Musée d'Histoire Naturelle

Although we are now back home, I still have some Paris posts to catch up on. (I know I have over a year's worth of life to catch up on, but that is overwhelming, so...  I'm going with it.)

We returned to the Jardin des Plantes to visit the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, otherwise known as the Natural History Museum.

I enjoy the design of the museum.

Something about this entrance was so pleasing to me. I love the window with the writing on it: "Mammals and Fish."

There are four floors of exhibit space, plus the basement. We skipped two of them entirely.

whale skeleton as seen through a porthole

Lucas and Max indulged Eva by coming along - I don't know that either of them really cared to revisit this museum (from past trips) - but they did seem to enjoy it.

The basement had a special exhibit called La Nuit (Night). It covered everything from space to nocturnal animals and the different ways they use their senses to sleep to... well, you'll see.

Eva reading about sleep

these "bogeymen" only show up when the lights dim

Evidently, no exhibit about Night would be complete without a display of items used to ward off vampires.

I didn't know there were so many!

Lucas taking the "Are You a Werewolf?" test. 

And finally, a place where you could see what your shadow would look like if you were a werewolf.

My werechildren.

All in all, a pretty fun day. Especially since there were no complaints to be had from Eva!

five for Friday

1. Glitter glue is Eva's favorite thing right now. She dug up a box of about 50 different colors that we had given to the boys for Christmas years ago, and most of them were still unopened. They have all been used up now!

I don't know whether it's the bright colors, the sparkles, or the 3D texture that appeals to her most, but in any case it's all good. You never know if glitter glue will inspire a butterfly or a brontosaurus. Now if only it could last a little longer...

2. Marc's sister Lisa's family is in town again from California. She called around 6:45 on Tuesday night and invited us to join them at Sweet Tomatoes in Sandy. It was Sam's 10th birthday and he'd been riding in the car all day -- all he wanted was to eat dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. We hadn't eaten yet and Marc was out for the night, so we jumped in the car and drove to Sandy. The cousins had a great time running wild (!). We got home at 9:30 and the kids went right to bed (Lucas even had a sleepover with Eva, to her everlasting delight).

And this, my friends, is my version of being spontaneous. I'm not even kidding.

3. I finally decided to order some e.l.f. cosmetics when I got an email coupon from them for 5 free items. I'm loving everything I got! The mineral foundation and powder are great, ditto the facial whip and all-over color stick. I am loving the lip glosses, and I'm usually a lipliner/lipstick kind of girl. They just look so natural, they don't feel too sticky, and they just feel right for summer. I even got compliments on my makeup at book club the other night, what in the world? (haven't tried the nail polish yet)

4. Max spotted this ladybug on the bushes in front of our house. I love it! And I love it when these bushes are in bloom, they are so cheerful and bright.

5. It definitely started feeling like summer this week. It's been hot! Our neighbors got out their shave ice machine and I gave the kids some quarters to go buy some.

I loved the way Lucas and Eva were sitting and enjoying it, and I even caught them sharing! Moments like this make me love being their mother. (Oh, and Lucas got his hair cut this morning -- that's another one of those moments!)

Snowbird 2009

Last week was our annual Snowbird trip (Marc's parents have a timeshare). Most of our vacations involve one of our sets of parents! It's nice to know that we have a guaranteed vacation, and the kids look forward to this one all year.

The packing for these local kinds of trips can be intense, as we have to bring food, games, movies, etc., but it's also nice that it only takes about an hour to get there! Marc joined us for the weekend but returned home for the week because he is teaching Spring term.

We bought our own set of Bananagrams before leaving and it got a LOT of use during the week. I love games that kids and adults can all enjoy. Lucas started out making one or two words per game but he has quickly improved and is now making crosswords with the best of them. (incidentally, that is not a real game in the photo, the kids were just seeing if they could use up all the tiles)

Marc's sister Michelle brought a new 500-piece puzzle, much to my delight. I just love puzzles, and for me that is an ultimate vacation activity. The older kids joined in as well, and we finished it so quickly I was wishing I had thought to bring another. (It's so appropriate that it was a Paris puzzle, since Michelle's family will be visiting us there this fall!)

This is crazy Lucas, eating a huge piece of lettuce. I had to document him eating vegetables, since there are so few he likes. (Note the keyboard behind him. Bob & Mim brought it up for the kids. Bob, Max, and Nicole practiced some pieces for piano/violin/cello -- Max said he couldn't leave his cello behind -- but sadly, I didn't get any photos of that. Marc did, though.)

