A nice Saturday

I am probably one of the few people out there who doesn't like Saturdays. The thing is, I'm spoiled and don't usually have to spend an entire day home alone. Master Fob has a wonderfully flexible schedule and for the past few years we've gotten used to him having various hours home during the day (often while I'm at school, but it's still not that bad). If he had a "normal" full-time job, I would be home with S-Boogie by myself every day. Of course, if he had a more normal job he wouldn't be working Friday nights or all day on Saturdays. But, his nice flexible schedule has also made going to grad school possible for me, so I shouldn't complain too much. And I feel horribly guilty for dreading the one day I get to spend completely on my own with my child. However, anyone out there who has a two-year-old might understand a little bit. So I usually end up dreading Saturdays because I have to find a way to fill the entire day by myself without going insane.

Today I would like to thank Absent-minded Secretary for pointing out "Be a Tourist in Your Own Backyard Day" to me. Even up through last night I was debating taking advantage of any of the offers, because the thought of taking a toddler anywhere by myself when I can barely waddle seemed like pure torture. Of course, sitting around the house all day with a toddler is pretty torturous too. Most things being offered were in Salt Lake, which is a little far to drive when you're taking someone who can blow through the Shark Reef in 20 minutes. Then I repented and decided that $5 to hang out at the dinosaur museum wasn't a bad deal at all, and it would get us out of the house for a few hours at least. Plus it's only in Lehi, it's indoors, and since we've been there before I knew it's pretty kid-friendly. I'm glad we're early risers, because the museum wasn't very crowded yet when we showed up shortly after it opened. S-Boogie did show interest in a lot of the things, although she completely skipped the sand and water table (surprising) and got scared of the giant prehistoric shark. We spent nearly an hour in the museum, and then went outside to eat lunch. Our pass was also good for the gardens, but I wasn't sure if they meant the regular one or the children's one. I didn't feel up to walking around the regular garden, so I stopped off at the children's garden first. Then the lady at the gate informed me I'd have to go back to the visitor's center to get my pass stamped for the garden, and I couldn't bring my own lunch in either. I told S-Boogie that the tulips along the pathway were the "garden" we came to see and we walked over to the picnic tables and ate lunch. S-Boogie was pretty happy chasing birds on the grass, so I didn't feel bad about skipping the garden tour. We got home shortly before naptime and I feel glad that I spent some quality time teaching my child what a trilobite is and how to say "Jurassic".