Utah

Ice Castles Field Trip

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February 19, 2014 By Jennifer 2 Comments

We took the kids on a frozen fun field trip to Midway Ice Castles a couple weeks ago. It was memorable and we’re so glad we went before the weather got warm.

What is it? Metal frames get doused with water and then it freezes into gorgeous formations. The sunlight streaming through the ice on the day we went made it look magical.

The ice forms canyons, stalagmites, stalactites, mountains, hills, tunnels, and valleys. Some water is left running to create an ethereal feeling like being underground in a magical icy world.

The girls loved the icicles and canyons that were created by the water freezing.

There was even an incredibly fun tunnel slide carved into the ice. Ice stairs were chiseled and at the top, you can stand and look out over the winter wonderland, then slide down an ice tunnel. The kids really loved it!

Since we’re homeschooling, we went on our field trip while other kids were in school so there were no lines and it was like an icy playground castle. Perfect timing!

Here are my beautiful snow babies:

I love this pic my husband took of me. The ice formations make me look like I’m standing in a cloud. Look at that stunning blue sky!

Here are some of the lovely ice crystals and icicles – it went perfectly with our crystal study in science we did a while ago. We were all in awe of it.

Oh, yeah. I went down the ice tunnel slide. A few times. It was totally awesome.

Since we’ve had a warmup the last week or so, they’re closing early for the season after Tuesday! Usually, the season is over in March.

Ice Castle Ticket Prices in Midway, Utah :

Monday, Family Day
General Admission: $8
Children age 4 to 11: $5
Children 3 and under: Free

Tuesday – Thursday:
General Admission: $9
Children age 4 to 11: $6
Children 3 and under: Free

Friday – Saturday, and Holidays:
General Admission: $10
Children age 4 to 11: $7
Children 3 and under: Free

Sunday: CLOSED

* Senior and Military discount $2 off General Admission (woohoo!)

Special events:

Ice Princesses:
Monday 2/17 4pm to 8pm
Fire Performance:
Monday 2/17 6:30 pm to 9pm
Ice Carvers:
Monday 2/17 6:30 pm to 9pm

Click for more info and directions to Midway Ice Castles.

Check out some other field trips from the Crew:

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Linking up: Chestnut Grove Academy

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Wheeler Farm Day

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September 26, 2013 By Jennifer 1 Comment

I wanted to take advantage of the last warm day of the remnants of summer. We visited Wheeler Farm.

Alex begged to feed ducks from the moment he woke up. He was like a broken record. He knew something was up.

He was so upset when we drove by “the duck pond.” (Doesn’t every town have one of those?)

I assured him he would feed the ducks, but he wasn’t accepting that because, apparently, there’s only one duck pond in the whole world.

He was finally happy when he saw the ducks and geese. Really, he was happy.

Wheeler Farm has trails you can walk or bike. They also have tractor-pulled wagon rides. Along the trails are old farm equipment, perfect for picture posing.

Alex thought this old wagon combine was the greatest thing ever.

They have this ginormous box elder tree and the kids played in it for about half an hour. It was awesome.

Tori loved it and wants a big tree of her own.

Kate enjoyed exploring all the little nooks in the big tree.

The farm has all the typical animals you should find on a farm. Horses, pigs, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, cows (even 2 Highland cows!), sheep, and goats.

Alex adored this particular goat and didn’t want to leave her.

And, we got to milk a cow! Isn’t she lovely?

We got to see the calf get fed a bottle.

Tori was the first milker. Out of the whole barn. She was so proud.

I thought Kate would be more excited since she’s obsessed with cows. I think she likes the idea more than the real deal.

I milked her too. Alex wouldn’t even walk up with me.

It was a fun day. And it was free admission! (milking costs $1 per person)

Linking up:

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Antelope Island Camping

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August 29, 2013 By Jennifer 7 Comments

Liz had a Civil Air Patrol campout at Antelope Island – with astronomy and activities.

We crashed it. Sorta.

Her squadron got the group campsite and we came along to “help.”

And see stars, baby!

Tori and Kate loved exploring the field.

It was hot and sunny when we arrived.

Evidence of bison was present.

Hoof prints!

Several ant habitats were discovered.

Pretty pink rocks were loved.

The clouds and sunset were stunning over the hills.

I’m pretty sure there was a coyote down on the beach…

The sun going to sleep

My little airman cadet lined up to check in.

The girls ready to go see the moon and stars.

I printed the night sky printable for the girls to use. There are oodles of great printables in the Outdoor Hour Challenges.

Here’s what the sky looked like for us. The clouds obscured lots.

A close-up. Through the telescope, we got to see the craters and shadow line. Amazing.

The Ogden Astronomical Society had several really cool, really expensive telescopes set up for the public to look through at all the lovely celestial bodies.

We used this one most because the owner was super nice and accommodating with our kids. We saw the moon and Saturn and Venus. Then the clouds moved in and they were tired and we called it a night.

When we got back to the tent, my husband and I sat looking up and noticed a satellite. It was the International Space Station! Check out the tracker.

