Mini-cation

Oliver had a science teacher conference in Provo so we all decided to go with him. Thursday night we drove down and had dinner with Natalie and Dave. It was good to see her. It's sometime very sad to not have her 5 minutes away anymore.
On Friday, we drove Oliver to his conference at the Utah County Conference Center where I'm sure he had a very enlightening day of learning and at least enjoyed having a break from teaching. The boys and I went to Macey's for donuts, bananas, and chocolate milk. We drove to a park for a breakfast picnic. Ryan even yelled, "This is the best day!" It wasn't perfectly warm, so Evan didn't last very long at the park, just long enough for a run around and the eating of a donut.
After we finished, we drove to the BYU Museum of Art. I wanted to see an exhibit and they had one that I thought might hold Ryan's interest. I think we were able to stay in there for about 20 minutes. Not too bad. :)  The exhibit was We Could Be Heroes: The Mythology of Monsters and Heroes in Contemporary Art. Ryan liked the statue of Captain America and the video of Mario. I really liked a drawing by Michael Scoggins. It was a sketch of about 20 ninjas on a piece of notebook paper. Except the notebook paper is probably 3ft by 4ft instead of 8.5in by 11in. I wish I had a little more time to contemplate the exhibit. It took you through Heroes to Mythology to Monsters and then an unexpected part was Violence and how it plays a part in a how one becomes a hero throughout the ages.
After our short time in the museum, I walked all around campus for an hour or so and then drove to the cafeteria. We met some absolutely wonderful people there that made my day great. Crystal was kind enough to pay for our lunch, Jenny shared her paper with Ryan, Kristen shared her wit. We got great big hugs from Becky & Julia and I wish I had had more time to spend with all of them. I got to touch base with Cami, Jay and Paul as well. Towards the end of lunch time, we found Becca and Ryan ran around the cafeteria with Bronson. Then the snow started.
After lunch, we drove to Wyview, gave hugs to Ben and Danica and Lura. Then we shared some absolutely delicious blackberry cheesecake made by Mike. Mike and Jenny made my afternoon awesome. They talked with me for at least 2 hours, maybe longer, and willingly played tag with Ryan. Someone may have jumped backwards over Ryan and hurt his or her back on the piano, but I won't name any names. I miss these people sometimes. I'm glad I got to see their faces.
We picked Daddy up and headed back over to the Creek house where Ollie was able to watch some basketball with Grandma while the boys and I played downstairs.
Saturday was relaxed, with Daddy making crepes and BLTs and Natalie came to visit again. Then she took me out for a few hours to spend with just her. Then we picked Dave up and went back for some pizza and the Train Game-I can't recall the actual name of that game. We finally packed up and drove home in some scary snowy conditions. But we made it home and were grateful for such a good mini vacation.