Mike, Ev, Kate, and I went to Hogle Halloween at the zoo this year. They have lots of fun decorations up all over. Mike dressed up as Woody, Ev was a graduate, and I was Winnie the Pooh. When we got there, most adults weren't dressed up. lol
These lit up animal sculptures were especially cool
We were able to see a few animals - the lionesses were active in their enclosure when we got there
We also were able to see the monkeys in the primate forest. Basil the little Colobus monkey was being really cute and playful
The zoo recently got two little spider monkeys that were rescued from wildlife traffickers. Their names are Romina and Eve. Romina is estimated to be about 2 years old and Eve is estimated to be 1 year old. They were introduced to the resident spider monkeys, Ebony and Lemon, that have been at the zoo since the late 1970s and now they all live in an enclosure together.
We stopped into the Beastro for some dinner and treats. While we were there, a little girl came up to Mike and asked him if he could do the hokey pokey dance, and he did his best lol. We were wondering what that was all about since we didn't remember Woody doing that in any of the movies, so I looked it up later, and I guess the Woody character at the Disney parks does the hokey pokey with kids sometimes.
We went to the Mad Scientist show, which was really funny. Dr. Frankenstein and Igor were trying to add new features to endangered animals so they could survive better and not be endangered anymore. My favorite was the giant monarch butterfly that carries off Igor. After all the experiments go awry, they decide that it is actually better if people learn to conserve and protect wildlife.
When we headed back up to the front of the zoo, we stopped by the primate forest again. One of the cute little spider monkeys was awake
We went to the Fall Orchestra Concert on Oct. 13. This was the first concert in a while where we only had one of our kids performing. Sam is in the Chamber Strings this year.
We came in for the last little bit of the Junior High concert, since they had the Chamber Strings from the high school join in with the Advanced Orchestra at the junior high for their last song
Odyssey
For the high school concert, the beginning guitar class performed first. This is a new class that Mrs. Smith offered this year, and it was fun to see what kinds of things they were learning. They started with a sing along portion of well-known songs. Sam isn't taking this class, so I didn't take any videos of their songs. Next, the Chamber Strings performed several songs, then the Symphonic Strings joined them for the last three songs.
Allegro Moderato
Tarantelle
Battle
Green Rhythmico
Fantastic Beasts
Legend of the Phantom Pirates
They ended with a really fun song - A Halloween Thriller
During one of the weekends that Mike was on his Cotswald trip, Ev, Sam, and I decided to have our own fun locally. We went to another Candlelight Concert - this time they were playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
The last piece (where they let you record) was Winter
Afterward we went to one of our favorite SLC restaurants - Wildwood. We usually go in December, so we were surprised to be given the option to sit outside. It turns out they have a very nice patio they use for outdoor seating during the warmer months. Since Sam and I split an appetizer (the best mac and cheese in the world!), I told Ev she could order a dessert. We were all very full after the entrees, so she got her flourless chocolate cake in a to-go box.
This is what she wrote on it to keep anyone else from eating it lol
A day later we went to go explore some places in Salt Lake. We started with the Cathedral of the Madeleine. I had been in the kitchen in the basement, but had never actually seen the inside of the Cathedral part. The parking lot and the street parking closeby was all full, so we had to park a few blocks away in the avenues and walk down. On the way we saw a super cute squirrel.
Old trees growing over the sidewalk
We looked around the outside while we were waiting for the morning mass to let out
We were just expecting to look around on our own, but when we got there they were saying there was a tour starting soon so we joined in on that. I'm not sure if that is a thing they do regularly or if we just got lucky, but it was great to have a guided tour where we could learn a lot more about the history of the building. Our tour guide was John Wynne, who teaches classical studies at the U. He said that it was fine to take photos of the building since there weren't any services going on.
This is a smaller room that used to be the baptistry, and is now a room where people can light candles and pray.
This is a photo of Lawrence Scanlan, who was Utah's first Catholic Bishop. He purchased the land to build the cathedral and it was built under his leadership. Construction began in 1900 and was completed in 1909.
The exterior is made of sandstone, and is predominantly done in a neo-Romanesque style, with the interior being more gothic. Since sandstone is quite soft, there has been restoration to fix parts that had weathered too much.