Good morning. We had all kinds of critters roaming and playing in the morning.

Antelope on the hilltop…

A jackrabbit right by our tent.

Bison right beside the road.

After we cleared out, we headed down to the Great Salt Lake to explore.

It was low and the beach showed dried salt.

The kids love the little red brine shrimp.

Shore bird prints

The shrimp ride the waves over the rocks

As we were driving off the island, we spotted burrowing owls! Very near the main road too.

I would love to go back and camp on the other side of the island, nearer the beach so the kids could play more. It is gorgeous here!

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Utah Wildflowers

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June 26, 2013 By Jennifer 7 Comments

We went camping and got these lovely Utah wildflower pictures!

Alex wanted to climb the hill.

hiking in the desert

Look at this beauty on the beach!

orange desert flowers

yucca

blooming in the rocks

rocky bloom.jpg

fuzzy buds

fuzzy blooms.jpg

yellow wonder

yellow desert flower.jpg

windblown tree

windblown tree.jpg

prickly pear cactus with buds

a kind of moss

a lovely succulent flowering

flowering succulent.jpg

deer prints. big ones.

deer prints

I think the deer slept here

deer bed.jpg

precious little desert daisy

desert daisy.jpg

love yellow!

pretty yellow flower.jpg

almost ready to burst

prickly cactus.jpg

and here’s one who couldn’t hold it in any longer

purple cactus flower.jpg

lovely lichen on rocks

orange lichen.jpg

yellow daisy-like flowers

yellow daisies.jpg

Here’s the view from the top of the hill. Lovely! That’s our campsite with friends. We have the white truck.

campers

Do your own wildflower study!
We love notebooking about nature!

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Our Camping Trip

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June 3, 2013 By Jennifer 3 Comments

For Memorial Day weekend, we rented a camping trailer and went to Starvation Reservoir with friends. It was so much fun!

It took no time at all for the kids to get in their swimsuits and head to the beach!

I bought some new sand toys just for this trip, and you can see they’re a hit!

Look at that amazing sunset with the mountains!

One of our friends brought their new canoe and kayak. The kids had a blast trying those out! Kate did really well paddling!

Liz and Kate took Alex out in the canoe. I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s a Hawaiian king or something.

Liz took Alex out in the kayak. He asked me when we got home and unloaded where his yellow boat was! He didn’t understand that it was our friend’s. He thought it was ours. I guess we should look into getting one!

Kate blew bubbles while waiting on dinner.

There was a great little hill the kids enjoyed hiking and exploring. We saw deer prints, lizards, and a rabbit!

Stay tuned for our nature study post about all the great plants and moss we saw on our hike! The flowers in the first picture were from my kids on their hikes.

Here’s the view of our campsites from the top of the hill. We have the white truck. The truck camper and green tent on the left belonged to our canoe and kayak friends. The RV with the blue awning belongs to our other friends. We had 5 couples and 10 kids!

Our friends also had 2 fishing boats. The kids (and Aaron) loved that!

Alex’s first fishing trip. Look at that fish!

Tori’s an old pro. She loves fishing and went whenever she could.

Alex didn’t stay awake to tell me about it.

I took the kayak to the other side of the reservoir to explore the rock formations and a couple of the guys (with Tori and two other girls) “rescued” me with the fishing boat. Apparently, telling Kate where I was going wasn’t good enough since no one knew where I or the kayak were. They brought me back to the dock. and I earned my call sign: “Kayak.” My husband and the other guys were in the other fishing boat until much later that day and that was the funny story of the weekend.

We’re already planning more camping trips over the summer. The kids had so much fun!
We love camping!

Check out my camping Pinterest board.

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Natural History Museum of Utah Field Trip

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October 2, 2012 By Jennifer Leave a Comment

We went to the new Natural History Museum of Utah to explore.

It’s a HUGE place with so many exhibits and collections.

Alex really liked all the skeletons of animals.

Katie loved seeing the bugs. Especially since these weren’t alive.

Sweeping for fossils.

This was a huge gravel pit outside on a patio where the kids could sweep and uncover an entire dinosaur skeleton.

Giant sloth…Sid?!

Alex loved looking through the magnifying glass to see the brine shrimp, er, sea monkeys.

Way to knock out some of our Tapestry of Grace projects at the field trip!

weaving, plied cordage, twining.

A model of layers of an archeological dig of a hut.

It was a playground!

Just a cute pic of my babies.

Watching wind erosion inside a tunnel.

Alex was obsessed with these fact wheels. He just wanted to spin them.

How cool is this? They offered notebooking pages in their science lab for museum attendees to write about their experiences.

Tori drew roly polies and said she likes them. Katie drew beetles and said they were pretty. I love it!

Alex was so exhausted that he fell asleep right as we were pulling into the PF Chang’s parking lot. He did wake up for the rice and noodles though!

