Kage Does Utah

Okay so it doesn't quite have the same ring to it as Debbie Does Dallas, nor the same TYPE of adventure, but I did do Utah this past week, and if I do say so myself, I did it well.

In the past, traveling west of the Mississippi River was a frightening situation for me. The farther away from my hometown Chicago (and adopted hometown NYC) I get, the more out-of-sorts I feel. But this time I was determined to remain open-minded, have fun, and give my children experiences that were unique to Utah.

Go City Kids helped me with my planning, along with suggestions from friends. The first task was to convince Carrie to meet me in Utah...I figure California is way closer to Utah then NYC, so it would be a breeze to get her and two kids there. Well, I don't know how the traveling worked out, but she made it there either way. My next step was to plan some activities for my kids, and the following is what we ended up doing. (If you are from Utah, then I apologize if this is "the obvious" for what to do with kids in Utah):

1. Liberty Park. I thought this was such a great way to spend the day. The all-abilities playground was big, spacious and very clean. My favorite moment here was when my 14-month-old wandered over to the water spray. She stayed on the outskirts of the sprays until they stopped spraying, then she moved in to one of the center ones, and of course it turned on spraying her square in the face. She was not happy. I thought it was funny.

Finally we found the Seven Canyons Water Maze that I had read about on line, and this was truly a unique find. The only thing I have experienced that is somewhat close to this, is the Frog Pond in Boston. This one is far more adventurous. There are manmade creeks, bridges, waterfalls and pools that are no more then 1 foot deep and are chlorinated. There are playballs throughout for throwing, collecting, and catching. Both my baby and toddler (can I call a 4-year-old that?) LOVED it. And I enjoyed myself too, despite the fact that there was water involved.

If there had been more time I would have liked to hit the Aviary (even though I hate birds).

2. Wheeler Farm. Believe it or not this was on the top 10 list of kid activities in Utah. It is small and quaint and there are some cute animals. The pigs were frisky and we met 3-week old baby calves. There is a lot of green and a wide selection of farm animals, and you can pretty much just wander around with no set rules or hand-washing stations. It feels like a real farm, maybe it is!?

3. The Gateway. Okay it's kind of a generic outdoor mall, but I SO loved my French dip sandwich at the Do-do restaurant, and my DD and I got VERY wet in the very cool waterspray that is set to music.

4. The Park Library in Taylorsville. It was a nice library on the inside, but we went to attend PIGS ON PARADE outside. It was their (free) celebration of the film Charlotte's Web that apparently is going to be released soon. The girls and I have been reading that book outloud for summer reading (go me), and so when I read about this I was excited. The girls wore pig ears, decorated a pig cookie, made a pig puppet and met 2, 2-week-old pigs brought to the library by the PORK, THE OTHER WHITE MEAT foundation (who were also handing out pork recipes...kind of funny).

5. This is the Place Monument. It was really hot and a pain to drive to, but it was actually kind of cool. We visited the Fairbanks house, (Lavern Fairbanks is my great-grandmother), to get a little taste of family history. While we were there a "trek" of youth from England were just arriving and we were all given white hankies and told to shout: "Hosanna, Welcome to Zion" and as hokey as it felt, I actually got a little teary. It looked like there was a lot to explore including a general store, school and stable, but I headed straight for Mormon Handicraft for some yeasty rolls and a cold bottle of sasparilla.

6. Childrens Museum of SLC gets a quick nod mostly for their great staff and the very cool canyon room upstairs, and under-4 room that is a little "nest". You can find similar museums elsewhere, but this is a nice break from the desert heat, and a good way to spend a morning.

I actually had many more adventures, including one that involved Carrie and me and our kids, two minivans, two mini-mouse swimsuits, only 2 chicken nuggets and walmart (who knew that would ever happen?), but some things are better left unwritten.