Utah State Capitol

Today the boys didn't have school because it was the end of the term so Danny and I decided to take advantage of the free day and head to Salt Lake City. Danny has recently become an 11 year old scout and is already starting his trail to his Eagle Scout award. This means more  PowWows, more merit badges, more campouts, and more adventures for Mom. Jeff and I have already signed Danny up for his first BYU PowWow. I actually can't believe it. He still seems so little. He seems too young to be starting all this. They are all growing up so quickly. In any case, he is signed up to complete 3 merit badges - Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, and Signs, Signals and Codes. For his Citizenship in the Nation merit badge, he is required to visit his state capitol and a building or site that is listed on the National Historical registry. Luckily for us, the Old Council Hall (the second "state capitol" building) of Utah is adjacent to the State Capitol so we were able to visit both sites in one location. It was a cold, snowy day, but we both really enjoyed our outing! I have been to Arizona's Capitol several times but have never visited Utah's. It was actually an impressive building with lots of cool history. We started at the Old Council Hall and learned about its history. It was actually relocated to the current site. This was the Territorial Capitol prior to Utah becoming a state. It currently houses the Film Commission and Visitors Bureau. (As a side note, there are A LOT of movies filmed in part or entirely in Utah!)

After we finished looking around there, we walked over to the Capitol. It is a very beautiful building. We decided to do our own tour and went on a little scavenger hunt for certain symbols that are spread throughout the building. It was really fun! I enjoyed spending the morning with two of my boys. Too bad we can't count this visit for Jonas's first merit badge.