Showing posts with label Utah Family Fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Utah Family Fun. Show all posts

Thursday, October 19, 2017

"Little Haunts" Flash #Giveaway at 'This Is The Place Park'

I've been hearing about 4 levels of horror at a nearby underground castle of terror in Salt Lake City. You can indicate which level of horror you want imposed upon yourself, and go from there. I'm sorry, but my days of getting adrenaline rushes from being scared at haunted houses are over! I used to tolerate it, at best. Now I can't even take it! I only wish I could use the excuse that I have to take the grandkids to 'Little Haunts', where things aren't very scary, but I'll have to wait until my sons decide to get married and have kids! Until then, I have nieces and nephews to take! Those of you who have small children or grandchildren, you're lucky! Take them to 'Little Haunts' in Salt Lake City at 'This Is The Place Heritage Park'! They will love it and so will you!


Little Haunts at This Is The Place is the FUN, and not so scary Halloween Haunts for kids and their families!  Trick or Treat throughout the Village! Ride the trains and ponies, Creature Encounters, pan for gold and dig for treasure in Prospectors Pit.  Hear Halloween stories from The Story Telling Witch and join us as Alice the Dragon leads you in the costume parade! You can come with or without a costume.  The Candy Cannon will blast out yummy taffy and there will be face painting, games like Tug O'War, Stick Pony Racing, Bean Bag toss and much much more! For more information call: 801.582.1847



Also, this year there is a special coloring contest! Download and print this page and turn it into the "Deseret Hospital" at the Park, with names and phone so the winners can be contacted. One winner from each indicated age group will be chosen and will receive 6 passes to 'Candlelight Christmas', (another amazing event at 'This Is The Place Heritage Park') and an awesome treat bag for the winner! Make sure to mention my blog, A GAL NEEDS...., to receive $2.00 off each ticket purchased!

Now on to the giveaway! 'Little Haunts' is running this weekend and on the 28th. That's it! I've got 6 passes for the 28th, and if you would like to win them, along with 2 scoops of old fashioned candy from the ZCMI store, just enter the easy Rafflecopter below with as many entries as you'd like! The drawing will take place on the 26th and the winner will be notified via e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook. Tickets will be waiting for you at the Ticket Counter at the Park! Be there, and you will be sure to make this Halloween one you and your littles will remember fondly for years to come! 


Disclaimer: A GAL NEEDS...did receive complimentary passes for the posting of this review and/or giveaway. This giveaway is in no way associated with Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media outlets. Must be 18+ years of age, one entrant per household. Winner will be selected by random draw via Rafflecopter, and notified on October 26th via e-mail and Twitter. A GAL NEEDS...is not responsible for delivery of prize. U.S. only.  You are not eligible to win if you have won something within the past year from 'This Is The Place Heritage Park'.
  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Pioneer Day At This Is The Place Heritage Park + #Giveaway

In Utah, folks are lucky to get two celebrations in July! And celebrate they do! It is home to the 'Stadium Of Fire' celebration on the 4th, one of the largest in the country. Utahns certainly love their fireworks, even if they do have to travel to Wyoming to get the heavy duty ones because they are illegal to sell here and probably to light off too!

Then there is the 24th of July, where Utah is all about celebrating the pioneers who traveled from Missouri in the midst of tremendous hardship, so they could practice their freedom to worship without being persecuted. I'll admit it, most people just use the holiday to blow off more fireworks!

But at 'This Is The Place Heritage Park', celebrating the pioneers is exactly why this park was originally created. From the imposing monuments at the park's entrance, to the authentic time period buildings and costumes worn by the workers, it all takes you back to the mid-1800s, when the pioneers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley!
Last weekend, the park was on point with all pioneer celebratory revelries.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Hoseback Ride At 'This Is The Place Heritage Park' + $2.00 Ticket Discount!

Thanks to 'This Is The Place Heritage Park' for providing us with a horseback ride for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own!

The all-important birthday party. It shows your kids that you love them, but parties can be hard to plan and time-consuming. It was my nephew's 7th birthday celebration and we decided to let him invite two friends plus his brother to come along for a horseback ride at 'This Is The Place Heritage Park' in SLC, UT! We had a fleeting thought about whether the horses would be gentle enough, since some of the boys hadn't ridden a horse before but other than that, we were stoked!
It was a gorgeous June morning and we arrived at the horse stables after picking up our admission bracelets at the Gift Shop. We met up with James, the cowboy in charge! He had the horses saddled up and ready to ride. 


