Big Basin State Park

Over the weekend we drove south to Big Basin State Park. I was a bit concerned because I heard the drive was very windy and I get car sick very easily. My fears were correct. The drive up was so windy that although the redwood forest was beautiful, I don’t think I will ever plan to go there again. Mally and I were both so car sick. Coming back I volunteered to drive and that made all the difference for me. I wasn’t sick, but poor Mally still was.

The famous Banana Slug. I heard about this marvel of nature.  I heard that they were native to these forests. I really didn’t care to see one. They just sounded gross and slimy to me. But just as we left our car and ventured into the forest we saw three right away. We saw another one just a while later. The ones we saw were about 5 inches long. I read they can grow up to 9 inches. Gross.

Exploring the Exploratorium

Since we’ve been here we haven’t gone into SF. There are so many things to do close by our place I haven’t felt a need to drive into SF. But it would be totally lame to live so close to this amazing city and not see some of its sights. Today I braved the city and took the girls to the Exploratorium. All by myself, mind you! It’s pretty much a straight shot up highway 101 from our place. As we got closer to the big city and traffic got heavier I had to take some deep breaths and give myself a little pep talk that I can to this. I only made one wrong turn after we got off the freeway. I was so focused on watching for street names that I forgot my right from my left. I quickly turned around and got going in the correct direction. When I stopped at a light I wrote “L” and “R” on my hands. I know it sounds lame, but you do what you got to do sometimes. And it worked, I didn’t make that mistake again.

Before leaving UT I bought a membership (only $35) to the Museum of Natural History at the U. That membership gets us in for free at a bunch of museums around here. The Exploratorium is an AMAZING museum and I can’t pass up going for free. The museum is loaded with kid-friendly exhibits. We could spend days there. We’ll definitely go back. Next time with Stephen. I think he would really like all the science exhibits.

This sculpture is made out of toothpicks and it took the artist 35 years to complete. It’s called “Rolling Around the Bay” and it depicts different sights around the Bay. It’s interactive and you can put ping pong balls in it and they roll around. Hence the name “Rolling Around…” It was quite the sight to behold.

 

This was an interesting display about human perception. The toilet had a drinking fountain spigot attached and a caption that read, “The water in this drinking fountain is perfectly clean, and the toilet has never been used. So why do people often hesitate before taking a drink? Strong emotional associations with objects or people can make it difficult to act rationally around them.”

So true. After I read the caption Eva went to take a drink and I unconsciously blurted out “Eva don’t. That’s gross.”

Another plus of the museum is its location. It is located adjacent to an architectural beauty. I felt like I was back in Europe.

A nice guy offered to take our picture. Visual proof that I really did go too.

I Love to see the Temple and the View from it

Sunday afternoon we drove to the temple to tour the visitor center and temple grounds. It’s the first time that any of us have been there. It’s beautiful and the view of the bay and cites below is amazing.

Of course my photo of the view doesn’t do it the least amount of justice. A better camera and the ability to take a decent picture would have helped.

What If I Won This?

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris/

Happy, Happy Mally

The Birthday Fairy visited in the night and turned Mally 6 years old. She was so excited to see the 6 on her forehead to prove it.

We spent her birthday weekend in Sacramento with cousins. She got to play with all their wonderful toys, open a few presents, go to Fairytale Towne with her cousins and shared her mint brownie birthday “cake”. The girls enjoy hanging out with the cousins, especially Dallin. He lets the girls sit and watch him do Legos. They think it’s great.

Back at the apartment we did a little decorating and made a balloon banner and gave her the rest of her gifts (a coloring book, glitter glue, a beach pail and glow stick wands).

Kung Fu Panda Day

With the release of Kung Fu Panda 2 this weekend, DreamWorks dubbed this "Kung Fu Panda Day." We got to go to the office and join in on the party. They had lunch for all and activities for the kids. For entertainment they had martial artists perform a Kung Fu demonstration. It was all very cool.Go see it. Robert Ebert gave the movie 3 1/2 stars.

The Perks

Stephen began work at DreamWorks yesterday. He likes it. The job comes with some nice perks. One perk is free breakfast and lunch everyday. Stephen loves this idea so much I am worried he will be so pleased with the food he will tell them he doesn’t need a pay check the free food is payment enough. Another perk is that Friday is family day and family can come and eat too. This Friday there’s a family BBQ. We were told family can come really any day and enjoy lunch.

Tonight we enjoyed another perk, free movie screenings. We all got to go to the office and see Kung Fu Panda 2. I had to sign a non-disclosure statement so I can’t say much about the movie. But I will say, I laughed. I cried. I was thoroughly entertained. I found myself smiling so much my cheeks were hurting (that’s been happening a lot lately). I loved the moral of the story. I totally recommend it. We all loved it.

Eva posing as Tigress.

We got to see it in 3D. Very cool.