I made homemade donuts on Saturday night for the whole crew. I made 1 1/2 batches, which made a LOT of donuts! I didn't count them all, but I think there were something like 50? Max helped me with the rolling and cutting and Kristen was my glazer while I fried. I wish I had photos of them, but as I was elbow-deep in donuts, I couldn't take any.

Marc's sister Lisa and her family joined us from California (they don't come every year), and my kids had a great time spending time with the cousins they rarely get to see.

Swimming is always a highlight. This year we had so much rain all week, we had to dash out to swim whenever the rain stopped! I finally got wise and bought my kids rash guards this year -- the sun up there (11000 feet) is super-intense and we always get sunburned -- not this time!

Nicole and Kristen playing one of many games of chicken

Even our niece Michelle (yes, we have ANOTHER Michelle in the family!) was able to come from Idaho with her two cute little ones, Genevieve and Kody.

Grandma & Grandpa joined us for a swim on our last day. The air was really cold, but fortunately the water was very warm. We decided to get out when the thunder started, but we still didn't escape being rained on as we ran back inside (that happened twice!).

Grandma, Eva, Max, Kristen, Greg, Lucas, and Dana indulged me by stopping for a photo even though they were all shivering violently from the cold rain.

Eva and Dana are only four months apart in age (despite the height difference), and they played really well together. Dana has a lifejacket and swims around totally independently. I thought it was a great idea, so I bought one for Eva -- not surprisingly, she was not ready to be quite so independent...

On Tuesday, the adults went down to the Jordan River temple to do sealings with family names. At first, I was hesitant to leave Snowbird (once we get there, I like to stay), but it ended up being a delightful pocket of peace in the noise and chaos of the week.

Lisa and Rob's son James (he goes by Jazz) came with us, and it was amazing to me to see one of my nephews in the temple -- how did this happen?

Bob & Mim are in a branch of special-needs missionaries in Salt Lake, and they arranged an interview for Jazz. He met with the mission president, branch president, and stake president during the week and was set apart as a missionary! It all went so fast, I couldn't believe it. Now he will return to CA for three weeks to gather what he needs and will return to start his mission in early July. He will be in the same branch as his grandparents, which suits them all wonderfully well.

Nicole left on Wednesday morning to go on Trek. She looked so cute in her pioneer gear! While she didn't seem too nervous, I was nervous for her, especially with all the rain in the forecast. I haven't gotten the report yet on how it all went.

I thought Max and Kristen would be a bit lonely after Nicole left, but interestingly, they just started hanging out together. That's a new cousin combo, and they seemed to have a great time during the rest of the week going on photo expeditions and the like.

I made two dinners while we were there, and I had forgotten how much longer everything takes to cook at such a high altitude. Crazy. It's also difficult to prepare food with only twelve inches of counter space! (this particular meal was cilantro-lime chicken with tomato/avocado/green onion relish and yellow rice)

Last night as I made Amy S.'s coconut shrimp for dinner, I reveled in having plenty of counter space and a butcher block for food prep!

I am officially in love with the different greens in the mountains -- the vibrant aspens, just leafed out, and the deeper evergreens. Such a marvelous view. Michelle and I worked out in the spa on the 9th floor nearly every morning, and I loved looking out at all the trees as I pedaled or walked.



We never what we would see when we looked out -- while we didn't get any snow, we did get plenty of rain, hail, mist, and fog, sometimes all we could see was white! It was amazing how quickly it all changed and I loved watching the clouds blow in and out.

Aunt Michelle taught Eva and Dana to play Uno. She has got a lot of patience! They loved it, and Eva later told me, "Mom! We have got to get this game!" She was thrilled when I told her that we already have that game. (We all played it last night, and it was hilarious. At one point, Eva said, "I have cuatro!")

On Thursday night, Rob offered to stay with all of the kids while the women went out to dinner. We went downstairs to the Mexican cantina and had a great time eating and laughing together. I gathered everyone for a post-dinner self-portrait. (I'm horrified by this photo, but am including it for historical purposes anyway.) Aren't they beautiful?

We had to check out on Friday morning, but the Sorensons stayed until Saturday because they checked in later than the rest of us. Lucas was having such a great time with Sam and Greg and was definitely loathe to leave. We had the van all packed up and were ready to leave when his cousins entreated him to stay with them. After a moment's hesitation, and after verifying that that was indeed a viable possibility, we pulled out his swimsuit and toothbrush and left him for an additional day at Snowbird. The look of incredulous joy on his face was priceless!

self-portrait with Michelle just prior to leaving

See you next year, Snowbird!