July 12, Thanksgiving Point

We spent a day at Thanksgiving Point with various cousins.  Isaac was off at scout camp, so I had Makenna, Jess and Katie.  Beccy joined us later after her piano lessons were finished for the day.  We met up with Kim and the Allens by the animal part.  We wanted to see the gardens for the first time, but still started at the animals out of habit.  I'm afraid Grandma Terry has forever ruined the enticement of pony rides for the girls.  They kind of rolled their eyes at the site of little horses walking around in a circle, but they went ahead and rode to humor mom.  

We also went on the wagon ride all together.  It was awfully bumpy, even on the rather nice gravel roads. I think I would have rather walked as a pioneer than ride for long on those merciless wooden seats.  After the rides were over, we spent some time among the animals.  The kids were all expert at scavenging corn kernels from the ground to feed the animals.   

 The male peacocks were in full show off mode.  They strutted and danced and shook their feathers--which sounds a lot like a rattle snake--but the peahens could not be bothered.

 Not to be out done, the turkeys were puffed up as well.

Sam (barely), Lucy, Katie, Kate, Makenna, (Hyrum, really barely) and Jess watching those peacocks. 

That baby goat was so cute!

The mama goat completely intimidated poor Lucy.

Soft calf and Makenna

Kim is the expert smile producer.

But it's not too hard to make Tommy smile. 

This may or may not be one of my own kids' hands. They all got lost in the grapevines.

After lunch, we went over to the gardens.  We started in the Children's Discovery Garden.  So fun.  Obviously designed by someone who knows children well.  The whole thing was filled with hands-on kid friendly activities.  Signs encouraged kids to roam around, explore and experiment, rather than "stay off the grass".

This was taken inside the bear cave.  Thank goodness for the flash.  It was pitch black without it.  

All the kids took turns riding the mama bear.  We were trying to hold still and be quiet because sparrow parents kept swooping in to feed their babies in a nest on the ceiling, but they were too skittish and never stayed long enough to finish the task.

The kids made good progress toward building a shelter, moving around logs, stumps and rocks.  

Here is a waterway and pond with foam shapes to float.  The girls found a cute little green frog too. 

It was at this spot the Allens and Kim had to leave to go to swimming lessons.  We didn't know it yet, but we were in for a few more hours ourselves.  Each spot we visited held the girls' imaginations.  Beccy and I felt bad moving them along, but there were always more wonders to discover.  This next spot was called "Pebble People".  It was so simple, but the girls could have spent hours there.  There were a couple dozen whimsical houses stuck in the ground (feel free to move them around) with many smooth river rocks.  The girls claimed different houses and made neighborhoods.  Sometimes the rocks were people and rested on roofs and in windows.  Other times the rocks made cobblestone driveways or connecting roads.  So simple.  Someone knows kids.  

Eventually we left the kids' garden, but not before going through the hedge mazes, fed fish in the Koi Pond, played and danced a concert, and explored a hillside.  The girls didn't want to leave, but we convinced them with the lure of one garden name on the adults' side--the Secret Garden.   

The first thing they did when entering "Thanksgiving Gardens" was roll down the hill.  It was smart to put the entrance at a higher elevation.  You walk out and see acres and acres of flowers, lawns and trees. It was gorgeous. 

Katie, Jess and Makenna. There were endless possibilities for picture spots; it was completely overwhelming.  We did aim for the Secret Garden, but passed through the Roses, Fragrance, and a couple others on the way.  When we got to the Secret Garden, it didn't disappoint and we stayed for over an hour.

The fountain felt so refreshing on the warm day.  I'm not sure why Jess bothered rolling up her pants; they got completely soaked, but dried by the time we were back at the truck.

Beccy taught them about how to suck out the nectar from the honeysuckle.  They got hooked.  

They wanted to take pictures coming in through the ivy covered door.  On the outside, the door wasn't covered with ivy, but you had to walk through a honeysuckle covered tunnel.

Makenna hiding in the grass in the Prairie Garden.

Running through the Butterfly Garden.

At this point we have been at Thanksgiving Point for over 7 hours and had another 1/2 hour till we finally left.  The girls were obviously running out of steam, but didn't want to leave.  We made tentative plans to return the following week with Grandma Terry.