First, can I just say the warm weather was a welcomed experience? Good grief. In the interest of not giving an endless travel log, I thought I would just hit the highlights!
**We went to a fairly new nature center for a walk. It is adjacent to the Santa Clara Golf Course which was washed out in the recent flooding. It was a very short trail as it is new and still under construction. For some reason, we were mostly entertained by the ducks. We were also much relieved we took our allergy medication as the trees were literally showering pollen on us! I've never seen such a thing before. The car was covered in a fine pollen dust. Unfortunately, we forgot my camera in the hotel. I was sad because Ethan was so funny about everything. I was especially proud of him when we went to the fountains to cool off in the water. A cute group of senior citizens (old-timers as Ethan calls them) showed up in their bus. Ethan was quick to go help push one little grandma in her wheelchair so she wouldn't be left behind from the group -- there weren't enough aides. He's growing up so fast; his sweet nature and gentle spirit is guiding him through so many social situations and I couldn't be prouder.
**I wanted to spend some time at the St. George Temple. It has always had a soft spot in my heart because this is where my grandparents were married.
I loved how green the trees were against the white temple. So pretty!
Ethan was so excited about "finding" a little bird quietly sitting on this branch. He was about to climb this tree but stopped at the last minute. The little bird let me take about thirty pictures of him, vain little thing.
All the flowers were in bloom, but the rose garden was just starting to explode.
My dad met us and spent a couple days with us. It was good for Jonathan to decompress with him and talk about the funeral and "a bunch of other stuff".
Once again, we failed to get a "family" picture. It never fails.
I can't really explain this one.
** We also went to a ghost town. I don't really want to discuss the drive there. It was long and treacherous when it didn't need to be, and hard on our marriage. But we finally got there. In a little more than double the length of time than it needed. At any rate, the town has a tragic history of just constant resettlement and endless torment -- whether it be flooding, Indian raids, diphtheria or whatever the case might be. And although a conservation society is in control now, trying to rebuild what is there and restore what buildings remain, you can feel a sadness that permeates the land. I couldn't help but feel remorse for the people who once live there, and what it must have been like to settle that town with hope that maybe this time would be different. Only, it wasn't.
The sadness is there, but at the same time provided a good opportunity to teach Ethan some of my own pioneer ancestry and talk about some of the sacrifices that they freely gave in order to come to this country and Zion for the church. I'm glad we went.
** We spent most of our time loafing around, eating, swimming and spending time as a family. Which is exactly our kind of vacation... and just what we needed so we could finish out the school year!
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