Sunday, July 12, 2009

That Dumb Salty Lake

Almost 2 weeks ago I took 6 boys to the Great Salt Lake. Why? I'm not too bright. Plus, we had this great idea to do our science fair projects over the summer and Carino was doing his on mass and we thought floating in the Great Salt Lake was more dramatic than an egg floating in salty water. We needed to go to Salt Lake City anyways to hand deliver the 5000 dollar sound processor/hearing device called the BAHA that Carino already managed to destroy. We can repair or replace once every 2 years. What are the odds we will last another 18 months without incident?
So after stopping by the audiologist's place, we went to Antelope Island. The boys started running down the hill to the beach with half our bags while I helped Thing 1 get his shoes on. Then I realized my swimsuit was in one of those bags so we had to run and catch up with them, then I had to go back up the hill to the bathrooms to change. I told the boys to all wait on the shore. I hurried because what are the odds? At least it's hard to drown in a lake you float in. Little boys don't think when bigger boys tell them to stick their head in. By the time I caught up to them, one was spitting and his head was full of salt. Good thing I brought a lot of juice with me. So the lake is about 12-14% salt. You can sit down and float in it. IMG_0567IMG_0572 You know that saying about pouring salt in a wound? Everyone learned what that was about. However, the salt water does help heal wounds, even if it doesn't feel too great at first. The boys had fun skipping rocks and catching brine shrimp. IMG_0664IMG_0620 The water is only populated by them and then there are brine flies that hang out with them, and of course seagulls and other such birds that love to dine on those first two species. Antelope Island ironically no longer has antelope really but it has a herd of bison instead. We didn't go see them because we didn't have time. We saw plenty of seagull up close and personal. The boys shared grapes and chocolate chip cookies with them, and they were all over it after living off flies and brine shrimp.IMG_0527 IMG_0530Even though the Things settled down and had fun, they still keep chewing me out periodically that I took them to that dumb salty lake that they didn't like because it is too salty and it hurts your eyes and cuts and tastes bad, etc.

The boys were so well behaved. Really! This is just a little game with a rock...IMG_0612I love this picture of Thing 1, such a typical expression... IMG_0578 IMG_0625 As you can see, he did have fun.IMG_0657 So did Thing 2. IMG_0672 This little friend is not phased by the salt. He kept trying to swim underwater, but the water would just push him back up. See all the crusty stuff on his face?

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See the bubble between my toes? They form in this water a lot.IMG_0616IMG_0560 IMG_0538 IMG_0676 See how the water blends with the sky? When there are boats out there, they sometimes look like they are floating in the sky. Pretty!IMG_0682 IMG_0591 IMG_0592 Great scenery, eh? There is NO shade on this beach. The hike up and down hill from the bathrooms is very sandy with flat sharp rocks. I don't recommend sandals. Especially not stretchy elastic topped ones. I do recommend taking lots of water and sun block and something for shade. What an amazing lake. Even if you can't really swim in it. When you get out, you have to go shower off all the salt on your body. I would go again, but I don't think the things will want to join me.

9 comments:

4boyzmdmom said...

That looks like lots of fun, and the photos are great! Really interesting to see how different lakes in Utah are compared to lakes in Maryland, though!

Leeann said...

How fun! They look like they enjoyed it!

And you were seriously like 10 min from my house...

RAQ said...

Fun I want to go there this summer! My parents and Keith took my kids 2 summers ago and I stayed behind with Gwen. I really want to check it out! Great photos! How did the science fair project turn out?

The Sports Mama said...

Great shots!

We've been there before. Those darn brine flies were SOOO BAD that day, that we couldn't even get close to the water.

The buffalo, though? Totally cool!

Ashley said...

Those are really great pictures! I've never been there, even though I lived near it for awhile, but I always thought it would be a cool experience!

Mary Ellen said...

I think it's cool - and I can tell they had fun, even if they didn't want to admit it!

That "game" with the rock? Maybe I'm misinterpreting the picture, but I'm not sure it was a game...

Great pictures!

Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings said...

The photos are awesome. I've never been to Utah so this was a treat for me...to finally see what it looks like!

CC said...

What a cool (I mean HOT) experience!!!!!!

Honey Mommy said...

Great pictures! I live so close, but have never been out there! I guess I should give it a try sometime!