Book Ends and Rides

This day went much better than yesterday!  Lennard woke up feeling much better and got us all going so we could go to Temple Square! I was ready to call it off and tell him we'd do it another time, but I'm so grateful we didn't. 

Our first stop was at the Visitor's Center. The kids really wanted to go touch the temple first, but as they walked up the ramp and caught their first glimpse of the Christus, my heart melted to see the wonder in their eyes. Ben started crying and sat with me on a bench.  He kept saying, "Mom, I feel the Holy Spirit!" It was such a tender moment.  Emma walked right up to the statue and reverently reached out and touched the nail prints in his feet. It made it all worth it. I pray that they will always remember the feelings of love and awe that they showed today. We were able to get a family picture taken together and then we went downstairs and explored some of the displays there.

 We did have a funny moment when Emma turned to Lennard and asked, "Is that Jesus frozen in carbonite?"

There was a movie playing downstairs and I really couldn't tell you what it was about now, but the music playing was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing, "Come, Come Ye Saints". Both Lennard and I got teary eyed as Nauvoo memories came flooding in.

 After the Visitors Center we walked over to the temple and the kids got to touch the temple walls. They climbed the stairs and we took few pictures. It's a marvel to look at the craftsmanship of temples - especially the ones built by the early pioneers. Their sacrifice is on our minds after being in Nauvoo and portraying the building of the temple there.

We then got to do a tour of the Church Office Building and then the Conference Center. The kids weren't overly excited to go to the Conference Center, but once we got inside, they loved it!  We got to walk all the way to the front. Ben got a little nervous when we made it to the very top and looked out on 21000 seats! We toured the roof top gardens and got a family picture there too.

George A Smith - the apostle Lennard got to play in the pageants

 By then, the kids were itching to get back to go to Lagoon. We stopped at a Walmart on the way back and got some lunch at the deli. After we ate, we headed over to the park.  The kids had an absolute blast! Some rides they went on 3 or 4 times in a row!

The only ride we had a long wait for was the Log Flume. We tried to keep the weight at the back so we wouldn't get as wet.  Ben wanted to hide at the very back so just before we started climbing, Lennard popped back and the three of us squished into the back seat and left Emma in the front. Funny enough, Lennard got wetter than any of us! We played until about 5:30 and then headed back to the trailer to get swimsuits on.  I've been fighting a cold and was completely worn out, so Lennard took the kids to the waterpark while I rested. They were gone until just after 8:00.  No one had had anything to eat but they wanted to keep going! They changed again and we headed back into the park to go on a few more rides. They told me how much fun they had swimming.  Lennard said if we ever go again we all need water shoes though.  The bottom of the pool was quite rough.

We finished the night off on the giant ferris wheel.  Ben got quite nervous on it being up so high. He was happy to get off! They were sad that the rides closed and would have kept going if they could. It was almost 10:30 by the time we got back to the trailer! It has been such a great day!