Saturday both Mum and Smurf and Sister Wilding needed to take off to fulfill different responsibilities on Sunday and so we spent most of the morning trying to watch all the mission videos Sister Wilding and brought up. That was such a treat for me and so fun to remember so many fun experiences and memories. I sure was blessed to serve in the most beautiful country in the world with the most fantastic people. What a precious time of life that was.
After everyone left and we had some lunch I was starting to get cabin fever and so I suggested we head across the street to the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center. Adam and I went to this 2 years ago when we were up and had a good time and so I knew the kids would love it. Adam wasn’t feeling 100% yet though and preferred staying back for a nap. So he and Adalynn (who also needed a nap) stayed at the condo while the kids and I went out for our adventure.
The Discovery Center had put in a few updates since Adam and I went 2 years ago which the kids found really fun. They had these big huge bear traps that kids could play in as well as a playground, and then had also added a bird center for birds that were either injured or maimed. It was fun to see the changes they had made.
Branson in a bear trap (the old version)
The three boys in the newer bear trap! Branson is pretending to be a dead bear.
The fun new playground!
We were lucky and got to see 5 bears during our 2.5 hour visit. They first had a brother and sister out and then put them back in and brought out 3 more bears. They also fed the bears during our time there by hiding and burying different foods all over the enclosure as well as smearing things like peanut butter on trees. It was cool to watch how the bears interacted with their environment looking for food.
This little lady cracked me up quite a bit. She looked like she was lounging in a chair trying to catch some rays! So funny.
The Wolves were really neat as well and we also got to see them be fed. Interesting stuff indeed. The boys loved it!
According to the boys though the best part of the day was seeing Isis the Eagle. She was wounded when hit by a truck and ended up blind in one eye. They loved how she could turn her head all the way around.
They also had this cute little owl. But she was fast asleep when we went to visit her.
The boys playing in their own bear den!
Bringing out the three new bears – who are eagerly looking for their lunch.
A nice lady who had boys about my boys ages (and whose boys loved hanging out with us) took this picture of the 4 of us. We found some snow and had to make the best of it! 🙂
Lunch Time for the Wolves.
We finished up our outing by going to the Bear museum. The kids loved learning all about the bears and playing with the interactive games and learning centers.
We ended the day by watching movies, playing games, going swimming, and eating a yummy dinner of pulled pork sandwiches, caramel marshmallow sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli, and squash. Mmmm good.
That night Adam unfortunately ended up getting even more sick and he spent half the night in the bathroom. We opted to stay another day to let him recover (We had the condo booked until Monday but Adam had wanted to get back to work since they were moving into their new office). So it worked out well.
On Sunday we went to Church, but after Adalynn and Dawson couldn’t stop coughing during the entire hour of Sacrament meeting and because Adam wasn’t feeling well yet, we decided to leave after the first hour and not risk infecting others. We spent the rest of the day lounging around, putting together a puzzle, playing games, going on a walk around the condo, and watching movies.
Then on Monday we got up, packed up, and headed out at about 9 am. We decided to stop in Sugar City though to say hello to my mission President and to return a few things to Sister Wilding. We ended up staying for about 1.5 hours and enjoyed hearing about President and Sister Strongs mission to the Mission Department in Salt Lake City and seeing President Strongs collection of clocks. It was sure a nice visit and a wonderful little family get-away! How wonderful it was to spend so much time with people we love!