Cactus and Tropicals

Did you know that when I asked you if you wanted me to continue my spotlights of my favorite places around Salt Lake, not one person commented in the affirmative? Well, forgive me while I ignore you for a few more posts because I already have pictures that I want to share with you.  I think even if you don't live in Salt Lake, you'll still like getting a glimpse of these places.

Today's spotlight is Cactus and Tropicals.  I never would have discovered this place on my own, but my friend Faith brought me there two years ago when she gave me a tour of a few of her favorite places around the city. It is a must see.

 When you step through those doors shown above, this is what welcomes you.

 and inside that little house is all manner of cute, seasonal gifts.

 And did I mention the pumpkins and gourds that they have right now? They make me swoon.

 You'll spot them artfully displayed all over the place.

 Oh, and their big variety of bulbs are also not to be missed.

 Don't you want to start stuffing one of their cute shopping wagons full of interesting bulbs right now?

 Not to mention the cacti, the tropicals, and all the other lovely plants around the store.  Wouldn't these Hydrangea cheer up just about anyone you know who is sick?

And as long as your in the neighborhood, you better stop by The House of Bread across the street to get yourself a treat.  You'll be glad that you did, I promise.

PS-sorry for the phone pictures, sooner or later I'll remember to stuff my real camera in my bag.

Off to School

Creed went to a six-week preschool program this summer to get the hang of things, but we moved him to a new preschool in our neighborhood, and he was a little bit nervous.  He loved his old teacher and he wasn't looking forward to the switch.  We had an orientation day to walk through the classroom together and meet the teachers.

 One of my best friends moved to the neighborhood and her daughter, Malan, is in Creed's class.

 Creed has two new teachers, Miss Lynn

 And Miss Becky

 And yep, Creed got right to work dressing up like a princess with Malan (most of Creed's friends are girls, so he often has the opportunity to play princess)

 and drawing

 and playing with dinosaurs

 And trying out the playground

 The first day of school he was still a little nervous, but he was excited to go play with Malan

 He had to bring a binder and he made sure his was yellow

 I tried to get a picture of him outside of school, and his poses cracked me up.

 Hey Ladies!

 What's up?

 He's cool

 He walked right into class

 gave us each a quick hug goodbye

 And started playing with Malan

He's at school for a few hours three days a week, and I love having a little one-on-one time with Ollie and a chance to run errands, but we really miss Creed!

Green Day

After celebrating Yellow and Red Days, the boys asked which color we were going to do next.  After some debate, they agreed on Green so over a month ago (Boy, I am behind) we celebrated Green Day at our house.  This time another friend, Jesse, joined the party. Of course everyone wore green, and Creed and Jesse even painted their hair green (and yes, Creed's hair was green after several baths, which pleased him)

 We started out reading Green Eggs and Ham and as you can tell, they thought it was hilarious.

 Then I sent them on a green treasure hunt.  Since none of them can read, I drew simple clues with arrows pointing to where they would find the next clue and every few clues they would find green treasure with the clue.  It worked out well, even though I scribbled the clues as the boys were arriving.

It was so cute to watch them figure things out on their own.

 They ended up with all sort of things Creed had selected the day before at the party store and the dollar store, like these green suckers and awesome star glasses.

 and green bubbles that smell like watermelon.

 By the time they finished the treasure hunt, Larry showed up with balloons for everyone.

 Next we played with Jesse's two pet turtles (and then washed our hands very well)

 and then the boys each painted a green alligator.

 Of course lunch was all green, including lettuce wraps for the moms.

 And after lunch the boys played with green jello jigglers

 and we had a green cake for dessert (I picked this up the night before at Smith's, and I think it's funny that they made it with the eyes upside down)

 It turned Creed into a green monster.

 So then we needed to wear our monster masks from the treasure hunt and dance to the Monster Mash

 Which lead to playing outside with the rest of their treasures.

