Festivus for the Restivus

Today we braved the Festival of Trees. Since this is not only a journal, but a reminder of things, please note Maleen, to NOT attend on Saturday afternoon, since that seems to be when the rest of Utah decides to attend as well. I'm glad Tyler was in charge of parking, because it was a Darwinian experience—definitely survival of the fittest, or pushiest.

Once inside we started touring the trees. We all came with an item in mind (I SPY style, as Deanne puts it) and then we set to work locating our goal. Robyn found hers first. (Not surprising since she choose a snowflake.)



June was distraught that we didn't find hers right away, but we eventually found a rose,



followed closely by my strawberry. (Thank goodness for the Hungry Caterpillar.)



Ivory chose Elmo and we found him in two places. I am showcasing the gingerbread house because I LOVE that section.



It is amazing what people can do with food. I wish I had taken more pictures.

We did find some pink Daisies, which we chose for Daisy (I know, we are so original), but I thought it was more fitting that I found her name. (On a gun no less. It should make her Dad proud.)



Sadly we never found any legos for Tyler. We didn't see all the trees so perhaps the legos were hiding in the middle section.

Our trip usually goes something like this:
Peruse trees until children become bored. (I can sometimes stretch them to 15 minutes, but they really aren't that enthralled by the trees. Silly creatures.)

Find something to eat because no one gets bored of cinnamon rolls and scones. Plus, the parents love to find the messiest snack available just to make things interesting.



Shortly thereafter we wander over to the stage area to watch the dancing and entertainment. This is Tyler's favorite part and the girls seem to enjoy it as well.

Mom then begs to be allowed to go back to look at the gingerbread houses and more trees and if she is lucky she will be given a rendezvous time. (This year Tyler gave me twenty whole minutes to myself to explore. Yippy skippy.)

Somewhere in there we let the kids go over to the the Small Fry area and choose a treat (June chose her calendar again this year) and then it is time to go home.

Sometimes I feel it takes more time to drive there and back, but the memories seem to be sticking. June remembered a lot of what we did last year and everyone seemed to have a good time. Maybe some day I can even talk Tyler into taking me as a date so I can see more stuff, but in the meantime, I will chalk this one up to family time and take what I can get.



p.s. I love this picture because of the holey smiles, the fact that I didn't move three feet to the left to avoid shooting the door, and how Daisy's hair looks ridiculous. We are working on finding some kind of style for it, but it is a work in progress.