After working on the yard for most of the morning, Maddy and I spent the evening of Memorial day at Wheeler Farm. I've wanted to take her there for quite some time and Scott was up the street with his buddy talking dirt bikes in anticipation of their planned trip to Moab. So, we headed out.
You see, my memories of Wheeler farm come from being a little girl. In fact, I don't think I've been there since I was small. I remember my mom coming up with such great ideas to help us do chores around the house. There were chore charts, allowances, and the thing I remember most - outings!
In what seems to be all one summer (though maybe this memory is a culmination of several) we were presented with outings as rewards for doing chores. We were given points or some kind of tally for doing various chores and we could redeem outings. Many of these outings were for all of us girls - trips to the pool, a new game, a visit to Wheeler Farm . . . A few were one-on-ones with mom.
I remember catching the bus at the top of the street (or perhaps down the way by the Conoco or the 7-11) and riding it downtown - just me and mommy. We'd get off the bus on Main street just in front of Sam Weller's book store. We go inside and then down to the basement where the used books were kept. It was like a maze with bookshelf after bookshelf filled with musty, yellowed paperback books. You had to wander around teetering piles of books stacked up on the floor and I remember the wonder I felt when mom found a book - like she had just found buried treasure. I don't wonder why I like to read so much too!
After looking for treasures in the bookstore, we'd wander to the food court in the ZCMI mall for something to-go, then to meet Aunt Jana where she worked at the LDS genealogy building to the west of temple square. We'd take our lunches to the lunch room and eat together and I felt like one of the girls included in such grown up discussions between my mom and her sister. After lunch we'd ride the bus back home and be dropped just a quick (thrilling) jaywalk across to Quailstone Drive.
Tied in with these memories were rainbow bracelets that sat - five of them - stacked on the knife sharpener in the kitchen, only to be worn after the daily chores had been completed.
What wonderful memories.
I want Maddy to have those memories too. Perhaps I should have saved this outing as a reward for some great accomplishment or for helping around the house - maybe this was actually a reward for me for finally planting the front flower beds. In any case, we set off for the Farm at about 4pm on Memorial Day. I was worried that it would be closed. I was a little worried about the cost.
Well, to my surprise, there is no entrance fee, no entrance gate, you just walk in. I knew that this was a working farm and that you could pet the animals and learn to milk cows, but I didn't realize it was part of the City Parks and Recreation system. People were walking their dogs on the trails, playing baseball and frisbee in the open lawn areas, riding bikes on the dirt trails.
The farm itself was closed for Memorial day so no wagon rides or cow milking or crafts, but Maddy and I had a great time wandering around, petting the animals, naming horses (Patch, Shooting Star, Baby) and looking at all the farm equipment. I tried to get a great photo of Maddy that I could use for the wall as her 4 year old picture, but she kept giving me either goofy faces or little half smiles.
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| Maddy's favorite animals were the piglets |
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| I asked for a smile and she told me that she was going to be a zombie instead |
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The best part (and the part I saved till the end as incentive to keep her moving along and happy) was the big playground we spotted when we drove into the parking lot.
When we go back, we'll go on a day when it's open so we can try some of the farming activities and see the blacksmith. We'll pack a lunch to eat by the lake. And we'll bring a friend so I don't have to chase Maddy up and down and around the playground. Katie - you up for it?
3 comments:
What fun memories. I don't remember the bracelets though. I do remember that bookstore and I do remember that riding the bus was a treat all in it's self.
As I was looking through your pictures a voice in the back of my head was saying, "why didn't she invite me?" I would love to go back with you sometime. That is somewhere we have never been.
Your one-on-one sounded exactly like the ones I remember. It sounds like mom had a plan! I wouldn't mind taking my kids on a one-on-one if it was to a book store, however, I don't think they would get quite the enjoyment out of it that I would. Too bad!
Heck, I'll come with you too!!! Lilian has actually been twice because it's was the spring field trip for her preschool two years running. But she always loved it. And it'd be nice to go again when we weren't with so many other little kids and parents and could actually move around at our own pace.
And yes, goodness I remember well my one-on-one trips downtown with Mommy. What wonderful memories! And Sam Wellers...what a treasure that place was! Is? Is it still there? I think it is. When I got my job at the Book Table in Logan, I immediately thought, "this place reminds me of Sam Wellers!" So I laughed when the owner's son (my manager) told me that they had built their book store with Sam Weller's in mind. :)
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