 
 






 He then helped us up on our horses. All of the horses were so patient and well-behaved! After everyone was saddled up, we were on our way!

We passed through the Pioneer Village

We passed by a Pioneer Cemetery
We saw gorgeous views!
 The boys were thrilled and learned how to manage these gentle horses. It was a fun education and we all enjoyed it thoroughly!

After the ride we were free to explore the village and park. One of the things that really capped off this birthday celebration was panning for gold. The boys were enthralled with the historical skill of finding gold by sifting sand out of a pan and finding gold at the bottom. There was gold a-plenty!
We also "happened" to find some curious rocks and found out they are called geodes. There "happened" to be a way to split them open, revealing beautiful, shiny centers! By this time, the boys thought this place was the mother lode of treasure hunting! Each boy got to take home his own geode! They made perfect party favors!


 From there we went and ate lunch at the Huntsman Hotel and watched the kids cool off at the Splash Pad! 

 There was much more to do than we had time for that day, so we hopped on the train and headed back.


I'd say the birthday celebration was a success!  It wasn't too exhausting to plan, the kids were engaged, and the party favors were epic! This place is awesome!

 Are you planning on going to 'This Is The Place Heritage Park' soon? Just mention 'A GAL NEEDS...' when you purchase admission, and receive $2.00 off your ticket price!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Apricot Escapade At A Utah County Park

My husband and I have noticed for several years that a local park in the area has a couple of trees that get loaded with apricots every summer.  They fall to the ground and get stepped on, making a squishy mess underneath the branches.  This year we decided to help the situation.

Early one morning this week, we snuck over went to this park with a ladder, a tarp, a bucket, a rake and our dog.  We spread the tarp under the branches of the tree and Greg started shaking and hitting them with the rake.  As they fell I gathered them up and put them in the bucket.  We did this for about an hour.  Afterwards, we played frisbee with our border collie, Evee!  It was an all-around good time. 
 The work began the next day.   The apricots were washed, pitted but not peeled (hey, more fiber that way), boiled with pectin and sugar, put in jars, lidded and put in the bath.  Since neither of us are canning experts, we under-estimated the amount of apricots that we needed in order to make 12 jars of jam.  We ended up with 8 jars of jam and some left-over apricots to give to some friends.  I even made a batch of freezer spread with a recipe I got over at Tight Wad In Utah.  I actually like the spread better because there is less sugar.  But for those cold winter mornings, there will be nothing better than hot, buttered toast with a glaze of homemade apricot jam!  I'm glad that hubs likes to do this kind of thing with me.  It makes it more enjoyable!


Monday, July 5, 2010

Our 4th of July Celebration!

My family had a great 4th of July weekend!  We combined it with the birthday of my oldest son, whose birthday always falls on the 4th every year! ;)  We had good food, good times and made some good memories.  Thank you to Laura and Chris for hosting it at their home.  Thank you to
Leland and Alicia for arranging the trip to Lagoon and thanks to all our extended family for helping and being there to enjoy!  Here I am at Lagoon enjoying one of the more tame rides and my personal favorite, the Sky Rider.  So calm and relaxing!  I also went on the Samurai, Wicked and the roller coaster!  Not so calm and relaxing. 

We had a great BBQ with T-Bone Steaks before we all walked to the park to see the fireworks!  Here are some of the fixins':


                This is the punch bowl cake that seems to be a big hit when I make it!

 Harrison, my 4-year-old nephew, was in charge of decorating this cake.  He got help from Aunt Amy!
                                  This salad was awesome!  Made by Harrison's Mom, Laura!

One of the great drinks was Country Time Lemonade, complete with sliced lemons and mint leaves!


Hugs,

Helena

Friday, April 30, 2010

A Fun Hobby

I like disc golf. I like my husband for introducing it to me. He bought me the bag, the discs, and I actually know what over-stable and under-stable are and a few other choice terms.

