Museum of Natural Curiosity

And he managed to climb all the way to the top. 

Friday we had plans to visit with my good friend Mandy. Her and I have been friends for so long. She was actually one of the people that helped me join the church. Remember when I visited Michele and we went to the zoo in Tennessee? Mandy and Michele are sisters. Now we're both married, not to each other, and we have kids! She had a little boy, Weston, that's about Ivan's age and any time we're in Utah we make sure we visit. This time we planned to go to Thanksgiving Point. I've driven past it I don't know how many times and yet I've never gone. Apparently it's really expensive. But, Mandy has a pass and it got us in for a quarter the price! Woohoo!

There were these awesome trains there. If you peddled with your hands, you would actually move the train around the room. Not the train Ivan's in, that's where the peddles are, but the train he moved was driving on tracks hung from the ceiling. And there was a little monitor there so you could see where the train was going. 

We decided to go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity, but there was a big debate between there and the dinosaur museum. I'm really glad Michael was with us. I would not have been able to do that by myself. There were a ton of people there, and quite a few of them were in our group! Mandy invited a couple of her sisters, which was way fun to see them too. So Meagan, her son and the children she nannies came. So did Molly, another sister of Mandy's.

We explored the fish ponds outside. We had tons of fun at the splash pad. Then Ivan and Weston took turns on the kid size zip line.

Look at those giant fish!

I think she's starting to warm up to Daddy again. 

This was about the most in the water the kids were. The water was really cold. Ivan did actually lay down on his belly for about a second, then he wanted to change his clothes!

Back inside, we tried to see all the wonderful exhibits they have set up. I tried to sit as often as I could, but that's a little hard when you've got 2 kids each going opposite directions! Yay for extra hands! 

This is inside the little "vet clinic." Ivan loved the stethoscope and taking x-rays. 

Charlotte just loved all the puppies! 

Feeding carrots to the bunny. 

Charlotte was a pro at pushing this wheelbarrow. This was her favorite exhibit. 

The kids had an absolute blast! Oh it was so much fun to see them exploring, playing, learning. After we were all done, as in I couldn't walk anymore, we headed back to Grandma Wampler's for naps. It was great catching up with Mandy, Meagan, and Molly. It really felt like old times, at least until our kids came back into view!