Flat-Out Fun

 I love school holidays.  Today, Presidents' Day, I ended up with the entire Magnificent Seven in the car with me, bound for the Natural History Museum.  I took my captive audience to numerous photo-op spots to capture Flat Mitchell and Flat Miles having fun with their Utah cousins.  You know Flat Stanley, right?  And you remember Mitchell and Miles from last summer.  Well, their flat counterparts have had a good time in Utah over the past week.  We feel a little sad that we don't have a Flat Lucy to accompany her brothers!

At the museum, everyone saw the history of chocolate exhibit except for me.  I saw the Back of Tziporah's Darting Head exhibit.  Her goal was to run far enough away from me that I couldn't see her, then casually put her hands behind her back and stroll around.  As I trailed her, it was entertaining to watch people's reactions to a solo baby on the loose.  (It was even more funny when Xanthe did it as a baby, because many people would completely ignore me, anxiously looking around for a parent who "matched" Xanthe.  I always thought it was amusing.)  I didn't mind not being able to look at anything.  I get the whole history of chocolate:  it's a bean, it was harvested and reserved for royalty, now it appeals to the masses.  All I can say is, I am very grateful I live in a time when chocolate is available to everyone!

 Today also proved to be the perfect time to take Mitchell and Miles to the Great Salt Lake.  Have I mentioned I LOVE school holidays!?  Especially those where all the other stuff is also cancelled.  For this excursion, I could only get half of the kids to go with me, but they were glad they did.  The light out there incredible!  I had to laugh, though, because we got halfway across the causeway when I noticed that I was almost out of gas.  Really, who drives to a deserted island on empty?  I am a lot smarter than I act.  Or something like that.

It turned out to be rather perfect, the gas emergency, because we parked on the causeway instead of driving all the way to the island.  Right there was a sandy little nook where we took all those sublime pictures and enjoyed a spectacular sunset.  The colors were incredible, the balmy weather hinted of spring, and there were no brine flies.    Yes, we will be going out there again, so if you want to come with, send me a paper effigy of yourself and I can show you around.  You may want to think about laminating yourself, because there is a good chance you'll dip your toes in.  You may even want to see if it's true about being able to float in that salty brine...

 

 Throwing rocks, trying to "beat his high score."

 Footnote:  we made it to Maverick, then swung by Grandma and Grandpa's for ice cream.  Tanks full on all counts to end the day.