Pleasantly Surprised!

Natalie was invited to a birthday party at the local Aquarium. I have been curious about this strange aquarium out in the middle of the desert. (o: We have been used to the beautiful Newport aquarium right by the ocean and the Hatfield Marine Science Center. I wondered how a Utah aquarium could hold up. Because it was Priesthood session night for spring General Conference, I asked Isabella's mom (Isabella was the birthday girl) if she would mind me bringing the other two girls and paying for ourselves and keeping our distance so as not to disrupt the party. It sounded like a fun outing for all of us while daddy attended his meeting. (With his dad and brother this time! A fun perk to being in Utah!) Isabella's mom was so sweet and insisted we all join the party as they had lots of extra tickets. As we parked in the parking lot of the aquarium - which is in a building that used to be an old Zurchers craft store if I remember right, I was not expecting anything that exciting. But I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised! It was a very nice aquarium and seemed much bigger than I would have guessed. I have always been fascinated by marine life and still am. I enjoyed every minute of our time there. They really had some neat displays including a little petting area where the kids could pet rays. We saw all kinds of unusual creatures and fun displays.

Natalie and Angela hiding in a cave with Jane and Audrey.

Sarah snuggling with a starfish.

I LOVED the jellyfish room. They are such beautiful creatures.

I have to say, I was very surprised how much I enjoyed the aquarium and even want to go back. The girls and I decided we have to bring daddy to see it. It sounds like they will continue to expand, which is exciting to me. I felt so at home near all the ocean life. It was like a little piece of Oregon to me. I sure miss being close to the beautiful ocean.

After our birthday adventure, we met up with my mom, Chrissy and Tina and her kiddos for dinner at a fun bakery. We had a girls night while the men were gone. In Utah it is a little trickier doing this because there are so many other ladies with the same idea! There were several other groups of women doing the same thing. After a fun dinner, we headed to grandma's for our traditional painting of our nails. It was fun to include cousins and aunt Chrissy in this tradition we've always had when daddy went to the Priesthood session.

Later, we somehow ended up watching silly commercials on YouTube and laughing our heads off. Good times.