 Even the little brothers seemed to enjoy Green Day

 It was quite the party.  I think the boys really had a lot of fun.

 The night ended for our family with salad for dinner and then a glow stick party in Creed's bed.

Now that Creed and Tyler have opposite Preschoool schedules, we're missing our neighbors!

Oh, PS_I stole several of these pictures from Carlye's blog

29 New Things

I've mentioned it here before, but I have a birthday tradition; every year, I take the age that I'm turning and try at least that many new things during the year.  I know this will be more of a challenge every year, but I'm looking forward to finding out what 75 new things I will try when I'm 75.  I think it will keep life interesting.

For some reason I have not posted the list of new things that I tried the last two years, and I greatly regret it because those lists are lost with my old hard drive (Booooo!).  So here is my list of 29 new things that I tried over the last year (although I added on a few extra because I cheated by listing a few that were not really by choice)

1.  Appeared on live TV

2.  Had a second baby

3.  Was pregnant without Gestational diabetes

4.  Watched my little brother get married

5.  Celebrated Yellow Day

6.  Made Lisa a string scavenger hunt

7.  Saw a movie at the Sundance Film Festival

8.  Used a Moby Wrap (Thanks Melinda!)

9.  Designed my own Card line

10.  Moved from a house back to an apartment

11.  Saw A Banksy in person

12.  Toured the Homestead Crater

13.  Grew Wheat Grass

14.  Ate at the chow truck

15.  Made Strop Waffles

16.  Made Surprise Balls

17.  Threw a villain party

18.  Spent a weekend with friends at Bear Lake

19.  Waded in the Great Salt Lake on Antelope Island

20.  Had something I designed carried at the MOMA gift shop! (can you believe it?)

21.  Lost my hard drive

22.  Took my kids to the drive-in

23.  Met the author and illustrator of Babymouse

24.  Bought peonies

25.  Planted a lemon tree

26.  Made a rootbeer float cake

27.  Pretended to be the Binky Fairy

28.  Trained some Easter bunnies

29.  Made a Max costume

30.  Made fortune walnuts

31.  Searched Salt Lake for the best Doughnuts

32.  Joined a grown-up book club

33.  Collected all the letters to spell Abracadabra in Creed's room

34.  Played Secret Agent and slipped Larry secret message capsules

I've already started on my 30 new things for this year.  I can't wait to see what the year will bring . . .

30 is looking pretty good from here

I have to say, 30 might have been my loveliest birthday ever thanks to my thoughtful husband and friends.  At the end of my birthday, as we were laying in bed Larry said that he forgot to mention he had one more gift for me.  Hmmmmm . . .   He said he arranged for him mom to babysit that Saturday so we could go out to dinner.  Grown-ups only dates are VERY rare for us indeed so I was excited.  Plus there are a few restaurants in Provo that I have been dying to try so I figured that thoughtful boy must have had one of those in mind.

Oh, I was wrong.  There was a much better surprise in store for me.  I looked at him quizzically as we drove past the restaurants that I thought he had in mind.  We finally pulled up to Rock Canyon Park, and I knew something was up, but I did not expect to turn a corner to this site!

It was incredible! There was this beautiful set up and some of my dearest friends ready for five courses of desserts under this canopy of trees.  Of course, Lisa was the mastermind behind this surprise (I love you Larry, but I'm not sure that you could have put this together on your own) and Melinda teamed up with Lisa and made ALL of those desserts (and they were really, really good)

I didn't have my camera with me because I wasn't expecting all of this so I stole these photos from Lisa.

I couldn't believe it when they told me this was all a last minute change of plans because of strong winds that made their original site, Squaw Peak, impossible.   Everything was perfect, and I've been to this park by my parents' house a million times and never even knew this spot was there.

It all felt so magical.  Who wouldn't love to watch a beautiful sunset while sitting in a park eating dessert, talking with your best mates, and laughing until your stomach hurts?

I can't say thank you enough for this magical birthday surprise.  You guys are the best!