Visiting Utah's Ocean

Back on Labor Day weekend, my sister, Natalie came down from Boise. Most of the cousins got together for a day of fun. We decided to visit Utah's ocean - AKA, The Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island. When we got there, we saw one buffalo and ooohed and aaaahed. Then we drove around the hill and saw a ton of them. There were many up closer than this, but I like these pictures. I think Cooper thought they were horses and cows!
We headed out to the ranch. I forget the name of it because it was a month and a half ago!!! There were many activities for the kids to do and lots of places to take pictures. Here Cadence is roping a...bull?

Cadence loves it when cousins are around. Here they are riding...a horse barrel?
Cooper enjoyed getting into everything and riding on this saddle! Notice he is wearing sandals. After wearing the high tops for a few days, I think he liked not stepping on rocks and pricklies. Now, he will wear shoes without a fuss!!!
We had to get a family picture of this log. So cute!

Cooper loved spending time with the horses and chickens.
I wanted to take lots of pictures of Cadence on all the antiques. She is just such a cute little girl! I would take more pictures of Cooper too except he doesn't like to look at the camera so I get lots of the side of his head:)

One of the crafts the kids participated in was making/dipping candles. Both kids thought it was so fun!!!!

After the ranch, we headed to the beach. Since we didn't know Antelope Island was the plan, we didn't bring swimsuits. That was ok. Cadence got to wear a beautiful leotard of Maddie's that she loves (and wears often now) and Cooper wore his diaper.
I must say that I was very impressed with the beach (except for the brine flies.) The sand was soft and heavenly. The water was warm and shallow for hundreds of feet. We could have ran and played in it all day.

The sand was so awesome to play in. Cooper had a blast getting dirty. So did all the cousins!

I've heard the Great Salt Lake is so salty that you can float, but because it was so shallow for so far, none of us really got to test that idea! It was great for the kids because I wasn't worried about them going in over their heads. They could lay down and still be safe from water going in their faces.
Since Chris and I didn't have our swimsuits, it was perfect for wading. See the cousins and my sisters in the background. They were still wading all the way out there!!!

After a while, Cooper had a saggy diaper:) I was tempted to just let him run around naked, but decided against it since he was the only boy and there were a few other families around us.

We told everyone to wash the sand off their bodies before we headed back to car. Cooper did just the opposite. He washed the sand on to his body. What a kid!!!

When we were done playing, the walk back to the cars was a ways. Instead of carrying Cooper with a gallon of salt water in his diaper, Chris just took it off. Isn't this a cute picture of his bum? Babies rock!!!Up by the cars were outdoor showers where we rinsed the salt and sand off our feet and bodies. That was a very welcomed treat! We really enjoyed this visit to the ocean of Utah. The beach rocked and the accommodations were very nice. I hope to come here at least once a year!!!