Summoning Powers

The kids love to play the Alphabet Game while we're driving.  The very best place to play this is on State Street because it has an abundance of signs.  They can usually get through the whole alphabet four to five times on the way to Provo.

We were driving to the art museum and the kids were stuck on the letter Q right around University Mall.

Me: Man, it would be helpful if we saw a Quick Quack car wash right about now.

Five seconds later, the electronic billboard to my left displayed an ad for Quick Quack Car Wash.  I didn't even know that was one of their options!

The kids laughed the rest of the way to the museum.

On the way back, the kids were now stuck on the letter as we approached the mall.

Miles: Mom, we really need you to use your summoning powers right now.

Me: (willing to play along, but clearly expecting nothing) X! Give us an X!

Five seconds later, the electronic billboard displayed an ad for FanX, our local ComicCon.

They were able to get through the whole alphabet very quickly while we were stopped at University Parkway and State Street.  It's a long stoplight by a lot of stores.  However, they got stuck at Q yet again.

Miles, Molly, and Elliott:  Mom!  Summon Quick Quack car wash again.

Me: (mildly spooked at this point, but still willing to play along): I summon thee, Quick Quack Car Wash.

Five seconds later, what did we see?  The Quick Quack Car Wash ad.

I was also able to save us when we were stuck on the letter Q again, but this time it was because we drove past the actual Quick Quack Car Wash :)

 

The kids think I am magic.  I have no magic powers, but it was pretty cool!

Party Like It's 1899

 I can't tell you how excited I am that the MOA is throwing exhibit opening parties again.  I love art museums and I love a free party :)  The MOA throws great ones!  Their most recent exhibit is of 19th century French posters so the party was themed around fin-du-siècle Paris.

They had eclairs and Chex Mix for snacks, and also water that Elliott kicked over (as you can see from the giant puddle)

Look at that perfect entryway!

The very smart museum had a scavenger hunt.  Miles was excited because even though he hasn't learned much French yet, he has learned numbers and months and those showed up a lot.

So many fun posters!

They were also screening Voyage to the Moon, a French movie from 1904.  I watched this movie when I took French and Italian Cinema in college so it was fun to see it again. At first the kids were not into it but then, the weird frog aliens showed up!

Also, a weird bullet rocket hit the moon in the eye.  It's a weird movie, y'all.

They had really fun craft projects.  We made origami Eiffel Towers!

We also got to paint magnets that look like French landmarks.  I made Notre Dame, and then the kids made Eiffel Towers and the Arc de Triomphe.

Dancing Again

After a whole year and a half away, Molly's dance class is finally back up and running!  She's dancing with the fourth and fifth graders this year and it's so nice to see her dancing again.

It's hard to see her in these photos, but I didn't have a great angle.  She has dance twice a week in Provo so we're trying to figure out a car pool.

Heritage Days

One of my favorite city events is the Pleasant Grove Heritage Days.  They bring out a lot of activities from around the time the city was founded in the 1850s.  They spread them all out across multiple parks so they could distance a little more this year and it was a ton of fun!

We walked in and the log sawing and branding didn't have a line.  That basically never happens so we hopped on over!

Stilts are tricky, but also fun!  Miles got the hang of it pretty well by the end.

Pioneer photo booth!

Pioneer games!

I'm pretty sure that a slackline is not pioneer entertainment.  Molly was sad that it was set up for taller people.

This woman did an amazing hoop routine to a Lindsey Sterling song.

The pot-bellied pig and the alpaca were darling at the petting zoo.

I gave Miles my phone and asked him to take pictures while I was waiting in line for the peaches and ice cream and he was taking the kids to the children's game, and these are the ones I got.

Some extremely kind volunteers dressed up in period clothes and ran around the park as "escaped criminals" and let the kids catch them and put them in jail.  It looked exhausting.

Panning for gold!

Playground time.

Heritage Days is always in September so the traditional treat is peaches and ice cream.

                                           

The other traditional treat is donuts from the Lions Club.  I wanted us to get them on the way out but they were sold out by the time they got there.  Some kind people saw a very disappointed Elliott and gave us their last two donuts!  It was so very nice of them.

Her Big Break

Molly recently decided that she really wanted to make a pinata and that she would make one for my birthday.  She made this about 96% on her own, and the only thing she couldn't do was cut the very thick cardboard she used on her own.

She used crepe paper to decorate and made this adorable heart pinata!

It was honestly very hard to break!  It took all five of us and my parents several turns.

We eventually got just enough open to get the candy out, and then Gerrit moved it to the front yard to see if he could get more on a different tree.

Did she make a pinata just to get lots of candy?  The world may never know :)