love where you live

Hello!

Isn't it nice when you love where you live?

I know not every situation is ideal, but I do think it's possible to find something good about anywhere you end up.

This is coming from someone who has fond memories, yes, fond, of living in Laramie, Wyoming, where it was regularly 0 degrees and the wind never. stopped. blowing.

But the SLC area is easy to love. 

One of my favorite things about where we live is how much free stuff there is to do. I am all about free!!! It seems like as soon as I think we've exhausted the awesomeness of Salt Lake, I discover something new.

Today we went to The Train Shoppe in South Salt Lake. It's the biggest model train store in the area, but the cool part is in back, where there are several model trains set up that you can "drive" for 25 cents. My girls are watching the Hogwarts Express right here!

I really cannot do this place justice. The back room is all wild west themed and there are three party rooms--a hotel, a saloon, and a jail. In addition to the quarter operated model trains, there's also a train that kids can ride on and shoot at targets for $2. That wasn't open today, so we haven't ridden it, but we have plans to go back in October when it's decorated for Halloween.

If you have a kid that's into trains or miniatures, this place is awesome! In fact, I think pretty much any kid will think it's great. Heck, I thought it was great!

After the train shop, we decided to look for the SLC Pepper mural. It's just a block or two south of the Gateway, so easy to find. I'll admit I'm not a Beatles fan, but this mural is awesome. I have dreams of someday taking my kids on a SLC mural tour--maybe next summer?! 

So after the mural, Helena was so thirsty that we decided to go to the Planetarium on our way back to our car so we could get a drink of water. The Planetarium is awesome, so of course we had to hang out there for a while. By the time we finished there, we were all hungry, so we headed out to the taco stand right outside and got some super yum tacos.

Salt Lake City pride!

Salt Lake City Library Square: our five favorites

One of our favorite places to go for a fun, free family activity is the Salt Lake City Main Library. From books to art to film to architecture, there is something for everyone at this amazing library. 

Here are our five favorites at the City Library!

1. The rooftop gardens

No trip to the library is complete without a ride up the glass elevator to the rooftop gardens and terrace. It's the perfect place for a picnic with stunning views of the valley and mountains. There's even a bee colony (don't worry, they're tucked away where you can see them but not get to them)!

Speaking of the glass elevators... while up on the roof, you can even watch the mechanics of them as they move up and down!

When you're done on the roof, ride the elevator back down or take the stairs along the sweeping ramp--yes, you can actually walk on that iconic ramp!

2. The free film events

One of my favorite date nights is going to a free movie at the library. The library partners with other community organizations like the Utah Film Center and the Natural History Museum of Utah to present science-themed movies followed by discussions led by experts once a month. Jason and I have gone to see "Doc of the Dead" and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" (and the discussion after that one was fascinating!) There are also children's movies the first Saturday of the month and other themed movie events--check out the full list here.

If you're imagining watching a movie in the multipurpose room at the local branch of your public library, you're probably thinking that going to a movie at the library doesn't sound all that great. The movies at the main branch of the SLC library are shown in an auditorium with comfy auditorium seating--it's not a movie theater, but it's also not watching a movie in a meeting room!

3. The children's library

The children's library is on the bottom level and is a completely separate, private library-in-a-library. It's filled with toys for toddlers and younger kids, rugs and cozy child-size couches and chairs. There are child size bathrooms, a coatroom to park that big old diaper bag and stroller, and a baby care room with changing station and rocker. There are often children's crafts and activities going on in the children's library. If you're a member of the library, you can check out one of the many themed backpacks they have that are filled with books and simple toys and activities (alphabet, potty training, counting, animals, etc)

But my girls will tell you the best parts of the children's library are the two themed reading rooms:

The Ice Cave, complete with a skylight in the roof that is under the reflecting pool outside the library--so the light is constantly changing and rippling as the water moves.

The Attic, complete with tons of beams that are just right for climbing on.

We love gathering a stack of books and finding an out of the way alcove in one of these reading rooms to read, play, and explore together. 

4. The architecture and art

If you've ever driven past the library, you've probably noticed it's amazing architecture. It's a fun building to look at from the street, but it's even more fun to explore! There are soaring ceilings, glass elevators, spiral staircases, walls of windows, water features, sculptures, art exhibits, fountains, shops and counter service restaurants, reflecting pools, you name it!

5. The Library Store

If there is a book lover in your life, then this is the place to go for gifts. Magnets, book marks, pens, books, stuffed animals and dolls, journals, jewelry, pins, wax seals--it's so fun just to browse! And the prices are actually comparable to Amazon (they carry my favorite baby books, the Babylit series, at Amazon prices). I always stop in for Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers.

So there you have it, our top five reasons to visit the City Library. It's a place that we have gone many times, and it never gets old. Check it out!

Salt Lake City Main Library

210 East 400 South, SLC.

Parking: metered on 200 East along the library block, but if you go south one block (past 500 South) there is free street parking.

FREE printable park passport!

hello from beautiful Franklin, Tennessee!

I was crazy enough to fly from Utah to Tennessee ALONE with my four children this week. It went pretty well (minus the literal sprint from one terminal to another to make our connecting flight, which had finished boarding before we even landed. We did make it, though). Now we are enjoying swimming in the neighborhood pool every day and catching fireflies every evening with Grandma Lisa and Grandpa K.

It's a pretty magical place!

If you follow me on Instagram, you might remember me sharing this picture of our park passports a few weeks ago. 

We broke them out last week for our first official park day of the summer and even brought them to Tennessee so the girls can review any parks we go to here.  Last night we hit up a fun local park called Pinkerton Park (more commonly known to the locals as Tinkerbell Park).

The playground is an old fashioned wooden one, similar to Castle Park, one of our favorite parks back in Utah.

This park is decorated with rainbow turrets, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell.

There's also lots of fun musical playground equipment!

Around the perimeter of the park is a walking trail with exercise equipment. This beautiful bridge crosses the river, the perfect place to stop and throw rocks in the water below.

If you want to download your own park passport, head on over to The Salt Project for my guest post and FREE download!

Friday field trip: giant book mural in SLC

I've designated Friday as our field trip day this summer. We kicked our summer field trips off with a quick little trip to downtown Salt Lake to see the giant book mural.

This is one of the coolest hidden gems in SLC. The kids ran right over to start exploring the different books. Most of the books are adult books (Gone with the Wind, The Scarlet Letter, The Grapes of Wrath, On the Road), but there are a few children's books represented as well (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Winnie the Pooh, The Wizard of Oz).

The mural is on one of the walls in a little courtyard tucked between a few office buildings and a parking garage. There's plenty of shade and it's off the beaten path so not too many people see it.

Isn't this a sweet picture?! 

Unfortunately, as soon as we started lining the kids up to take pictures, a security guard came out to tell us NO PICTURES ALLOWED! Sad, huh? I guess the mural is on the wall of one building, but the courtyard is owned by a different building. Luckily we had already taken a few!

To find the giant book mural: go to 222 S Main St, Salt Lake City. There is an alley directly south of this building--go through the alley and the mural is in the courtyard at the end of the alley.