Not Wreath-Making Talented

(Thankfully, my mother is)

I have a few holiday projects that I pick off my Pinterest boards to tackle for each holiday. My anxiety rose when a friend told me how many weeks we have until Christmas!! I thought I better get started on some of these projects, starting with Halloween!

This was the inspiration for one of my Halloween crafts from my Halloween Pinterest board.

I think I loved the black lace overlay idea.

This was my weak attempt..

haha..

It could be worse, I suppose lol.  I definitely didn't love it and most certainly wasn't going to show it off. Deep down I suddenly knew that I am not great wreath-maker. I consider myself pretty crafty, but for some reason wreaths are not my forte. I was clueless on where to even begin on improving it.

I called in the big guns... my mother. 

With her help, we were able to come up with a much better design! And I LOVE it!!  

Now it makes me happy! 

I feel like the picture doesn't even do it justice!

Though, I gave the executive decision with each item/aspect, it all started with ideas/suggestions from my mom. My mom is talented. Grateful that she could and was willing to help me. 

My door thanks her too, it now feels ready for October :)

Where's the Water?

We've found some fun water area's to play in since we've moved to SLC. Here are a few!

Liberty Park- love, love, LOVE it here! I saw they even filmed a little bit of the Bachelorette here during hometowns last season!! Felt a little pride when I saw that. Anyway, there are some fun water activities here! There is the splash pad. I always get annoyed when bigger kids kind of take it over, though I'll probably be annoyed when my kids are bigger and think there are too many little kids around. I'm a hypocrite that way sometimes :) 

It was HOT this day and she didn't even want to get wet! All she wanted to do was collect a little water with her nifty, cool, squirt thing (from the dollar tree!) and play in the sand they have there.

Also, at Liberty Park, there is this cool area with all these man-made streams made out of concrete that flow all through these swirvy, bumpy, waterfall directions, into a small pool-like are. It's hard to describe. We initially wanted to play in that this day, but it was down for repairs that day. BUT we did go back another day and got pictures that I still have to upload on to my computer.

The best part is that it is all free!!

In the Cottonwood Heights area (I think) there is an AWESOME splash pad! All free! The only downside is that there is no shade, but other than that, it is great! there are also two other great playgrounds there too and more to explore!

 

She is such a chicken about getting wet!

A few years back, we also went to Antelope Island, where you can kinda swim, but it was also kind of gross when we went.

Do you know of any more places in the area that are great to get wet? Preferably free or cheap?

My Beautiful Little People

My father-in-law took some great photos of the kids our last day visiting them and I wanted to share :)

Thank you, Dad, for all of the beautiful photos!

 My beautiful little people.

The Mall Experience

What do you love about the mall? 

I planned a Family Night all around enjoying the mall experience. In Salt Lake City, there are a ton of mall choices. Here is a list of the malls around the area that I have been to and what I love about them, just for my fancies...

Gateway Mall:

- It's outdoors... which can be a negative or a positive.

- They have the Z Gallery... an interior decorative store that I love dearly.

- An awesome movie theater.

- The Gateway Discovery Museum for kids (or some title like that) that is oh so fun for kids (our second experience was much better than our first).

- The fountains! Fun and free for kids to play in.

City Creek Mall:

- Also outside, but does have covering over most of it in case it rains, I'm guessing?

- Also has some beautiful fountains!
- Some high end stores like Tiffany's that make me feel really uncomfortable going in to, like everyone who works there knows I'm not going to buy anything and that I don't belong there.
- Fun, cute, man-made creeks that run through it. Very hard for children to resist staying away from.

- And lots more for us to discover there.- Right next to temple square! Which we love! Especially, during the holidays when you can go see the temple lights and spend some time at City Creek too. You can see the temple right from one of the over-head crossing things (not sure how to say what I'm trying to describe clearer. sorry!)

Trolly Square:

Is it a mall? I don't know. It used to be a train station. A long time ago, I also bought my wedding dress there, but the store is no longer there.

- They have a Pottery Barn there... enough said.

- We seem to always find our way there around Christmas time and they had a fantastic Santa there last year and some other fun activities the year before.

Fashion Place Mall:

- They have an H&M. Pretty much the only reason I like to go there.

- Lots of good food and restaurants around, including a Cheesecake Factory and a Macaroni Grill and also some pizza place that my mom and I tried out recently and was very good!

- They have a Crate and Barrel! I would also one day like to decorate my house in their things.

- Down side... lots of... what do you call them? The people who set up little spots and bother you to try or buy their product...? It's kind of ridiculous how many there are. I try so hard to not make any eye contact (I become very interesting in window displays elsewhere) and stay as far away from them as possible while in passing and let out a big sigh of relief if they don't say anything to me. 

- Also, I don't like the layout. It's shaped funny and doesn't flow well with the shopping experience. There is like a deserted wing that stops you abruptly, messing with the shopping flow.

South Town Mall (not sure if it's one word or two):

This one is my favorite.

- There is a Merry-go-round :) which can be hard with kids sometimes because THEY WILL ALWAYS WANT TO RIDE IT.

- A train! SO Fun! Also, it too can be hard with kids because THEY WILL ALWAYS WANT TO RIDE IT.

- A nice Forever 21... my favorite store to shop. A big reason I love it there.

- A decent play area that contains kids a bit easier than some that I have experienced.

This is where I picked to have our family night. 

We tried to have fun and enjoy the mall experience...

We tasted the yummy chicken samples passing through the food court. The man was determined to give a sample to Tali and I was sending her mental thoughts, "TALI, JUST TAKE IT!"

 We rode the train (Tali was given the choice to ride either that or the Merry-go-round). 

I bought some $6 sandals at Forever 21. Yes.

 The kids played in the play area. I even let Grey loose to crawl around since there were only two other kids. He L O V E D it! Lots of happy squeals of joy came from him. 

James bought himself a t-shirt.

We made wishes with pennies in the fountain. Actually, Tali made wishes FOR each of us in the fountain. She wished for each person to be a train. Hope that doesn't come true.

We each picked out a little candy from the candy store.

It was a happy mall experience.

What do you love about the mall? I'd love to hear it!