I promised many many pictures of our adventures this week, so here they come! We had gone to visitsaltlake.com and bought the 2-day connect pass, and it came with a third day free. So for three days, we did everything we could: Discovery Gateway, Clark Planetarium, the Lion House for lunch, This is the Place park, Hogle Zoo, Snowbird, Living Planet Aquarium and Thanksgiving point (the ancient life museum). The connect pass is an awesome deal, even without the Lion House lunch. Factor that in, and it's a steal! mmm mmm good.
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Discovery gateway had some way cute things to do (but still not better than the Treehouse museum)
We rushed over to the Clark Planetarium to catch the 2 movies that were included: iMax Under the Sea 3d and Invasion of the Space Pirates. The iMax movie was really neat, and the space pirates one...was all info and no movie, despite its catchy title. Don't waste your time. We left early. The kids liked the displays at the planetarium:
Lesson learned: this is what happens when you make silly faces at your kids so they will smile for a picture:
After the movies, we went back to Discovery Gateway to have more fun. This simple fan with a tube around it kept us entertained for a long time, blowing these coffee filters:
They have a helicopter outside, which is cool:
This is the Place park is my FAVORITE! The kids really enjoyed the big train:
and the little train, too:
The kids got to ride ponies:
Ethan won't go down a slide at the park, but he'll hop on a pony, no problem:
and pet animals, too...I still don't understand the slide thing.
Hogle Zoo:
Do you see baby elephant Zuri back there? So cute!
It was really hot at the zoo, so we mainly just visited the highlights. We did see a bird show that was really neat. The kids enjoyed the kiddie play-area and pretending to be gophers:
After we left the zoo, we headed up to Snowbird for some cooler temps. We rode the tram up to the top and it felt SO nice up there! Aaah, the reprieve from the heat. We hiked down to the nearest chair lift (or "big swing", as Cassidy calls it) and rode it down.
And then we splurged and paid to go down the Alpine Slide (not included with the connect pass). The kids LOVED LOVED LOVED it! Again, I don't understand why Ethan refuses to go down the slide at the playground. He went FAST and wanted to do it again!
Then we walked over to the new ropes course just to see if we wanted to do it sometime, and they let us do it for free! It was very high and Cassidy was very brave.
On Day 3, we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. I was very impressed, although the "Utah" section was a little cheesy, showing kids what they eat for dinner after their parents go fishing.
Again, leave it to Cass to ruin a perfectly good photo. She did that on purpose:
Then we rushed to the ancient life museum at Thanksgiving Point.
The kids really enjoyed playing with the water. I felt badly that we had to rush home, but Joel only asked off 2 days of work and had to work at 3.
We were so wiped after 3 days of go-go-going, so we came home and crashed for 3 hours! But we had so much fun these past few days, it was well-worth it! 
Best Birthday Ever!
We rushed over to the Clark Planetarium to catch the 2 movies that were included: iMax Under the Sea 3d and Invasion of the Space Pirates. The iMax movie was really neat, and the space pirates one...was all info and no movie, despite its catchy title. Don't waste your time. We left early. The kids liked the displays at the planetarium:
Lesson learned: this is what happens when you make silly faces at your kids so they will smile for a picture:
After the movies, we went back to Discovery Gateway to have more fun. This simple fan with a tube around it kept us entertained for a long time, blowing these coffee filters:
They have a helicopter outside, which is cool:
This is the Place park is my FAVORITE! The kids really enjoyed the big train:
and the little train, too:
The kids got to ride ponies:
Ethan won't go down a slide at the park, but he'll hop on a pony, no problem:
and pet animals, too...I still don't understand the slide thing.
Hogle Zoo:
Do you see baby elephant Zuri back there? So cute!
It was really hot at the zoo, so we mainly just visited the highlights. We did see a bird show that was really neat. The kids enjoyed the kiddie play-area and pretending to be gophers:
After we left the zoo, we headed up to Snowbird for some cooler temps. We rode the tram up to the top and it felt SO nice up there! Aaah, the reprieve from the heat. We hiked down to the nearest chair lift (or "big swing", as Cassidy calls it) and rode it down.
And then we splurged and paid to go down the Alpine Slide (not included with the connect pass). The kids LOVED LOVED LOVED it! Again, I don't understand why Ethan refuses to go down the slide at the playground. He went FAST and wanted to do it again!
Then we walked over to the new ropes course just to see if we wanted to do it sometime, and they let us do it for free! It was very high and Cassidy was very brave.
On Day 3, we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. I was very impressed, although the "Utah" section was a little cheesy, showing kids what they eat for dinner after their parents go fishing.
Again, leave it to Cass to ruin a perfectly good photo. She did that on purpose:
Then we rushed to the ancient life museum at Thanksgiving Point.
The kids really enjoyed playing with the water. I felt badly that we had to rush home, but Joel only asked off 2 days of work and had to work at 3.
We were so wiped after 3 days of go-go-going, so we came home and crashed for 3 hours! But we had so much fun these past few days, it was well-worth it! 
Best Birthday Ever! (did I mention that Joel spoiled me with balloons, breakfast, and a bunch of gifts? He's the best.)
