Cavalia by Odysseo - Sandy, Utah

We got a special invite to view the Cavalia show by Odysseo in Sandy, Utah. If you are local, you have probably seen the big white top tent in the parking lot of the Southtowne Mall. It is a pretty impressive set up, and is hard to miss while driving by.

I invited Ms Savannah as my date, and it ended up being a really good decision. We got VIP tickets, and when they say VIP they really do give you a experience like no other...and she felt so special all night. 

We arrived at the VIP tent 90 minutes before the show, and enjoyed a delicious dinner and found some friends. The dinner had a little bit of everything, and I am pretty sure my adventurous 11 year old tried it all...including that really spicy gazpacho. Everything I tried, I loved. Steak, chicken, quiche, pasta salad, shrimp...something for everyone. Not gonna lie, I lived it up with a few too many Coke's.

After a few pictures, a little purchase at the gift shop inside the VIP tent, we picked up our drinks and popcorn {included in ticket as well} to head in to the show. We had amazing seats, 4th row. Savannah had never experienced a big production of any kind, and was absolutely giddy. It was a beautiful set, and you really can't tell you are in a tent.

It was live music, which I wasn't expecting. Gorgeous horses, of course. Sometimes slow and mesmerizing, sometimes you didn't know where to look because so many cool things happening at once. I personally loved all the flips and tricks the most, but when I asked Savannah she couldn't narrow it down.

I was glad I had a few friends go before I did, because I was thinking of taking the whole family. Although it could be entertaining for the younger crowd, I personally wouldn't take my 6 or 4 year old. Of course there is always exceptions, maybe if they are major horse lovers it would be entertaining enough for them to sit through. 

After an hour or so, they have a 30 minute intermission. We went back to the VIP tent to eat dessert. If you aren't fast the lines are crazy long, and you won't have a chance to even make it to the dessert tables. So, that may be a suggestion to remember if you are spending the extra money on your tickets.


Cavalia was nice enough after the show to let us have a meet and greet of some of the talent. Savannah was amazed to meet these ladies up close and personal. We also got to go to the stables to see the horses too. 

It was definitely a night to remember. They are only in Utah until June 3rd, so if you are wanting to go...you only have a limited amount of time left to jump at the chance.

Also, if you are reading this today {May 19th}, I am doing a flash giveaway over on my Instagram account for 2 tickets to Saturday's show. Go enter. 

Information: 
Name: Cavalia by Odysseo 
Address: 10450 S State Sandy, UT
Admission: $39.50 all the way up to $249.50...just depends on day/time/seats

newpark hotel getaway

While Grandpa and Grandma were here we had planned to escape 3 of the 4 kids, and stay in Park City as a couple + baby Drake. After they got here, we had a change of heart about leaving everyone and quickly planned it for the 8 of us to go instead. 

We love Newpark Hotel, it is the only place to stay in Park City...IMHO. We have been going there since Devin was just a little guy, and we have made many traditions in those years. We stayed in our favorite suite, and then added the attached room on to it as well. 

We arrived at the hotel, got all settled, and then headed out for dinner together. We took everyone to Maxwells, which is a family favorite. We even branched out on the menu, and weren't disappointed. 

We went back to the hotel, and did what the kids had been begging for already...swimming. It was Drake's first experience, and he loved it. It was fun to swim as a family, and have Grandpa and Grandma there to get all the cute pictures for us.

After we got everyone settled in to the rooms, Paul and I headed out for a little date. We walked around, got some ice cream, and talked. Nowadays dates don't have to be anything extravagant, just time to talk in peace is lovely. We were going to go see a movie, but we opted for sleep over a movie that we weren't super interested in seeing anyway.

We woke up and got to explore Main Street Park City, which is always more fun with people who have never done it before. We stopped in some of the shops that were actually open, read that as Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. We also had a delicious breakfast at The Bridge Cafe, which I am still dreaming about my omelet.  We decided we weren't ready to go back home until we had a competitive game of bowling. Paul ended up winning, which actually hasn't happened in years.

We called this adventure a total success. We were so happy that we

changed the plans and took everyone with us. Although Paul and I definitely don't get enough alone time, we also don't get to see his parents often enough that we wanted to use up any time being away. We decided that this needed to be a new tradition while they are in town.

Ellie Goulding Concert.

My cute neighbor invited me to go to the Ellie Goulding concert last minute. I have never left Drake for an extended amount of time, but Paul was willing to suffer through any crying that may occur while I was away.

It has been more than a year since I have been to a concert. I always forget how much I love listening to music live. She put on a great show, and we were all able to dance, sing, and forget about our worries for a few hours.

