Wednesday Wanderings – LDS Church History Museum

Remember to link to your Wednesday Wanderings post! It doesn’t have to be something that occurred on a Wednesday, nor do you have to write about it on a Wednesday – just link up to a post about somewhere you went!

Several months ago, we went to the LDS Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, UT with some friends. We spent our time in the children’s exhibit - A Book of Mormon Fiesta: A Latin–American Celebration – where we learned about all sorts of faithful Latter Day Saints from Latin America.

The exhibit was a lot like a children’s museum, but with a gospel focus. The kids loved it, and so did I!

This dump truck was a big hit. The kids loved putting anything and everything they could find (mostly puppets from the “rainforest” area) in the back. The story about the dump truck was fun – there was a man who would drive his dump truck to church because they lived so far away from the chapel, and they would often pick up people on their way to church and give them a ride in the back of the truck! How fun would that be to ride to church in a dump truck!? Okay, probably not as much fun as riding in my comfy car – but still, I bet the kids had a blast!

And of course, we better plant a garden! They had carrots that were shaped like a pyramid, round onions, and the potatoes were a rectangular block, so the kids would “plant” them into the shape that matched! Educational and fun! Not to mention great for learning about gardens. I think he ended up feeding some of the carrots to this lizard puppet.

And then Baby and I had to dress up and dance! They had little videos that would teach you some basic steps to a Latin dance, complete with costumes for dress up! Baby didn’t really like having the dress on, but at least I got moving!

The museum was a lot of fun, and on our way out, we passed by a life-size replica of the angel Moroni statue that graces the top of every spire of the LDS temples. Vince knew exactly what it was (we’re blessed to live very close to several temples, and pass them frequently).

Ratings:

Value –   Can you say “For freeeeeeeee!” (if you don’t get it, go watch Adam Sandler’s Bedtime Stories – seriously, it’s a cute movie – I have no idea how they got Adam Sandler to do it, but it was fun and clean!) You may have to pay for parking if you don’t want to walk super far (it’s in downtown Salt Lake City), but hey, $2 isn’t bad.

Location –   Four stars because a I have a love-hate relationship with downtown areas. Love – the culture, the sites, the fun, the buildings, the actions. Hate – parking, keeping my kids from darting into busy roads, pollution, etc. But there is definitely more love than hate.

Fun Factor – So much fun! And we got to talk about the gospel, the Book of Mormon, and the examples of some really great Saints!

Now it’s your turn!

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Wednesday Wanderings – Toombstone, AZ

Mr. E was doing some job training in Arizona last year (we came down on the tail end of the training). We went with some friends out to Toombstone. It was fun. Little E got to shoot a genuine Colt revolver. He got a kick out of that (literally!) – the bullets were filled with paintballs, and you got to shoot at targets across the room. I think it was $3 for 6 shots, or something like that. Not too bad for a tourist attraction. And Little E loved it! Baby E didn’t seem to mind the noise too much, but she’s used to her brother making lots of commotion.

 

At one of the many gift shops, we bought some little $.99 horses which Little E and Baby E held on to for the rest of our visit. They loved those horses. I think one has since been lost, but the other one is still around and gets played with, so I’d say I got my buck’s worth out of it.

We also took the kids to one of those shoot out shows. We ate some lunch and watched some cowboys shoot blanks at each other. Baby E was a distracted by her horse for the most part, but Little E loved all the guns and shooting. It was a little too much for me, and I don’t know if I would have taken them after seeing it myself. Mr. E probably would – he’s not as opposed to Little E watching violence as I am. We do try to teach E about the value of each life, and that it’s always a very serious thing to take a life (or give life, for that matter). But you’ve gotta give a little in a marriage, and I guess this is one place where I give a little – I just make sure we’re reinforcing the “every person is worth something” so Little E doesn’t just go around thinking he can shoot people (or slice their arms off with a light saber... but that’s another story...)

Ratings:

Value – Maybe it would be a better value for older kids and adults, but taking my kids there wasn’t really worth the money I ended up spending on food and entertainment. Although we did end up in a reptile exhibit that was free and we talked a lot to a really knowledgeable lady. That was cool. And free. So that part gets five stars. Vincente loved the snakes and tarantulas and other creepy crawlers. We learned a lot about some of the reptiles and insects native to Arizona.

