There were some unique shops like this Alpaca store:
After some initial looking around, we all went to the aquarium there. We have seen some cool underwater tunnels before, but this one was the longest, and it had the most impressive marine life.
 |
| The bottom of one of the sword fish, resting on the tunnel. |
 |
| I don't know if this video will work... |
 |
| Where's Jonah? |
 |
| Maggie earned stamps in a little booklet. |
 |
| Large sea turtle. |
In the center of the mall is the Nickelodeon amusement park. We didn't go on the rides, since the kids were going to go to the Valleyfair amusement park the next day. I made Jonah be in a picture by the Wonder Pets ride, since he used to love that show, and we have the cutest video of him singing the theme song when he was a toddler. It's a must-see.
Allison encouraged us to try Noodle and Co. when it was time for lunch. The girls said they had the best macaroni and cheese in the world.
There was a big, cool Lego section by the park. The boys showed no interest in it, which nearly broke my heart.
Luckily, Maggie still loved the American Girl and Build-A-Bear stores - and Allison and Tori enjoyed them with her.
Elyse took such good care of the kids. She got fun supplies, and held a "cupcake wars" contest for them:
On Monday evening, John and I went to a hotel near the Mayo Clinic, and the kids stayed with Jeff and Elyse.
John has been in the emergency room a couple of times with fluid around his lungs. They ran all kinds of tests locally and referred him to a specialist at University Hospital in SLC. The specialist there said that he had at least one faulty adrenal gland, and he needed to have them both tested to see if it was just the one. If so, it could be surgically removed, and the problem would be solved. The test could only be done at three places in the U.S. (done successfully), but his doctor recommended the Mayo Clinic, and that suited us, because of the proximity to family. John and I spent three days there, and were very impressed with the facility and the doctors and staff. Unfortunately, the test showed that both adrenal glands were producing too much cortisol, so instead of surgery, he has to be on medication for the rest of his life. The good news is that this will help his blood pressure, so he doesn't have to take so much medication for that. (Blood pressure medication is bad for his kidneys.) We also got medication and information to help with his diabetes.
While we were gone, Allison took the kids swimming at the local pool one day, and to Valleyfair Amusement Park on another. Truthfully, I was terrified at the idea of my kids going without an adult. (Alli is 17, I think.) But they were just fine - and LOVED the park. That was a highlight for them.
Here are some stock photos of a few rides they liked:
Jake was sweet with the kids too. He works at Target, and brought home some fun games/toys for them.
One evening at the hotel, I decided to go for a quick walk before it got too dark. There was a pond near the hotel, and as I walked near it, I thought I saw fireflies. There were many around the water, so I hurried back to get John. He had had his test that day, so he had to walk slowly, but it was so beautiful! The last bit of sun was reflecting on the water, and there were wild geese floating...and then fireflies everywhere! It was good to have some time alone with John, and that was a great way to cap it off. (The next day, we got the news that there would be no surgery, so we headed back.)
No comments:
Post a Comment