Anticipation for this day may have been greater than the day itself.
Caleb would be performing with his Choir downtown. There would be 6 performances from noon until 8 pm. Until the day before we knew we'd be there the entire day, since we needed to drive him there and back. However, a parent with a 15 passenger van offered to take some of the singers downtown in a group. Caleb asked to be one since he knew it would help me out. I was both disappointed and relieved. We decided we would go anyway but now we didn't have any choir deadlines.
After the boys woke from their naps, we loaded up and headed off. On the list were the following:
- purchase tickets for the Saviour of the World concert that we wanted to see New Year's weekend.
- Watch Caleb's performance
- Take the kids to see the coolest fountain. I had been downtown before and seen a fire and water show fountain that is choreographed and set to music. Totally cool.
- Eat dinner at a restaurant
- Ride the trax train
- Enjoy the lights and Christmas displays downtown.
We left shortly past 4pm. The ticket office closed at 5. Plenty of time.
Except for allowing time to park. After searching for a spot to park we ended up with a great spot next to the Conference center. Not too far to walk at all. We set up the stroller and checked our time. We had 15 minutes to get the tickets. Except that when we arrived at the ticket window, we were informed that they had sold out just days before. No more performances or tickets.
So we checked our schedule. We had 1 1/2 hours until Caleb's next performance and no idea where downtown her currently was. We learned later that his phone was off for the performances and he hadn't thought to turn it back on. We were pre dusk, so no lights to impress us yet. we decided to go into the visitors center and see the displays indoor.
We should have come for the whole day after all. Whittaker was enamored with all the displays and didn't want to move on. Each display had a video presentation with it and he wanted to see them all, in their entirety. After almost an hour we convinced him there were displays outside he would want to see.
Lights were still not on so we checked out the nativity scene without any crowds at all. With 1/2 an hour, we could go see the cool fountain at the mall across the street and then make Caleb's concert.
We had to wait 10 minutes after we arrived at City Creek Mall. The fountain show is every hour on the hour. The boys made a game playing on the lights in the ground until the show began.
I captured a little bit of video, but it won't load.
However... something was wrong with the fire... so it was only a fountain show ... what a bummer. I will have to bring them back.
So far... no tickets, no fire in the fountain.
The Assembly hall on Temple Square. A beautiful choir sang beautiful songs in a beautiful place. The kids wanted to sit in the balcony but I had the stroller and a toddler that I could envision flying over the railing so I stayed down on the main floor and they sat above. The performance was about 40 minutes. Emerson was so cooperative. He had been asleep since minutes after we put him in the stroller at the car. Now while I was sitting listening to the concert he was awake and willing to let me feed him. Strangely though he wasn't terribly hungry. I figured it was getting close to his bedtime and didn't push him to eat more. He listened to the music and startled with the applause. Whittaker plugged his ears for the violin, the applause and a few other louder moments.
I snapped this photo so I could have a photo of Caleb's girlfriend Emily who is also in the choir. I wasn't sure if we'd see them after the concert or not. The view from where I sat wasn't ideal with a piano light directly in front of her! She is lovely young lady.
We did end up seeing Caleb after the concert for a moment. His teacher was giving instructions to the students regarding the current time and the next concert time and to remember to stay in groups and be on time for the final performance. I quickly told Caleb we were going to eat and would likely be back in time to pick him up after his final concert. If he didn't see us at his last concert we must have had enough of the downtown fun and headed home in which case I would see him at home or at the school depending on where the car pool was willing to drop him off.
Our dinner plans: The kids had earned a free meal at a restaurant we'd never heard of before. We decided since there was one just a few blocks from Temple Square we would make tonight the time to try it out! This would also take care of the request to ride the Trax train. We made a potty and diaper stop before leaving Temple Square and since Emerson was still awake I opted to carry him in the sling so Whittaker could ride in the stroller to the station. It was a wise decision. As we approached the station there were seriously hundreds of people swarming everywhere. First clue that there was a Jazz basketball game downtown beginning in less than 15 minutes! Can I time it or what?
