Panning for Gold

The kids wanted to do panning for gold first, so we took the train up the hill.

The first thing the kids saw at the top of the hill was this ship. It represented the saints that came by ship. They had to explore that first.

The inside was great! Bunk beds on the right and another passageway and room behind the stairs.

After that they got their pans, went to the stream , started scooping up the really fine sand, shaking the sand out under the water, and then finding GOLD (fools gold, pyrite)

Native American Village

Across the road were these Native American hogans built on man-made red sandstone

The hogans weren’t open yet. Everything is supposed to open at the end of May

There was also a man-made balancing rock on the sandstone with petroglyphs and pictographs on it.

Next, we came to a huge teepee with a carved man-made stone foundation

Inside the teepee was a lady explaining some Native American objects. In the summer they do Native American dances inside the teepee. The stone foundation walls are used for seating.

Locke is sitting next to the man-made stone that the teepee is built into.

Petting Farm

After we finished at the rocks and Native American area, we rode the train to the petting farm and play ground.

We walked through the barn to get to the petting farm. The bard had baby goats and a very noisy goat in a separate pen. Maybe it was the mother. The barn also had some baby chicks and some rabbits.

The petting farm had goats, sheep, a noisy donkey, chickens, and a something that looked like a ram.

The chicken coop

Pony Rides

The farm also had pony rides. Remi wanted to do it but was a little afraid. I held on to her until she got used to it, and then I had a hard time getting her off. Locke’s pony was a bit of a trouble maker. At the end of the ride, Locke’s pony decided he wanted to get on the sidewalk, which was a little disconcerting for Locke. Link rode his pony like a pro.

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Playground

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Link loves watching “Scariest Waterslides Ever” on Youtube. He decided to pretend he was on one of those slides.

After the playground we went to the General Store where they have toys and candy, and then we got ice cream and donuts at Brigham’s Social Hall.

Pioneer Children Memorial

After that we got a free wind chime craft at the hospital and made our way up to the Pioneer Children’s Memorial.

The Pioneer Children’s Memorial is a tribute to the 660 known children who died on the trek to Utah. Their names and ages are listed on 17 large stones. Statues of pioneer children are also among the stones.

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The Pioneer Children’s Memorial path continued up the hill by a stream

Thee boys had more fun trying to cross the stones than listen to the recordings about what was the statue portrayed. The statues were life-sized and helped tell a story. This one was about all the rivers the pioneers had to cross.

It looks like Locke is going with this hand cart group to Salt Lake.

Pushing a handcart.

Locke joining in prayer with this family.

Remi was fascinated by this statue of a woman. She stroked her face and then sat in her lap.

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This statue and recording tells the story of Joseph Fielding Smith and the lost oxen. I didn’t realize Link had climbed on it until after I took the picture.

At the top of the memorial path was Mary Fielding Smith’s home .

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I had never seen this memorial before. This old obelisk is on the spot where Brigham Young said, “This is the right place.”

The last thing we did was go into the brand new Pioneer Event Center to get a family pass. There was so much to see and do and we only got to see a little of it, and a lot of the buildings were closed until summer. I was looking forward to going back.

They had a covered wagon that kids could go into in the Pioneer Event Center.

We explored the Pioneer Event Center before leaving and found that it was also an informational center about the park. There was a huge video about the park in the main large room overlooking the “This is the Place Monument”. There were also more statue displays in the room. (The video is on the wall to the left.)

Remi was fascinated by the father in this display. She was patting his leg like she wanted him to pick her up, or give her a turn swinging.

In a side room was this image display. The images would pop up as the recording told about the creator of the “This is the Place Monument.” I would have liked to have seen the whole thing, but it’s hard to sit and watch an informational video with kids running around.

We also went outside to see the monument. It had statues and information plaques about the Spanish explorers, the trappers, the Native Americans, the Mormons, and anybody else who had a part in discovering and settling Utah.