I wasn't able to make it to Cat's last soccer game in the spring because Ben was out of town, and one of the little ones was sick. So Cat went to her game with our neighbor, whose daughter is also on the team, and our neighbor was kind enough to take these pictures and email them to me. I'm still surprised at how much fun Cat had playing soccer last spring. We'll see if the enthusiasm lasts for both fall and spring this year.
Another neighbor of ours put together a team for a small co-ed 4 on 4 tournament called the Kohl's Cup. She asked Cat to join, and of course Cat was eager to get involved. Their team didn't do very well, but everyone had a good time anyway.
The whole team with their coach, Amy
The gals on the team... The girl on the left side is Ruby, a member of the family who owns the house we lived in during the school year. We didn't expect to be in the area over the summer, so it's been a treat to get to hang out with their family some, and get to know them better. Ruby and Cat really love being together - they seem to be two peas in a pod.
We rushed home after our zoo trip so that everyone could use the bathroom and I could throw together a picnic dinner. Then we drove to the lawn east of the Bean Museum on the BYU campus for our first ever carillon concert! I was really pretty ridiculously excited about this, and hoped that the kids would enjoy themselves too. All in all, I think it was a good experience for the whole family. Except for Ben, who was out of town, and missed out on the fun.
For those of you who don't know what a carillon is - I didn't until I looked online - it is the instrument housed in a bell tower, comprised of an organ-like keyboard connected to the bells themselves. I hope that makes sense.
I loved that the carillonneur played a good variety of music. He played some Classical-type pieces that I didn't recognize, some popular songs (I was tickled to hear "Somewhere Out There," one of my all-time favorites), and of course some Patriotic songs.
So this was a unique concert experience in that there is nothing at all to see. You simply go and listen. We found out afterward that if you walked to the base of the bell tower during the concert, there was a live feed video of the carillonneur performing. Oh well. But the kids had a fun during the concert anyway. They ate some picnic dinner then found a tree nearby with limbs for climbing and many other kids around to play with. So I sat and enjoyed the music while watching the kids play and eating my strawberry vinaigrette salad. Not a bad way to spend an evening.
Oh - and there was also dancing. (Jack is in the background breaking sticks and such.)
When the concert was over the kids and I walked over to the bell tower to get a closer look.
Best I could do on my own...
As it turnsd out, one of the BYU students who plays the carillon on a regular basis was down in the practice room at the bottom of the towerr telling people about the instrument and answering questions. Notice how my kids pushed their way into the center of the room, but maintained a safe distance from the practice instrument.
..until they jumped on the bench...
Aaaaaaand... started playing the instrument. Aaaaaaand the BYU student doesn't mind them playing, as long as they don't get too loud. Awww, how nice.
Notice how instead of keys like you find on a piano or an organ, these are actual levers and a carillonneur plays them by pounding his fist on them. And he operates the foot pedals simultaneously. How in the world do you play fast music? I don't know. But they do. And Cat thought it was awesome. That night she found out another reason why she should stick with piano: we were told that most carillonneurs begin playing after learning organ. And what do most people play before learning organ? That's right. Pee-pan-oh, as Cat would say.
My friend Elena has a pass to bring friends to the zoo for free, so when she invited us to join her and her daughter, Evelyne, we happily accepted. Elena and her husband are from Italy and we met them because Elena's husband was in Ben's study group the first semester of last year. They are a fun family and we've really enjoyed spending time with them. Of course, we this day was no exception. We had a great afternoon at the Hogle Zoo!
Elfewents!
One of the two injured Bald Eagles at the zoo.
The kids were dying to go to the brand new "Rocky Shores" section. One of the first exhibits we saw was home to seals and sea lions.
But the polar bear was the biggest attraction, by far.
She would swim from the rocks (behind her in this picture) straight to the viewing glass and pop out of the water, then go back to the rocks and repeat the procedure. She did this for 10 or so minutes while we watched. It was really cool to see her so close, but the first time she popped up in front of Jack it startled him quite a bit, and he wanted to hang out with me for a few minutes before going back to the glass to see the bear again.
Evelyne is saying his to the polar bear.
She's about to pop up in front of Eliza.
Like I said. It was just really cool.
Thanks for hanging out with us, PB.
Smart tiger. Spending the afternoon napping in the shade.
Looks like the lynx couple had the same idea.
Prairie dogs!
SO cute.
We saw a show that featured live animals, and the kids were able to pet a few of them afterwards.
I know what you're thinking. "Brett. In your quest for fun and different things to do with your kids, you have just gone too far. Besides, how much fun can a museum full of beans be anyway??" Yes. It's true. A museum full of beans might be interesting and informative, but probably not so fun for the kids. So it's a good thing that the name of this museum is completely misleading. There aren't any beans in it.
BYU's Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum (known 'round these parts simply as the Bean Museum) is full of real taxidermied animals. From what I understand, Monte Bean had a large personal collection of stuffed animals that he donated to BYU, and his collection still represents the majority of the animals on display at the museum named for him. There is a huge variety - from an elephant to hundreds of butterflies. We'd been meaning to go for a while, but knowing that the museum is about to close for extensive renovations gave us the extra motivation we needed to make it happen. I was watching my friend's children that day, so all 7 of us toured the museum together.
(Large African Mammals)
A large butterfly.... comprised of butterflies.
The museum regularly offers live animal shows, so the kids were excited to catch the end of one before we walked over to story time.
The museum staff member read a couple of books about how animals blend in with their surroundings.
Call me crazy, but I think that holding story time in an enclosed space where toys are readily available, might not be the best way to encourage the children to be attentive. Just a thought.
Okay, this picture was taken after story time was right after story time.
You'll get their attention when it's snake time, though.
I mentioned when I blogged about our experiences with Cat playing piano that I wasn't able to attend her first ever piano recital. I was here:
My cousin Preston was getting married and I decided to attend the sealing ceremony. Ben was a particularly awesome Dad that day because he not only took the kids to Cat's piano recital, made video, took pictures, and tried to keep everyone quiet and happy by himself, he then drove them up to SLC to meet us for the post-sealing festivities. They arrived at the perfect time, just as we were all standing outside waiting for Mandy and Preston to exit the temple. In trying to get all of the kids out of the car and to the temple grounds he left the camera in the car, but my Aunt Alysa was kind enough to take fun pictures, so I can still share some here. Thanks for being the designated family photographer, Alysa, and thanks for sharing your pictures!
It took quite a while for Mandy and Preston to appear, so we filled the time by talking, joking, laughing, and posing for pictures. Here are a few:
For some reason, Jack decided this was a great spot to hide.
"Now they can't see me for sure!"
This was by far the coldest June wedding I've ever been involved in. Mostly because of the wind. Brrrrrr! I don't know what we were thinking bringing the kids outside in the middle of June without jackets. We're negligent parents. At least Ben had some jacket to share.
At last, Mandy and Preston emerged! I love that Cat and Brooke had a front row view.
The reception was at the nearby Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and we had so much fun.
After a yummy lunch, Mandy and Preston shared a beautiful first dance, then everyone cut loose...
