Speed Limit 23 1/2

I drove on a street today with this speed limit.  Think someone got bored at the Utah Department of Transportation?

Tooth Trauma

My daughter approached me yesterday in distress. One of her teeth was broken. It wiggled when she chewed. She was afraid it would fall out and her smile would be ugly and everyone would laugh at her.

I panicked. I know that modern parents are supposed to discuss maturation with their children sometime before puberty to assure them that their bodies will change and this is healthy and normal, etc., but it hadn't occurred to me to explain the natural body changes that occur at age seven with her before they happened. I gave her an emergency maturation seminar about baby teeth and how they fall out and you get new ones and this is healthy and normal, etc. Also, I bet that a lot of kids in her class had already lost teeth or would really soon, so she would not look weird, just like a typical seven-year-old.

She walked away dejected. I fretted about all the other milestones in life that I am likely to inadequately prepare her for.

About an hour or two later, my husband came home. Squealing with delight and bouncing off the walls, my daughter showed off her very first loose baby tooth.

I was confused, but relieved.

Dinosaurs!

Spring Break in Vernal, Utah 

Dinosaur National Monument

We have talked about taking our kids to Dinosaur National Monument for years but the visitor's center at the Wall of Bones has been closed pretty much for the entire time we have had kids.  It was condemned because it was falling apart. The Monument was finally funded to rebuild as one of the many construction projects funded as part of the stimulus package and just finished last fall.  The building is three-sided.  The fourth side is a cliff, with the top layer of rocks removed to expose that the whole thing is covered in dinosaur bones.  I was impressed with the cliff.  I hadn't been there since my dad took me when I was little.  I remember that I had fun on that trip but don't remember any other details from that trip at all, since I was so young then, so it was all new to me, too.

My toddler was a wonderful hiker.  He loved hiking.  He babbled happily the whole time and found plenty to interest him on the trail. In contrast, he was awful in the car.  His older siblings  were content listening to books on CD but he is too young for literature and would try to ease his boredom by occasionally hitting one of his siblings for no reason.

Besides dinosaur bones, there are lots of petroglyphs at Dinosaur, too.

Jones Hole

We took the kids to Jones Hole, a fish hatchery, where they got to see actual fish (fortunately, since we weren't good at catching any ourselves.)

There is a trail next to the hatchery leading to a stream for actual fishing. 

Dry Fork Canyon

Dry Fork Canyon has many petroglyphs.  My kids didn't care so much about those, though.  They were thrilled that we were climbing up the cliff.  

Steinaker Lake

We took the kids fishing.  We also attempted geocaching, but someone stole the cache before we got there.  A ranger gave the kids little pins as a compensation prize.

Utah Field House of Natural History 

This museum had lots of interactive activities for kids.

My kids really loved this rather dull room with dinosaur puzzles.  Why doesn't a quiet activity like building puzzles engage them at home?

We attended the annual dinosaur Easter egg hunt at the museum.

 

 

Little Firefighter

My mom keeps her house stocked with costumes, so her grandkids don't have to walk around the house wearing anything as prosaic as their own clothes.