Thursday, I callously left my kids with my mom and made the long drive up to Snowbird's Cliff Lodge, where the conference was being held. I got there with plenty of time before my session, but not quite enough time to attend the preceding session, but I ran into a friend and spent the time chatting instead. Possibly not quite as productive, but definitely more fun. Our presentation went well, and afterward I had lunch with another friend (currently a professor at Utah State), Keith Gibson. It was fun to see him--more fun to catch up on what he and his family have been up to since we last saw them in State College. Afterward, I went to more sessions, and then headed home.
The ride home wound up being unexpectedly adventurous: I'd been pretty stupid and forgot to check the gas gauge before heading up the mountain. This, combined with the 3 hour drive north the day before, meant that I was confronted with an empty gas tank as I pulled out of the parking lot. And of course, the ski resort didn't have any kind of gas station--luckily, the nice workers that I queried told me that I could buy a gallon of gas (for $4 a gallon--a steal compared to the inevitable cost of a tow truck if I didn't get gas, and that soon) from their mechanic shop, which I duly proceeded to do. I had had some bright idea that I could avoid the construction I'd encountered on my way up if I took I-215 (as a bonus, I might be able to stop by Fashion Place mall and check the clearance rack at Janie and Jack!). However, I wound up on the wrong street and, after meandering through SLC for a while, eventually found both the mall and the freeway on-ramp. First, of course, I had to find more gas. I find it strange how gas stations always seem to be plentiful when you don't need them, but take forever to find when you do!
At any rate, I made it home safely. Before the trip, I had virtuously supposed I'd spend two days working and one day playing with my kids; after the long commute up the canyon I decided that one day working was enough. On Friday, I took the kids to the Hogle Zoo, since we had long been promising Andrew he could see the baby elephant. It was a bit of an adventure, since it was just me and the two kids, but Andrew was actually pretty good. Of course, we had to ride the train (picture below, not that you can tell we're on the train) and the carousel. (I couldn't get any decent pictures on the carousel, since I had to hold Evelyn up. I'm still not sure if she enjoyed it or not).
The baby elephant, Zuri, who at two months or so already outweighs Dan.
I think Andrew liked the playground at the end as well as anything else, and was rather sad when I told him we had to go (since we wanted to stop by and see Dan's sister Sarah and her kids). We spent the afternoon playing with cousins, then headed back home and my two exhausted kids both fell asleep in the car.Evelyn had her first introduction to spaghetti at her grandparents' house. Not surprisingly, she loved it. And made a mess.
Saturday morning, Jeni brought her kids by for a brief visit before we headed home. Andrew, Emi, and Jacob took a rather novel approach to playing house, by using some empty shelves as bunk beds. They were pretty pleased with themselves; grandpa, when he heard, was considerably less pleased!
We made it home last night--I for one, was exceedingly glad to be home. The absence, brief as it was, made me appreciate having Dan around to help with the kids, particularly at bedtime and in the early mornings. We had a fairly leisurely morning: Andrew and Evelyn danced for us. (Evelyn, incidentally, loves music.) For your viewing pleasure, we include a brief clip of their dancing.
2 comments:
I had that same CD (well, cassette) when I was growing up. How funny! Brings back memories... Cute to see your little dancers! Glad your "low gas tank" adventure turned out fine!
What a horrible low gas tank episode. It is amazing how plentiful gas stations are when you don't need them, and how scarce when you really do. At least you did get back, and it looks like the zoo was great fun. I also had to smile when I heard the music because we had a record of that song when I was a child and I remember loving to dance to that song as well. Andrew does quite the pirouette!
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