Greg is the most urgent and intense driver (of discs). He can chuck those puppies over 350 ft. When I watch them,they look like birds in flight, rising up and down with the wind. Just last night, he placed 2nd in doubles, adding $12 to the family pot! This is no small feat since he is the old man of the bunch. One comment that was made was, "Wow! For an old man, you have a hell of an arm."

I must tell you, he thinks I'm a heck of a putter, too. Whenever I make a nice putt, especially in front of a bunch of guys, he starts talking to me in ways that to the normal ear, may sound dirty. But it's actually a lot of disc golf phrases strung together with "my wife" in there somewhere. I have a slight hearing problem and sometimes it is hard to distinguish between consonants, like p and b. But I have no problem distinguishing between those two vowels when we're out playing. It is ALWAYS "nice putt."

Seriously, ladies, disc golf with your man is fun. You're out in a beautiful park, the weather is nice (but not necessarily), you're getting fresh air and exercise, quality time with the hubby, etc. etc. If I was single, I'd take up disc golf, for sure, as a strategy. There are hardly any good women players out there and single, athletic guys aplenty. Greg tells me about some of those he meets. Airline pilots, CEO's of small companies, millionaires, you name it. Heck, Greg plays with a certain BYU quaterback's dad and some of his friends. Of course, there are also the pot heads and nerds.

Sometimes I'll see guys out introducing the sport to their dates or girlfriends. I have to laugh at times. The girl will be wearing a flowing dress or flip flops or a halter top, her hair perfectly coifed. She looks like she needs to be mall shopping or something. The thing that she feels is most important is to look beautiful for her man. And then she throws. It is embarrassingly unwieldy, but the guy gallantly compliments her and urges her on. Hopefully, she will be persistent and the guy will be patient. If so, she will have it made and she doesn't even know it! 


I think it's fun to see families playing together. One time there was a couple playing, with baby stroller in tow. He was obviously a player and I assumed she was along for the outing, not necessarily the playing. Then came her turn. She let loose a throw that outdid mine by a few feet and she wasn't even trying. By the time their little guy gets to be three, he'll be a player for sure. The other day I saw a little guy tagging along with his player dad and possibly his grandpa. He wss carrying his own disc. I thought, "how cute, the little guy might be out of his element trying to keep up with the big boys." But no, this little guy was a bonefied player and he let those discs rip. So there are a lot of little disc golf virtuosos coming up the pipe.

Greg taught me how to play. It used to be that every time I made a throw, there he'd be, with another and another suggestion. "Please, just let me throw and enjoy my time here!", I'd say. I really didn't care how many feet my disc went or if I made the basket in 4 or 8 tries. So he'd let up for awhile until he just couldn't stand it and there come the comments and coaching once again. He's a lot better now....because I'm a lot better now! I may even enter my first tournament this year. And tomorrow he is playing a tournament in Ogden. We're trying it out today though!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Weekend Confessions

Oh I wish I could tell you that I had confessions to make.  But unfortunately, my weekend was pretty non-eventful, although I think I can drum up at least 1 activity worth mentioning for Friday, Saturday and Sunday! 

Friday - The hubs and I went out to lunch at Zupa's!  I always order the 'Nuts About Berries' Salad with Maple Vinaigrette dressing and one of their soups. This time I ordered the Crab Bisque. It was delicious! We then proceeded to Costco, where we looked at camera's and actually picked one out. It's a Lumix and has more stuff than my old camera did. For one thing, I needed a larger LCD screen so I can see what I'm taking a picture of.  But I won't be using it until I read the user's manual from cover to cover. 

Saturday - We went and played disc golf.  I think I mentioned this already in another post.  After that we watched all our dvd'd t.v. stuff that we like--Survivor, The Good Wife, Lost, the Olympics, that's about it!

Sunday - I was at my Dad's and I cooked for the family.  I've been benefiting greatly from giveaways lately.  I used the last bit of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce to make Stuffed Pepper Soup.  They really liked it!  I'm going to be ordering more of that stuff!  I took a few pictures of my son, because he finally got his braces out. He's actually had them in for about 5 years, because of a "jaw problem".  I'm not sure what they even meant.  His jaw always looked fine to me.  But he looks mighty handsome now, I will say!  (Just Mom's opinion!)