Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Gilgal Sculpture Garden

Today we ventured off to find the Gilgal Sculpture Garden. I hadn't ever heard of this place until today when I found this site that features fun things to do. Not sure how we chose this place, but it looked interesting enough and something different for the boys than the usual park or playground. Best thing about the garden - it was free.

Nestled near Trolley Square, we enjoyed the garden to ourselves, literally. Well that was until the dreadlock guy and his belly dancer girlfriend found us.
I downloaded a scavenger hunt list for the boys which kept us entertained for quite a while. We actually had to leave because it started raining, and I took the umbrellas out of the car the last time I cleaned it.

The garden was created by Thomas Battersby Child, Jr.(1888-1963) in his back yard. Mr. Child was a masonry contractor and Bishop of the historic 10th Salt Lake LDS Ward. I would love to go again after having taken the time to learn more about the sculptures in the interactive online tour.




A few of the items we marked off the scavenger hunt list included the following:

The word Gilgal in stone


Never heard of the word Gilgal before?
"The name Gilgal refers to a Biblical location meaning "circle of standing stones" where Joshua ordered the Israelites to place twelve stones as a memorial. Gilgal is also the name of a city and a valley in The Book Of Mormon."

The words Count Your Many Blessings

I happened upon this gem and snapped a photo. There are several quotes, scriptures, and hymns carved in stone covering the garden. Lots to think about and ponder.

It wasn't until later when Ethan read the list of items to look for that I realized it was on our list. I just find myself needing to be reminded lately that I have much to be grateful for. This was a timely reminder for me and something I know I wasn't a coincident.

A spinx - Joseph Smith style?


Brick Pants and the 10th ward church building
Self portrait of Child with the church building where he served as bishop.


A Stack of Books
The boys thought it would be funny to pretend they were holding these books.


If only they realized how soon homework will be upon them. Heaven help me -- I know Ethan will feel like his homework is as much of a burden as actually having to lift these stone books.

This was just something I found that intrigued me and I wanted to take it home with me and reflect upon it some more.


As we drove downtown, I saw an advertisement for gourmet doughnuts. I'm sure I blew my points out of the water with this treat. Good thing we all shared.



Grasshopper and Cookies-n-Cream Doughnuts

We went to the playground and tried to work off the doughnuts. I'm sitting here hours later and still feel them. Might have to go let Jillian whip me back into shape.

3 comments:

Alicia said...

I've never heard of this place! Man-- there's so much I still need to do in SLC.

Miranda said...

Looks like a fun new activity! And I love, love, love donuts! I prefer them to birthday cake. That would be my kind of shop.

Unknown said...

Sounds like a really neat place! Loved that quote on the stone!