My favorite part of the show was when she asked everyone to put away our phones for the next song. She told us how she doesn't see faces anymore, it is a bunch of phones in front of people's faces taking video/pictures. Can I just tell you how different it looked watching everyone put their hands up in the air, no phones, and just enjoy the music? It was awesome! 

So glad I was able to go enjoy some time with friends, and act young again.

And guess what? Drake didn't even wake up the entire time I was gone. Which was lucky for us all. 

Bumble Lou Photography

Not sponsored.

Our adorable neighbor Ashley runs Bumble Lou Photography, a cute little photography studio out of her basement. When Drake was born she invited us to come and play with some of her props, and I knew after that she needed to capture some pictures of my kiddies.

I am one of those crazy people who would love to hire someone to follow us around to take pictures of every day life. Not because I feel like I look good or anything, I just love pictures of my kids that much. It has been a few months since we had pictures done, so we were definitely in need {says me, not Paul!}.

For Easter we picked out matching outfits for the girls, and matching for the boys. It was everything I have ever dreamed of. Boys and girls to dress matchy, my favorite! Makes me all sorts of happy!

I don't know what was in the air the day of the shoot, but Devin was the best one...followed by Drake. That is saying a lot around these parts when the boys are better than our girls. Sabrina wouldn't sit still, and Savannah was throwin' serious shade.

Ashley rolled with the punches well, and we ended up getting some cute pictures of all 4 of our babies. Can't wait to get these printed, and put up on our wall. 

Natural History Museum of Utah + Giveaway

This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are mine..and well the kids that went with me too!

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Natural History Museum of Utah to take one of their highlights tours, and see the traveling Geckos Live! Exhibit. This is one of those adventures we haven't done often, and it was quite the treat!

The Highlights Tours cost a couple of extra dollars on top of admission, but we really enjoyed it. Maybe because we haven't visited this museum a lot, or maybe it was our awesome tour guide. Either way, we would spend the money to do it again! Our tour guide told us so many fun facts that we would have never known otherwise. Our favorite fact was that she told us which dinosaur bones were real, and which ones were casts. The tour only runs for about an hour, so we were still able to go and explore the museum on our own.

The Natural History Museum of Utah has 10 permanent galleries, and as if that wasn't enough they bring in at least 2 traveling exhibits a year. The current one is the Geckos Live! which will be there until May 1st, 2016...and should not be missed. We loved that every gecko habitat had a number on it, so you had to find that many geckos inside. Not as easy as it sounds with some of those little critters. With 55 different geckos the kids were absolutely amazed.  They surprised us with a special behind the scenes look at what they feed the geckos, gecko eggs that are waiting to hatch, and they even took a couple out of their habitats for us to touch. It was awesome!

You know what I really loved about this museum? I have a wide variety of ages in my kids, and there was something for each of them! Sabrina loved the cute little Our Backyard exhibit, Devin loved all the dinosaurs, Savannah loved the gems and minerals. There really was something for everyone.

So, now to the good part. The Natural History Museum was generous and gave me a family 4 pack of tickets to giveaway to one of my readers! Take a looksie at the rafflecopter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway will end April 15th. 

Information:
Name: Natural History Museum of Utah
Address: 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108
Admission: $9.00-$13.00 + $2.00 for Highlights Tours

Old Farm

We have been going to this spot to feed ducks our entire marriage. When we can't think of anything else to do, we somehow always end up at Old Farm feeding the ducks. It is a beautiful little pond, and the ducks don't seem to be overfed...so they are excited to see people come visit.

A long time ago switched over to corn to feed ducks with instead of bread, and it is surprisingly so much easier. This time Bina wanted to use peas, and the ducks didn't seem to mind at all. 

Information:
Name: Old Farm
Address: 514 E 4090 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84107
Admission/Cost: Free

Easter 2016

Sometimes I like to mix things up for holidays, but after this year I decided I am stickin' to what we like and not going too far from it in the upcoming years.

Our neighborhood has a really fun tradition of doing a flashlight Easter egg hunt. You just have to donate a dozen filled eggs per kid, show up after dark, and get your hunt on. I have never had disappointed kids, and everyone goes away with enough candy to make it fun.

This year I decided to go to the local grocery store for the Easter egg hunt. I am sure not all of them are this way, but it was miserable. So many people, Devin didn't get one single piece of candy, Bina got 3. Lots of rude people with a baby that couldn't even walk, and a basket overflowing with candy. It was the worst. So, I tried something new, and I won't make that mistake again.

I have 2 things I switch back and forth from that the kids both love. The first is, each child is assigned a color egg, and they only hunt for that color Easter morning. The second is, I assign each child a color of string that they follow around to find all of their gifts/eggs. This year since Drake is too little, and I am too exhausted...I just went with the egg colors. The kids were still happy, but next year I will go back to the string.

We enjoyed ham and funeral potatoes, and called it a successful Easter day!