We didn't wait but 2 minutes before the train arrived and we squeezed ourselves and our now folded stroller onto the extremely crowded train! It never occurred to me that new train lines have been added since I'd ridden the trax. We were on the wrong train! This one would take us one stop shy of our destination. We got off without a hitch since EVERYONE was getting off... including the conductor. It was the end of the line.
We sized up the distance from the station to our destination and decided we would just walk the block instead of waiting fifteen minutes for the next train. Big mistake! Once we were safely on the sidewalk and away from the train and the crazy crowds we tried to open the folded stroller for our .. stroll. The stroller was stuck. Try as we could with Emerson slung around me and Whittaker being pinned down so he didn't dart into the street, we could not open the stroller! Frustrated! We pulled it along behind it as we all walked to the mall. As soon as we found the directory we learned that the restaurant was on the furthest spot from where we were and as luck would have it directly in front of the Trax station. Off we trudged. Bad shoes for all this walking, I had a blister. Whittaker surprised me at what a trooper he was walking. We stopped at a few window displays but finally reached the restaurant.
I had been looking forward to being seated and waited on, but the restaurant was as the kids described it, 'a Subway but for Mexican food'. We waited in line and inched our way to the counter to tell them over the noise of a crowded restaurant and T.V.'s, what all 5 of us wanted. (I just don't understand the T.V.'s in restaurants... ) Now carrying Emerson, pulling a stroller, corralling Whittaker and balancing a tray of food we attempted to find a seat. NOT ONE EMPTY TABLE!
We stood out like a dandelion patch on a well manicured golf course! Finally a table for two opened at the exit. Just before we got seated another table opened, then another and another... We moved to a table for 4 and by the time we settled into our seats more than half the restaurant had cleared out! It was very odd. I suppose they were just catching a bite before the Jazz game? Oh well, we would eat in relative peace and quiet. With everyone sitting and eating, I handed Emerson to Sarah and attempted the stroller once more. It opened effortlessly. We all sighed, I plunked Whittaker in it as a high chair and then we ate.
Our restaurant review: Food was only good, not amazing, we definitely prefer Chipotle for the same style. It wasn't a kid friendly location. No boosters or high chairs. One tiny bathroom. With an open kitchen and busy location it was noisy and too many T.V.'s, especially for the size of the place. The boys wished their portions had been a little larger. They also weren't careful about getting the orders correct. Miles got the black beans with Duncan's mild enchillada. Duncan got the pinto beans with Miles fire hot enchillada. They worked it out between them, but with such a difference in spice level I think it might be important to pay attention to the order. Oh and our table wobbled. At the end of the night the kids and I were happy to have eaten out, since we rarely do, but we had hoped for a better dining experience.
Our trip back to Temple square was simple. We walked out of the restaurant and caught a practically empty train. We rode all the way to the Temple stop. We didn't even attempt to fold the stroller on the train, so we were ready to roll when we stepped off. We noticed the time was later than we thought so we hurried to catch the last few minutes of Caleb's performance.
We had missed him by maybe 2 minutes. Some of the other choir members were still there waiting for their rides. I tried unsuccessfully to call Caleb. Oh well. Guess we'll be driving past our home to go to the school to pick him up.
To make up for the disappointments and difficulties of the evening. We
enjoyed a leisurely walk to our car through the lovely lights. As we walked I noticed that Emerson was coughing lightly and seemed suddenly quite warm. By the time we were home there was no question that he was burning up with a fever.
Recap:
- No tickets available
- No fire in the fountain show
- Caleb's concert was delightful
- No time to hang with Caleb and Emily
- Wrong train, long walk with a heavy baby, bag and dumb stroller
- So-so restaurant experience
- Sick baby, and I think maybe I'm getting it also
- Beautiful lights, scenery and music
- Had to drive twice the distance just to take Caleb home because we missed him by 2 minutes
- Memories were made.
- Kids even said, they wanted to come again!
- Got to bed after midnight.... again!
Caleb was a good boy and took a photo for me. At least they enjoyed a long and relaxing day.
This awesome toy took 3 days to build and it's been the hit of the week. The boys, young and old, have been playing with it.
