We went to the Living Planet aquarium at their new location in Draper. The setup and layout is fantastic, but there didn’t seem to be a big difference – with regard to the actual “animals”  – between the new facility and old facility. A few of the exhibits were empty when we went so maybe there is some cool new stuff on the horizon.

The Aquarium did have some cool new features like the rope bridge, an underwater tunnel and viewing room (in the shark tank) and an awesome aviary. Overall is seemed expensive to me but the kids seem to love it so I’m sure we’ll go back soon.

As a pre-birthday celebration for Cindy and Fran we went to the Chef’s Table in Orem. It’s been about seven years since I’ve eaten there (and I don’t think Fran had ever been there) so I was excited to try it again. The appetizers were all excellent (cheese tasting isn’t my cup of tea, but I appreciated the idea). Sadly I think we all found our entrees to be a little underwhelming (the general consensus was that we would not go back for a “long time”). At least the company was good. Happy birthday ladies!

Father’s Day. My parents came over and we had a fun celebration. Fran made us rib eye sandwiches (you ever had a rib eye sandwich at JCW’s? Good stuff)!

Gabe’s birthday. I can’t believe this kid is seven already! He wanted a skateboard and an RC car. Instead of the usual RC garbage we got him a Traxxas Rustler (with some help from Grandma & Grandpa). That is a fun car so I think the skateboard may be getting ignored a little. 

Fran’s Birthday. We had planned to go to Lagoon for the day but Fran lost her Yukon key (we only have one). We spent a long time looking for it and eventually decided to change our plans. We ate at Cafe Rio, opened presents and had some cheesecake. Maybe that doesn’t sound like as much fun as Lagoon but hopefully it wasn’t too bad. Happy birthday Francoise! You’re amazing and I love you. [We never did find the Yukon key- Fran had a new one made].

When we built our current house I insulated part of it (around the bedroom). With regard to sound and temperature it has been really nice. So nice that I decided to insulate the interior walls in our new home. All of them. The time frame to install it was sooner and smaller than I expected and I grossly underestimated how much work it would be.  Luckily friends came to the rescue (Tyson, Fran, Jim, Tom, Ben & Mike). Thanks guys!

Justin came by to help me do some wiring (for speakers). We noticed that a lot of the insulation upstairs had blown out and we put it back in securing it with twine. Here’s some of the finished project. 3. days and 100 rolls of frustration… er, insulation. Hope it helps.

Here’s a cute sequence of images from a shopping trip to Costco. Claire was hellbent on getting the bag into the back of the Yukon by herself. One one casualty. 

Lots of summer treats. No one was able to finish the deserts show in either picture. That’s living. 

Before leaving for France the family went to watch the Lehi 4th of July parade. That’s some passionate patriotism right there. 

I love sushi. I could for some right now. Anyone else eat sushi? Maybe we could meet up for lunch sometime. I’m going to spend the next couple of weeks learning how to make it!