Visit the Natural History Museum of Utah:

Daily, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Wednesdays 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Adult $13.00

Senior 65 and over $11.00

Young Adult 13 – 24 $11.00

Child 3 – 12 $9.00

Child 2 and under FREE

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Adam’s Canyon Hike

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September 25, 2012 By Jennifer Leave a Comment

Our church youth group went on a hike up to a waterfall. I came along too since it was just our pastor, the youth pastor, another man, and a boy. Liz would’ve been the only girl!

Looking at the map of the trails.

It was very steep and sandy and getting hot quick!

at the bridge about 1/3 of the way up

I just look…pink.

Lunch break. These two are currently our youth group.

A fun “cave” to explore.

lovely purple flowers…they’re nightshade.

the rocky surface of the waterfall area

The waterfall just trickles down over the rocks, but it’s still really pretty.

Liz at the base of the waterfall. slippery!

The view from the waterfall grotto.

and I only fell twice coming back down. It was sandy and I skidded. No injuries.

And was I sure sore the next day!

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Clark Planetarium and IMAX Field Trip

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August 18, 2012 By Jennifer Leave a Comment

When I heard we could go see an IMAX about Pangaea for FREE, I was excited.

And the Clark Planetarium is always free. This doesn’t get any better!

All we had to do was make clay dinosaurs since the IMAX is Claymation. Easy peasy!

The nifty electricity ball

Working on their scavenger hunts from the planetarium’s website.

A really cool projector-illuminated Earth…

We saw meteors, moon rocks, and Mars rocks.

Katie is irritated with me here that I interrupted her “scavenging.”

Display of different kinds of space rocks

Alex was fascinated by the pendulum that showed the movement of Earth

The movie was great.

We had popcorn, slushies, candy, and it was 3D!

Alex did really well sitting still and watching it and keeping his glasses on.

The film was snarky and fun and Claymation!

It gave us some opportunities to have conversation about Creationism and evolution and dinosaurs.

We just learned about Pangaea in our science book!

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Lunch with a Zookeeper

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August 15, 2012 By Jennifer Leave a Comment

To celebrate our new year with Apologia Land Animal science, we went on a great field trip!

We had lunch with a zookeeper at Hogle Zoo!

They served the humans pizza and we got to ask questions and learn about animal enrichment!

Here are Tori and Katie with their warm-up activity: a word search and information sheets that Dad and I read to them about zoo careers.

Our zoo educator with a ferret

We even got to pet the ferret!

A zookeeper with a macaw.

Providing enrichment to the lemurs. We drew on their exhibit’s glass.

The girls really enjoyed drawing for the lemurs. They loved helping the animals not be bored.

We watched the zookeeper provide a snack in enriching hanging baskets.

It was fun watching their antics as they got their treats!

A fun touchy feely center

Then we were let loose into the zoo.

We bee-lined for the new Rocky Shores exhibit to see the seals, sea lions, and bears.

I think I love the zoo more than the girls!

The seals and sea lions are all rescue animals. One is completely blind and another is blind in one eye. Due to injuries by humans. So sad.

We got to review the differences in seals and sea lions that we learned last year in Apologia Swimming Creatures.

The polar bear was swimming and doing flips underwater. We watched him a long time. He was so funny!

He kicked off these rocks and flipped and just swam in a circle to the surface.

Hi there!

There are three grizzly bears rescued from Yellowstone.

Their mother had to be put down and they were rehabilitated and brought to the zoo.

The bears were romping in the water like they were still cubs!

We went to check on the tigers before we left and they were sleeping in the heat of the day. Maybe next time!

Visit Hogle Zoo and check out their education programs!

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Pineview Reservoir Nature Study

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August 8, 2012 By Jennifer Leave a Comment

We got to experience nature up close and personal when we went camping!

Here was our little buddy. He wasn’t shy at all! He wasn’t even bothered when we made a fire in the pit. He sniffed around looking for scraps.

Just a little walk and we found ourselves at this glorious creek. The water was icy cold, but that didn’t stop the kids from playing in it! Several of the older kids caught some brook trout too!

Lovely wildflowers abounded all over the campground and trails.

Just look at that view! There was a great no wake reservoir with trout. I didn’t catch anything though. The kids loved trying to fish. You can also see the lovely storm coming in that drenched us for a few minutes.

I love how lush and green the mountains are. We saw deer too!

Here’s the road that led from the campground to the lake. Christmas trees!

I had great fun examining the thistles on the lakeshore, just buzzing with bees. Did you know there are about 33 different species of bees native to Utah? It is the Beehive State!

There are 3,500 species of bees in the U.S. and 20,000 species in the world.

See the different stripes and shape of the abdomens?

Hi there!

It was exciting to see wild raspberries all over the campground and near the lakeshore!

Here’s the view from the other side of the lake. I love the clouds in this shot reflecting in the water. It was so gorgeous and peaceful here!

We went kayaking too. The girls could really handle their own kayak and now we want our own! We definitely look forward to camping again. It’s like nature study in a bundle. It was so nice to be without electronics. We didn’t even have a cell signal.

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