Location – Kind of a long drive from Tucson. And boring. Through the middle of nowhere. Once you get closer to Toombstone there are some cool mountains/rock formations, but other than that, pretty lame.

Fun Factor – It was pretty fun, I have to admit. There were people dressed up in character all over, there were photo places (where you can get your photo taken all dressed up like you’re in a western) and stagecoaches and horses all over the little dirt roads. Just the feel of being in an actual Western was pretty cool. I half expected to see John Wayne walking down the streets.

Your Turn! Go write a bout your Wednesday Wanderings and link up here! Here’s the html for the button to post on your page:

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Wednesday Wanderings – Acord Ice Center

First, a word about Wednesday Wanderings. I started Wednesday Wanderings as a way to talk about the places our family goes, and review them for other families in case they want to check those places out. I rate the outing based on Value (bang for your buck), Location (good neighborhood? easy to get to? easy to find? central?), and Fun Factor (how much fun me and the kids had). I always include explanations for my ratings, too, because not everyone’s family is just like ours.

We use Wednesday Wanderings to get out of the house and explore our neighborhood and community, and to help with our “preschool.” So, if you take outings with your preschooler, then write about it and link up!

Last week we went as a family to public skate at the Acord Ice Center in West Valley City, UT. Mr Einstein and I have our own skates (Mr Einstein plays hockey, and got me skates for my birthday a few years ago). We have two pairs of Babyskates because the smallest size of single blade skates we could find was a size 6 pair from CCM (but apparently Bauer makes one too). The Babyskates are nice, though,  because even the smallest walker can wear ice skates. We took Little E out on the ice with a size 3 pair of Babyskates just after his 1st birthday (he learned to walk at about 10 1/2 months). Baby E had her first night on the ice last week. After LE finished his tantrum, she loved it!

Ice skating is great for your preschooler’s gross motor skill development. It’s also great for them to have a new experience on something other than “dry land.” Exposing them to different “walking” surfaces early I think will help them develop good balance, and help them understand how to be comfortable when the ground under them doesn’t feel quite “right.”

I wish I had checked out some books from the library about ice skating and hockey so Little E would have been a little more prepared. He was really excited to go ice skating, and even did a great job walking around in his skates before we got on the ice, but as soon as we were on the ice, he was freaked out. Next time we’ll do a little bit of talking about how different it feels to be on the ice.

What new experiences have you been giving your toddler/preschooler (or even your older children!)? Do you encourage them to try new things? Do you expose them to different environments so they can learn more about the world and their bodies?

Ratings:

Value – At $3.50 for adults, $3 for youth, and two quarters for kids 5 and under, it’s a pretty good deal. We have our own skates (except for Little E – but he’s getting some for Christmas – shh, don’t tell!) we don’t have to fork over another $1.50 per person for skate rental. And, if we get a “Premium” pass to the Salt Lake County recreation centers, public skate is freeeeee! Since we live less than 2 miles from one of the rec centers, we’re going to get a pass in January.

Location – It’s on a main road, but in West Valley City (which is super far out west of SLC). It’s not too bad for us, so we like it. However, there are several other ice rinks in Salt Lake County. We’ll be checking those out soon. (that pass I mentioned gets you in to ALL the SL County ice centers!)

Fun Factor – Ice skating with little people is hard. Baby E cried because Little E was crying, and LE spent nearly the entire time on the ice flopping around crying on the ice. It was depressing. Once he was okay with it, though, Baby E was okay, too. Weird how that works...

Your Turn! Go write about your Wednesday Wanderings and link up here! Here’s the html for the button to post on your page:

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Wednesday Wanderings comes to Child’s Play!

I had a meme over at my private family blog, but just realized that it would be more accessible over here at the Child’s Play blog. So tomorrow Wednesday Wanderings will make its debut at Child’s Play with the Acord Ice Center in West Valley City, UT! Stay tuned. I’ll explain how the meme works more on Wednesday!