No choir, no shows, no travel, no field trips, no school, no office, no zoo, no park, no pool, no parties, no friends. But I want to focus on remembering and sharing what we did get to do. Like many, many people, we cancelled our Spring break plans. Instead we did a staycation and tried to find local hikes and adventures that our kids could enjoy while keeping our distance from others. I think Antelope Island has proven to be their favorite. In fact, they liked it so much we've been two times in March.
 |
| I spy with my little eye Paul's green gloved hands... |
They liked hiking to Buffalo Point and climbing all over the rocks there. We played hide and seek in the rocks and found some really great little nooks to hide in. Then we went out and enjoyed the briny beach. In the early Spring there aren't any nasty little marsh flies, so it was much more pleasant than I remember from my childhood.
We also visited the Salt Lake Shoreline Preserve where we saw ducks and a few bees who were quite interested in my backpack. We just showed Paul all three of the real Indiana Jones movies, so he is pretty into adventures, exploring, and wearing my hat.
On our way home from the Shoreline we saw the house where we had our wedding reception and we couldn't resist stopping for a picture with the kids.
Our last big outdoor adventure was a mixed bag to be sure. We were pretty much the only people on the mountain at the time, but there was good reason for that. First of all, it snowed the night before. Secondly, it was in the 30-40 degree range all that day. But we went ahead and hiked to Patsy's Mine anyway.
It started well, with high spirits and lovely views. Then a little black snow cloud came and hovered right over us and we got stuck in the midst of a small but enthusiastic flurry. Around this time Laszlo started complaining of stomach pain and needed to be carried.
Paul believed we wouldn't make it to the cave and we would die in a blizzard. He doesn't really know what a blizzard is.
Well, we made it to the mine. We pulled out our flashlights and started exploring, avoiding puddles as best we could.
Laszlo got scared of the dark tunnels, Lee hit his head, and Paul had a blast. We decided to take a break at the cave entrance, but it was at that time that Laszlo's stomach ache turned into a very stinky emergency that involved Lee running to the car to bring it further along the dirt road so we wouldn't have to walk as far to get to the essential diaper change. Laszlo had to ride home wrapped in Lee's jacket and nothing else.
But hey, we made it! And as we face unprecedented, odd, and often frightening times, just remember the lesson I've learned from this adventure and many others: Sometimes the worst experiences make for the best stories!
