Continued. . .

So, it's hard to believe that a week from today I will be in my classroom with 20 or so new little kindergarten faces ready to take on another crazy year. I seriously don't know if I'm ready?! Last Thursday, I mentioned we were in Lagoon having the time of our lives. Here's a peek at how we spent the rest of that weekend, our last summer vay-cay of this year.
Friday-
We woke up and just sort of took it easy. Honestly, I think I slept in until 9:30. That is unheard of here at home! The boys rose earlier than that, but went off on one of their many explorations and so I took advantage! I finally woke to the smell of real food wafting through the ceiling vents. Lisa is an amazing hostess and cook and really pulled out all the stops with her elaborate breakfasts. This morning I think was the day she made a pancake variety. Some with blueberries, some with COCONUT (yes, that's right-they were unbelievable!) and of course, lots of fruit and an assortment of beverages to go with it. Delicious! After breakfast, we got dressed and ready to have a "downtown" day. We started off at "Little Italy" (a part of Salt lake has been dubbed this name because of the many Italian businesses in this section of town). Chris and Lisa lived in the REAL Italy for awhile and so they appreciate, long for, understand Italian fare very well. We went to this Deli called Tony Coputo's and it was amazing! I can't remember the name of the sandwich I had, but it was the best sandwich of my life! Awesome!
On one side of this place is the restaurant, but on the other half, is an Italian market. Now, I am a girl who really appreciates a little culture so Lisa indulged me and walked me through the market. It ended up being so much fun to taste test the olive oils, cheeses and huge variety of olives! There was one young man working there who was really in his element explaining all the different flavors of the oils and olives. He used phrases like, "woody texture that ends with a little more bite. . " etc. It was amusing. Of course, the boys would never have tolerated such a tour so they were outside doing acrobatics on the stairwells while they waited for us. It was a lot of fun. Lisa is one of my most "culture-y" friends. She appreciates theatre and art and things like that. I always feel like I've had an enriching education after spending time with her. Before they moved, she took me out "to tea" one day! I have never been to a tea shop before and it was such a fun experience. This little time at Tony Cupoto's will be another fun memory like that for me to look back upon and smile. It was loads of fun!
Just up the street a ways from "Little Italy" is The Gateway. It is a really fun shopping, museum, restaraunt experience. We started off at the Clark planetarium. My kids have never been to a planetarium before and I wanted them to have this experience. They loved it. There was so much to do and explore. They spent a lot of their time running around acting out elaborate alien invasions and space explorations on the moon and Mars landscapes, but we also caught the 3D movie which was excellent! Later on, the boys got to experience what it feels like to be astronauts in space by hooking up on the anti-gravity simulator (basically just a harness that lifts them up in the sky and somehow they counter the weight with this contraption thingy by fifty pounds so you can bounce and spin and basically fly)! The boys were in heaven. It was really dark, so my pictures did not pan out too well, but they can still looks at them and remember this experience. I was actually a little jealous and wanted to try it too, but a 70 year old grandma decided quicker than me and she looked so unbelievably silly, I was really glad I missed the boat. Maybe if a crowd of people were not sitting around staring and giggling and commenting, I might have done it! (Right now I'm wishing I would have at least snapped a picture of that lady, it was hilarious!)

So after the planetarium, we decided to walk around the beautiful streets of the Gateway and take in some shopping and relaxing by the fun water feature. Steve was probably just as thrilled as the boys (if not more) to cool off in his street clothes and relax without dying of heat. He wanted nothing to do with the shopping so he chilled while the boys and I found some great deals on school shoes (buy one get one half off at Famous Footwear), woo hoo!

As it started getting late, we decided to eat some dinner at Z (something or other? Help me out people, I can't remember?). It is a fun metro, mexican-y grill place. Very fun atmosphere and a great meal! As we were walking out of the gateway, we saw (and heard) a really great street musician and we stopped for a few songs. Steve absolutely LOVES outdoor, live, music entertainment. He could have sat there all night, but the kids would not allow it. He did a few really great renditions of some sweet tunes (particularly Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours") and it was a fun and festive way to end our day at Gateway. Good times!