Spring Break Outing

Since we had two yucky weather days during spring break, yesterday I decided I wanted to go do something with the kiddos. I was looking for close, cheap (free even) and not too involved. I decided to take them into Boulder to the CU campus. We went to the Fiske Planetarium and the little CU Natural History Museum. Both were free, they just ask for donations. The planetarium was a BIG hit. They had a lot of fun activities for the kids. We wanted to make the laser show at 1:00, but Drew decided to take an almost 3 1/2 hour power nap that day, so we missed the movie. That turned out to be kind of a blessing, but more on that in a minute.

Fiske Planetarium

This huge globe inside the planetarium shows various things: ocean water temps, storms, wind currents and El Nino. Pretty cool.

After leaving the planetarium we drove up a few blocks looking for the museum, but we couldn't find it, even though it faces the street we were on. Now, I'm not stupid. It's just that EVERY SINGLE building on that campus looks the same: red brick, look like mini-castles and signs/names that aren't very visible. We ended up driving around the campus, then parking at an elementary school that I knew was close, about 1/2 a block, from the museum. Good for us because finding visitor parking at that campus is almost impossible, and it's expensive! Thank-you spring break and no school. We debated even trying to find the museum. We almost left to just go play at a McD's somewhere. In the end we decided to go and found it without too much difficulty. We spent about 30 minutes exploring the museum and playing in their discovery area for kids.

The fossil room in the natural history museum. They also have a biology room, anthropology room and a room filled with Navajo weaving.

Now, back to my comment earlier about why Drew's power nap turned into a blessing. Since he slept so long we didn't leave the house until almost 2:00, an hour and a half later than I was hoping. Then, blessing #2 was deciding to go to the museum after all. When we left the museum Erik and Lily were playing with the pinecones, or bombs as they called them. :) As we were walking back through the parking lot a guy came walking from campus in the same direction we were. He was talking on his phone, so I didn't pay him much attention. As we started walking toward the school where we parked, he walked along close to us. No, this isn't weird because there is a bus stop right in front of the school. He kind of paced himself with us, crossed when we did, etc. I did kind of wonder about that, but didn't think too much about it. He finished his conversation while we were waiting to cross the street and started talking to me. Here's a brief summary of our conversation.

Him: "Are you guys from Utah?" (Erik had worn his Utah cap.)

Me: "Yah, we are."

Him: "So am I. I know that logo. But I'm a BYU alum."

Me: "So is my husband. He's just a Utah fan."

After talking about school a bit more, finding out he lives one town over from us, and that they've only been in the area for about a month he asked about the kids.

Him: "How old is your daughter?"

Me: "Just turned 4 last month."

Him: "My daughter just turned 5 last month."

Me: "Do you only have one?"

Him: "No, I have 3 kids. My son is 7 and is in first grade. My daughter just turned 5 and our youngest son is 18 months."

Now, that's pretty darn close to my kids of course.

Anyway, come to find out his daughter doesn't have any friends her age that are girls. He went on to get my number so that he could give it to his wife. Hopefully she'll call and we'll be able to get our kids together to play. They're from Cedar City originally.

Here's why this whole situation is a blessing to me: What are the odds that we meet another LDS person while we're visiting the CU campus for an hour? What are the odds that person is married and has 3 kids very close in age to mine? What are the chances that this person and his family are new to the area and are looking for friends? Very, very slim!!

If we would have gone to the the movie at the earlier time, we would have been gone by the time this guy was leaving campus and we never would have met. I almost didn't go to the museum, but for some reason I just kept thinking, "No, we really should go to the museum." (I thought it was just my brain telling me to go cuz the kids would like it, but what do I know?) Are all these things a coincidence? I honestly do not think so!

I know the Lord knows what he's doing and we met this person for a reason. I really feel like I was prompted to go to that museum. I really hope his wife calls. I wish I would have had my phone so that I could have gotten her number, but I had left it at home. What a simple thing, meeting someone in very much the same situation as myself and my family! But it was just more proof to me that the Lord is aware of each of us, our needs and our desires....even in something as simple as bringing people into our lives. The Lord does work in mysterious ways sometimes!