Walking on the Moon

We didn't go to Disneyland for vacation this summer like all of our neighbors, but we did visit lots of family, attended 2 family weddings and visited local museums and the zoo. We had a wonderful summer and are still enjoying family outings. A few weeks ago we spent some time at the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City. Here is Elliott cheesing it up on the moon.

I got to moonwalk as well.

We couldn't leave Brian in our moondust, so we got a picture of him on the moon.

Then we hopped across the galaxy for some time on Mars. Elliott must've gotten in trouble to land a seat on a hot-rock (just kidding! in my family on camping trips, if a kid needed a time-out, you had to sit on a flat rock in the sun until you calmed down and said sorry - hence a hot-rock reference.) Elliott just likes rocks, that's all. And in case you didn't know, I am named after a Martian princess, Dejah Thoris, in Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars, which is being made into a movie right at this moment. So I enjoyed Mars too, a little deja vu if you will.

This trip to the Planetarium was inspired by a new hobby of Brians. He is enjoying learning more about the moon and stars and we have tried to find a nice spot for stargazing, but it's hard in this big city with all the light pollution. My mom's house in Georgetown is ideal, you can see so many stars and even see the Milky Way, but we can't jaunt up there on a week-night. We tried driving up Ogden Canyon, but didn't find a great spot there. Then Brian found a reference for Antelope Island - say what?! We practically live right off of Antelope Drive which leads to Antelope Island. Since it is right in our backyard, we felt dutybound to visit Antelope Island.

White Rock Bay is beautiful and we saw bison, antelope, a bunny and a fox. We hiked along a trail on Buffalo Point, but didn't go all the way to the top since the sun was setting and Elliott has short little legs. These 2 guys make any and all adventures awesome!

Elliott is so great at saying cheese for pictures! I just love his scrunchy face and curly crazy hair. He is so much fun and a ball of indepedent energy!

Our attempt at a family snapshot: totally worth it because of Elliott's surprised little mouth. You just can't outpose the cuteness of that little guy!

After this we headed back to the car where I read a book and Elliott watched Mary Poppins while Brian found constellations in the clear, bright sky. It is a great spot very close to home that offers a clear view of the stars. We do live in a very beautiful place.