Mommy Places

Gardner Village

1100 West 7800 South
West Jordan, Utah

We love the Gardner Village... but we really love to go there in October. They have a special witch festival with events every weekend. They also have witch displays everywhere... but not just normal witches, they are crazy animated witches that hula hoop, dance, fly (you get the idea).

There are a lot of fun shops to go through. I love the one with purses, the little shop with home decorations, and also Sassy Baby.

They also have a petting zoo and pony rides. The kids love it, but the line gets long FAST! Don't worry... they will give you hand sanitizer afterward too.

There are plenty of places for photo ops... like this one of my cute munchkin:




The best part... it's FREE! (Other than what you spend while you shop... and you will probably spend a little because there is just so much cute stuff.)

If you go, make sure you get some fudge at the candy store. AMAZING.

Mommy Places

The State Fair

We quite enjoyed the local state fair last week. There are about a million things for your kids to do (and spend money on). It's kind of like Lagoon, only it has less rides and really creepy exhibitions.

My little one LOVES all the animals. He would walk from cage to cage and pet them. It's kind of adorable.


He also really wanted to ride the merry-go-round (kind of a favorite for him), but I was a little scared of the rides. Umm... safe? I think not.

We opted instead for the pony-go-round. He enjoyed this immensely as it combines his love for things that end in 'go-round' and animals.


His daddy said that Asher got a little caught up in the bouncy-ness of the pony and started bouncing a little extra. Apparently the pony turned to look at Asher. It must have been a 'mean' look because Ash immediately stopped.

The fair is great because it has a million things to do and see:

- Miniature lady (like 30 inches tall) - Uncle Rory paid to see this one and after wards wished he hadn't. He said she looked sad. Poor thing.
- Foot long corndogs - another favorite of Ash
- Bears who can do tricks
- Ripley's Believe It or Not animals - weird and sad at the same time.
- Alligator kabobs - Uncle Rory also paid for this one and wished he hadn't... it made him so sick that puked all night.
- Funnel Cake - delightful with strawberries.

You take the good... you take the bad... and there you have THE STATE FAIR. Kind of wish it was here more than once a year!

Mommy Places

This one is especially fun if you take along an uncle (like we did)...

Discovery Gateway

444 West 100 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

Cost: $8.50 for everyone over 1
You get a bracelet and can come and go, so you can leave to shop or get lunch.

www.childmuseum.org

This used to be the Children's Museum. I remember going there when I was a kid and it was awesome. The old one had an airplane simulation, photo shadow room (you posed against the walls and a flash imprinted your shadow for a few minutes), grocery store, and archeological dig. It closed a few years ago, and Discovery Gateway replaced it.

The new one is at the Gateway Mall. My little guy (age 2) loved it. He had more fun on the first level than the second level (which was geared for kids around 6 and up).

He particularly loved the "beehive," which was a little area where you moved balls all around the "nest" using tubes. One tube worked like the tube at the bank drive thru. You opened a little hatch, put a ball in the tube, and it sucked it up and around a maze over your head. Here he is getting a little blast of air as he opened the hatch:


The first level also has a water area, grocery store, farm, and construction area. The second level has a story area, a media area (to be a tv reporter or radio dj), and the "studio" (kind of like 20 little stations with different puzzles and games). The second level also has a patio outside with a full size helicopter the kids can play in. Here's my little guy pretending to fly:



I give it an A-. The minus is because they should give you a discount on parent admissions. 8.50 x 2 is a lot just to follow your kids around.