Grandma Week 2013: Day 2, Antelope Island

When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass and so, we are all connected in the great circle of life.
–Mufasa

Today was day two of Grandma Week, an annual staycation organized and hosted by my mom. Today we visited Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake State Park. It was pretty awesome.

{Top Left: A buffalo
Top Right: Antelope in the grass at the foreground, a buffalo on the salty/sandy beach and Farmington Bay beyond that
Bottom: A herd of buffalo}

There is an old ranch out on Antelope Island that was a working ranch up until a few years back. There were lots of interesting things to see. And of course, we had to stop for a few photos. Here are all the grandkids with my mom {the Grandma in Grandma Week} and dad {a.k.a. Grandpa}.

{In front of the tractor: LadyBug, Grandma, Baby Cricket, Pixie, Mantis, Cap'n Underpants
On the Tractor: Lizard Boy, Miss Butterfly, Toad (formerly Mouse), Frog (formerly Roly-Poly), Grasshopper, Woodland Sprite, Grandpa}

Here's my little family. I'm the oldest of the siblings.

{Top: Grasshopper's first day as a blacksmith's apprentice
Bottom Left: Elizabeth (a.k.a. LizzieBug, a.k.a. me) & LadyBug
Bottom Right: LadyBug, Elizabeth & Grasshopper}

This is my sister, Julie, who is next in birth order, with her little and not-so-little bugs.

{Top, Left to Right: Mantis, Julie, Frog (formerly Roly-Poly), Miss Butterfly, Cap'n Underpants
Bottom Left: Miss Butterfly
Bottom Right: Cap'n Underpants, Frog}

This is my brother Mark, and his two cuties. They are more mythical woodland creatures than your every day garden variety bugs.

{Left: Markus (formerly Mark), Pixie & Woodland Sprite
Top Right: Pixie
Bottom Right: Woodland Sprite & Pixie}

This is Jill, my twin-ten-years-younger, and her bugs.

{Top Left: Toad (formerly Mouse)
Top Right: Baby Cricket
Bottom: Toad, Jill, Cricket & Lizard Boy}

We have one more sister and one more brother, who don't have kids yet, but who are always welcome at Grandma Week and who will join us for some other activites in the next day or two.

After we explored the grounds a little, we enjoyed a picnic lunch in a grassy area shaded with large and very old trees. And then we explored the ranch house a bit. It was very old. I think the ranch was originally built in the 1850's. The ranch house had been updated somewhat, but looked and felt like it was from the early 1900's. There were lots of interesting things inside, not the least of which were these two old quilts. The Courthouse Steps quilt looked like it was about ready to fall apart. I kind of wanted to execute a rescue mission.

{Quilts in the Ranch House
Left: Snowball & four-patch, hand quilted with baptist fans
Right: Courthouse steps, tied}

And there were three old and beautiful sewing machines which I might have carried off if I could have gotten away with it. The White Rotary, in the top right, was in beautiful condition. I don't know if it worked, but I'm sure that if it were cleaned up it would look almost new.

{Sewing Machines in the Ranch House
Top Left: Bel Air
Top Right: White Rotary
Bottom: Singer Treadle}

After we finished at the ranch house, we headed out to explore The Great Salt Lake. The lake is at least twice as salty as the ocean and can be up to eight times as salty as the ocean in certain areas, depending on rainfall and evaporation. There are no outlets, so the salt just accumulates. In some areas there are 3 or 4 inches of salt sitting at the bottom of the lake. Brine flies and brine shrimp flourish.

{Left: LadyBug
Top Right: Lizard Boy with a brine shrimp on a rock
Bottom Right: Grasshopper's knobbly Hobbit feet, covered in sand}

The water was very shallow for a long way into the lake, and it was very warm. I loved Grasshopper's enthusiasm on this outing. He is kind of at an awkward age; too big to be a kid anymore but not big enough to be an adult. It was fun to see him enjoy himself without trying to figure out exactly where he fit in. He has his "teenage" moments, but the for the most part, he is a very mellow, helpful, kind, thoughful boy. I am amazed at what a neat person he is becoming.

{Grasshopper splashing in the Great Salt Lake, after which he pauses to wipe the salt off his glasses}

LadyBug loves the water. She, Miss Butterfly and Grasshopper were the first ones in the water and the last ones out.

{Top Left: LadyBug
Top Right: Miss Butterfly
Bottom: Grasshopper, Miss Butterfly, Mantis & LadyBug}

The kids all had a fun time floating in the salt water.

{Top Right: Lizard Boy
Top Left: Frog
Bottom: Cap'n Underpants}

When we were finished, even though we all had showers, we all still had a fine layer of salt on us after we dried.