General Conference

I tried something new with General Conference. Not an Ashley original idea; just one from Pinterest. I made activity bags with speakers’ faces on them. When it was each speaker’s turn, the kids got to open that bag.

There were activities like a temple lacing card, paint by number, Don’t Eat Pete, Make-it Bake-it’s, Bingo, etc…and most I printed right off of Pinterest. The kids had a BALL! They were bummed when each session got over and couldn’t wait for the next one to start. Kate even commented that she wished we’d do this every General Conference.

 

Truth be told, I heard VERY LITTLE of Conference. Like VERY LITTLE. But I had to assume this was a better way to do it. Dave and I always relisten and reread the talks most mornings so I’ll get to hear the talks again. I just figured if I can make it more enjoyable and memborable for this kids, than it is all worth it. We’ll likely do this again.

Chalk the Block

 

We went to Chalk the Block. While impressed, I was mostly just disgusted. I mean…how many hours must those artists must put into their pieces?! Why they would spend an entire weekend doing that is beyond me. Ugh! Looks like ZERO fun! But bless them anyway. It’s nice to have activities in Utah.

Our kids were thrilled to receive their own complimentary box of sidewalk chalk. We gave them a few minutes to express themselves. You can see Kate wrote her name quite creatively with some sparkles (she actually had to keep moving and starting over because Cole kept taking over her working space). And Cole…he drew lasers! Darling little people!!!

Wicked

Dave and I have seen Wicked a couple of times, but last year when it came to SLC, we were so sad we didn’t take my mom. She’s been dying to see it forever now! When we found out Wicked was returning, we bought tickets a year early so we could bring Grandma and Kate (who also has been dying to see it).

For a whole year, Sister fell asleep to the Wicked soundtrack, memorizing all the songs. As a side note…so weird to me! I would have considered it the world’s biggest torture to listen to musicals every night! Anyway…ALAS, August 23rd (which is Grandma’s birthday) finally came! Time to see the show!

We ate crepes at a café across the street right before the show, and munched on gummy bears, M&M’s, and Mentos throughout the show. It was a great little afternoon and so fun to watch it with my mom, Kel, and my favorite little Broadway girl.

Ball Hunts

Living on a golf course has at least one perk. When Kate’s off to school, Cole and I are hard up for entertainment. What do we do with our time? Go on golf ball hunts. It’s like an Easter egg hunt that I didn’t even have to hide the eggs for! Not only does it fill Cole’s need for fun and games, but it also gives us a nice excuse to go for a walk. We now have nearly two gallon-sized Ziploc bags full. Cole doesn’t know it, but the balls are going to be returned to the Club House in due time (as finding them outside is much for fun than finding them scattered all over the house).