When the Rooster's Away. . .

The hen and her chicks go out to play! We have been staying quite busy. I am still going to grad school and I am almost halfway through my fifth class. It's a little challenging being able to focus enough to sound coherent in most of my papers, but I'm still getting straight A's, so I guess I'm succeeding sufficiently. But, after my homework is done every morning, we head out for a new adventure every day. The following pictures are meant to document our Trying-to-make-the-best-of-being-left-behind-in-Utah adventures.
One of our days we went to This is the Place State Park in Salt Lake City. This is one of our favorite places around. There are all kinds of activities and crafts, ice cream cones, pony rides and train rides. We did it all in 100 degree heat. My sister Tiffany is my adventure buddy because her husband is also gone for six months. We had a blast and the best part was that the children were so exhausted they went to bed at 8 pm!

I also took the kids hiking up Big Cottonwood Canyon one day. The hike we choose ended up being really long, so we turned around after about an hour and a half of rigorous hiking. At the bottom of the trail was a little swimming hole in the creek. The kids wanted to get wet, but I still wanted to go up to Silver Lake at Brighton Ski resort so I didn't want their clothing soaked. I told them to strip down to their underwear and go ahead and have a great time in the icy water. They LOVED it. I think it was the feeling that they were getting away with something crazy and wild being outdoors in their underwear. I decided a little wild is liberating for children. . . and adults for that matter!

This is Silver Lake at Brighton. The top picture is also of the same lake.

A Day in the Uintas. We had so much fun this day. There is something about being in the wide open outdoors that frees the children and develops their creativity.

The Upper Prover River Falls in the High Uintas. We had a fabulous time here and it was so beautiful I'm afraid these pictures just don't do it justice. Grandma Top, Tiffany and I took all our kids up to hike and play and pretty much just exhaust them so they'd sleep in the next morning.

Sophia, the Simons Family Mascot! Go Stubborn People! Yea Team!

Mirror Lake in the High Uintas near Wyoming. This place is amazing, a must-see for everyone.

Family dinner at Tiffany's house.

Here are the 'real' 4 Tops: Jessica, Justin, Tiffany and Janey. I can't believe how old we're getting. It happens no matter how much eye cream you apply!

Another day Tiffany and I took the kids for a picnic at Rock Canyon Park and then went to the Bean Museum at BYU. It was rather anticlimactic compared to the other days, but, hey, these kids can't complain too much. They get more entertainment than any other middle-class children I know.

My little sister, Janey and her husband, Don, invited us to go to Sundance to see the production of Big River. I saw this on Broadway in New York City many years ago and loved it, so I was really excited for my kids to see it. While it may not have been Broadway standard, it was actually very well done and the acting and singing was excellent. The kids LOVED it. Florence watched this one African American girl like a hawk and all the way home tried to sing her songs. When I asked Sophia what her favorite song was, she said, "The one about the breast in the middle of her chest and might as well look up her nose." Hmmm. . . why doesn't that surprise me? Thank you Janey and Don for introducing my children to a little culture!

One night I took the kids to Clark's Planetarium where we went to a Laser light show. I realized as I sat there that I might have missed my opportunity to win mother of the year this year. Darnit. I'm pretty sure that taking your children to a pseudo-acid trip to music by Nine Inch Nails and Incubus is one of the disqualifying factors in the competition. Probably, that and swearing at your kids, which would have disqualified me years ago anyway.

We toured the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City and that was interesting, but way too long for six active children. They did really well considering the sweet old lady moved at a snail's pace.