropical fruit drinks, rather than desserts.  I couldn't live without the Mexican "wedding cake" cookies, similar to the ones my mother cooked for the ladies' teas she and my aunts hosted for such notables as nieces getting married.

 And of course, there was a "dog of the day."

Back Home to the Cabin

After three weekends out-of-town, it felt great to relax at the cabin on the weekend of August 1 and 2, 2015.  But what could I photograph to post on my blog?  I have documented many cabin weekends, catching front and back views of the cabin, the teeter-totter, the tree stump, the neighbor's cabin behind us, and the trees that surround our lot.  I asked Dave's advice, and he obligingly posed next to our propane tank.  During the weekend, we rode the four-wheelers and watched an excellent movie, "Letters from Iwo Jima," about the Japanese view of fighting losing battles at the end of World War II. Dave killed carpenter ants and plugged a leak in the roof.

Spencer's Home!

Spencer is back from his mission to California/Arcadia!  On July 26, 2015, Flindts, Eberts, and Spendloves gathered at the Sammamish First Ward to hear Spencer speak.  He was inspiring and fluent as he bore his testimony and told experiences from his mission.  Logan Nielson, Spencer's friend who was called to the same mission the same day, and who returned with Spencer, also gave a personal and memorable talk.  Afterwards, we joined the Nielsons at their home for dinner and a celebration.  Lisa and I made the salads, fruit, and chocolate mint brownies for dessert, and the Nielsons provided the hamburgers and their beautiful house and yard.  Camille and her family stayed in the Northwest after the Spendlove reunion specifically to welcome Spencer home.  Annelise took these photos for me while I rushed around with Lisa, getting the food on the table.

Logan's dad, Brother Nielson, manned the barbecue.

The whole Flindt family was at the party, including the husbands of Kyle's sisters, Kisti and Laura.

Lisa and Kyle bought a keg of root beer from The Root Beer Store, where Spencer used to work.

Grant and Bryce relaxed with their Flindt cousins (the Eberts were there somewhere!).