For mutual tonight, we had a professional photographer teach the girls a little bit about photography and how to take good pictures. After explaining things like lighting, posture, posing, etc., to them, she unleashed them on the world outside.
Luckily, it was a nice day--which, considering the month of rain we've been having, is really saying something. While the girls were off snapping pictures, the photographer took individual portraits of each of the girls for free, and then a group shot of everyone, which was really nice of her to do. The girls all seemed to have a really good time, especially when they got to be the photographers. Being a leader, I got to be a model several times--sometimes without knowing it. I thought the pictures were funny, so I whipped them up into a collage for your viewing pleasure. Aren't my girls talented? I think they captured my true essence.
For mutual tonight we got to have a class activity instead of an activity group activity, so my adviser and I took the girls rock climbing. It was so much fun! Sam was nice enough to come as an additional expert, and he belayed the girls the whole night.
The girls all did so good! They were all brave enough to try and kept going when they got frustrated. It was a lot of fun. I hope we have the chance to do it again!
Anyway, here are the girls' exploits. P.S. These pictures were all taken with my phone. Pretty cool, huh? It takes good pictures. And P.P.S. I experimented with Picasa to make the collage. Fun, huh? I had fun, anyway.
For an anniversary present last year, Sam's parents gave us a gift card to use at Thanksgiving Point, and since our anniversary is in December, we decided to save it for now, when there would actually be things to do.
I'd never been to Thanksgiving Point before, so this was really exciting for me. We went to the gardens and cruised around on segways--I know, the coolest thing ever!--and then we went to the dinosaur museum and saw a movie on IMAX while we were there, then we saw Night at the Museum 2 to go along with the museum theme. It was such a fun date! Sam and I haven't gone on a special date like that for a long time, maybe since the day we got engaged, so it was extra special.
Anyway, here is my evidence of our movements.
We started off on the porch of the gardens, getting instructions on the use of segways and learning how to balance and go forward and stuff. Sam didn't have to practice as much as I did, because he already did it last year with his parents.
So once I got used to the segway, we cruised around the gardens, which were beautiful. It was a little early in the year, so it wasn't as flower-y as it could be, but it was still gorgeous. As you can see here. |
Here we are cruising. Sam's showing off, of course. This was before he crashed into me. As you can see from the picture, he didn't take the moving vehicles very seriously, so of course he wasn't paying attention when I stopped at one point--I was about 20 feet in front of him at the time--and tried to show him something. When he didn't reply, I glanced over my shoulder and saw him coming at me full-speed, and luckily I had time to jump off and avoid tumbling to the ground, which he was not so lucky about. He still rammed into me, but he didn't knock me down. He missed his chance this time and will have to wait for a next time, I guess. We were really lucky that the segways weren't damaged, though. If they had been, the price would have probably hurt a lot. He made up for it, though, by presenting me with Stadium of Fire tickets. Talk about exciting! I've been wanting to go so much, and now I get to! |
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At the museum, we saw lots of cool things. The dinosaur skeletons were huge! I forgot how big they could be. And I had to get a picture by the gigantic maybe-this-existed-maybe-it-didn't shark to prove that I'm getting over my fear. At least when it comes to fake sharks.
The IMAX movie was pretty cool. It was a documentary of some delta in Africa and it was in 3-D, so we got up close and personal with some of the animals. It was really neat. Except for the part when we were exiting and someone had thrown up in our aisle, so we had to climb up to the next aisle to avoid it. Yeah, that was gross. It smelled, too.
After we explored the museum, we got to see Night at the Museum 2, which we really liked. It was a good movie--I really liked the characters, and there were some good jokes. Not as good as the first one, but pretty good so far as sequels go.
And that was our day. Talk about a fun time! I'm so glad we got to do it--it was fun to just hang out with my husband and do something we normally wouldn't have the chance to do. Thanks, honey!
For YM/YW tonight, we took upon ourselves the endeavor of hiking the Y. A lot of the kids had done it before, but it was a first for Sam and me, and man, it was steep! I had no idea how steep it would be--especially the very end on the Y. But we persevered and were victorious. Yes!
At the beginning of the trail, I gave a little spiritual thought, then in the middle another leader gave a thought, and then at the top there was the final spiritual thought. They were all about mountains and virtue and temples and that kind of stuff. It was a really cool experience, and the youth actually seemed to listen. Sam was a bad example, though--his cell phone went off during my thought. I know. I had to sit him down and talk to him about that, and now he understands that that is not acceptable behavior. Teehee.
Anyway, back down at the bottom we got creamcicles, which I think was the best part of the hike. And since there were more refreshments than people, we were all allowed to have more than one, even the leaders. Talk about exciting.
Here are a couple of pictures from the night (my girls and some Mia Maids).