One of the gargoyles that are on the towers
The typanum features Christ in the middle, with the twelve apostles on either side. Above the apostles are the four doctors of the church.
Some of the animal details in the tympanum
One of the first things you notice about the interior of the cathedral is the bright colors on the columns, ceilings, and walls.
One of the beautiful stained glass windows
The Nativity window
These are the baptismal fonts - the smaller one is for babies. Since it is more common for people to get baptized at an older age these days, they built a larger font as well.
When the cathedral was first built, it was not colorfully painted inside like it is now. Here is a picture of how it used to look. They are not sure what happened to the three stained glass windows that used to be at the front. From 1915-1918 the interior was redesigned, including the colorful painting and murals.
This cathedral is the only cathedral in the US under the patronage of Saint Mary Magdalene. The name was changed to the French spelling Madeleine under Bishop Joseph Glass after he visited what is believed to be the tomb of St. Mary Magdalene in France. There are two murals depicting scenes from her life in the transepts.
In the west transept, there is a mural of Mary washing the feet of Jesus
West transept window
The East transept has a mural depicting Mary seeing angels and Jesus after the ressurection
East transept window
This is a painting of Christ as the good shepherd in the desert of Utah with its red rocks and arches
The large mural at the front depicts Christ's crucifixion, with the Father and Holy Spirit watching from above. Biblical figures and Catholic saints stand on either side, with angels above them.
At the bottom of the cross are a pelican and her chicks. The pelican is a symbol of Christ's sacrifice.
The view to the back of the cathedral, where you can see the rose window over the organ pipes
There was a smaller service about to start soon, so we just took a quick look at the front before leaving
I took this photo while we were walking back up to where we had parked the car. You can see the side of one of the towers
My best attempt of a photo of the front as we were driving by (Ev was driving)
Our next stop was the main branch of the Salt Lake Public Library. I have been meaning to check it out for years, but had never gotten around to it. In my mind it is still a brand new building, but when I looked it up I found out it opened in 2003, so it's been 23 years. Oof.
The design of the building is really cool
Ev had been here before and has her own library card
I was a little jealous of how cute their library card design is (Ev said they have several options to choose from)
The large main foyer
Along the right side of the foyer are rooms for shops and businesses. On the left you can see the elevator shaft where the glass elevators are
One of the shops is the library store, which had a cute window display for Halloween
The lower level has an area where they have art exhibits and meeting rooms
Back on the main floor, we had a fun time looking at this extensive collection of pins from the 2002 Winter Olympics. They had so many jello variations.
Fry sauce
There was even a pin about the 1999 tornado that went through Salt Lake City
Exploring around the library
We went up to the top level, where there is a rooftop garden. They also have a protected area with beehives for the library bees
Getting some nice views from the rooftop
View of the Cathedral
Back inside - admiring the giant Declaration of Independence
We were getting hungry, so we went across the street to a small cafe to get some lunch
We headed back to the library after lunch since I really wanted to see the Children's area
Curious George display
The children's area is very whimsical and fun
There were several of these funny papier mache monsters on top of the book cases
Ev and Sam were excited to see this book about Zohran Mamdani on display
One area had a giant daddy longlegs sculpture on the ceiling
It's little eyes made me laugh
Mike and I listened to an Old Timey Podcast episode about The Great Stink of London - I will never take our modern plumbing, sewer system, and water treatment stations for granted ever again.
Of course this book caught my eye, lol
The old main library building is still there next door to the new one. It used to house the Leonardo museum until that closed.
We headed over to the Gilgal Sculpture Garden, but Google did not have the hours updated. Since it was just barely October, it closed at 5 instead of 8 and we got there at like 4:57. I guess that will be an adventure for another day!
Instead we drove by my old high school, Highland High. I had heard the news that they are doing a giant rebuild that is currently estimated to be completed by 2030, and I wanted to check out what was going on. The rebuild is being done in phases that will allow the majority of the new building to be built before demolition of the current building begins. Right now the areas to the east and north of the building are fenced off as a construction site.
The kids have actually been inside Highland more recently than I have - they came here for an orchestra thing. I'm not sure if I've been back since I graduated?
We had lots of fun and I'm so glad Ev and Sam were willing to go do so many random things with me, lol
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