On August 12th I took Walker to a stargazing party at the American West Heritage Center. It went from 9pm-1am. I didn't tell him about it until the day of, because I didn't want him to get so excited and then be disappointed if it rained or something. At about 8:00pm I told him to go get some warmer clothes on because I was taking him on a date. His first reaction was that he did not want to go on a date, he wanted to stay home and play computer games. Good thing I'm the MOM and get what I want. He is actually really funny about trying new things and tries to avoid doing things that he doesn't understand. So I explained what we were going to do, and how much fun it was going to be, and that it was just him and me and that's why it is a date. So I talked him into it and we had so much fun. At the center they had crafts about space and the big telescopes to look through, and a number of planned activities. We went to a Star Lab first, which was a big dome shaped tent that was very dark and had a machine in the middle that simulated the night sky. The man in charge explained things about constalations and the north star and stories about the constalations. It was great and probably Walkers favorite part. Then we went outside and played glow in the dark ring toss. We went to another activity in a tent outside called a glow in the dark tea party. They had black lights set up in the tent and lots of bright neon balloons. We were served lemonade, cookies, cake, and played games. The woman in charge told us about why they had tea parties in 1917. ( the heritage farm is a restored 1917 working farm, it's really amazing. Everyone on the farm is a volunteer and they dress up for the part too.) Children went to tea parties to learn manners, to learn how to cook, to set a table, how to plan an event ect. They stressed the manners part and we all had to say please and thank you and use our napkins properly. I loved it, it wasn't Walkers favorite part. We ended the evening on a treasure hunt which took us all over the grounds in the dark. We started out with a mountain man guide who taught us how to find the big dipper and the north star, he also taught us about what the mountain men/trappers did in cache valley. We were then able to find our way to our clues by finding north and going from there. It was vey intresting and exciting, especially when we got to the end and found our cache. A treasure of glow in the dark stars and candy. My greatest treasure that night was the time spent with Walker. He's getting so big and starts 1st grade next week. He is a wonderful child. I am a blessed woman. For anyone looking for something to do with your children, I would definately suggest some time spent together looking at the night sky. What a great date! We got home at about 1:15 I couldn't believe we stayed the whole 4 hours. He was excited to tell dad and his friends all about it. He even shared some of his candy with his sister. I can't wait for another date.
