Today’s Open Mic Monday is brought to you by guest blogger Evonne Sell from Sell…Party of 3. I love Evonne and am so glad she agreed to write a post for SassyScoops.com–especially at such short notice (because I’m lame and seem to do everything last minute these days). And I’m really excited she’s featuring the new Cowabunga Bay in Draper, Utah. I’ve been dying to know more about this colorful, crazy-looking water park!
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The Inside Scoop on Cowabunga Bay
by Evonne Sell

Have any of you noticed the sa-weet new water park while driving down I-15? Curiosity got the best of me and I had to stop and get the “sassy scoop” on Cowabunga Bay for ya’ll! I was able to sit down with the owner of this family-owned business and get the inside scoop on the park before its grand opening on Friday, June 12th.

I love the look of Cowabunga Bay, and of course, so does my four-year-old. It looks like something straight out of a Dr. Suess book. There is plenty to do with eight slides and a lazy river to float all of your cares away–which is exactly what I will be needing by Friday.
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This is just what our community was in need of…a nice, clean, family environment that is pretty inexpensive, if I do say so myself. After browsing their website I realized why I fell in love so quickly. Do you ever feel like when you go to a place you have to stay all day long to get your money’s worth? Never fear! This place doesn’t charge you full price if you aren’t planning to stay all day. Nice, huh?

After I left I immediately wished that I had worked off those extra 20 pounds so I could look good in that cute bathing suit. Oh well! It looks like too much fun to pass up with or without the 20 pounds. I am SO there this summer–who is with me?

Emily’s note:

You can follow the construction of Cowabunga Bay by visiting the Cowabunga Bay Construction Blog. Check out the photo of the giant Yellow Tipping Bucket–have you ever seen such a large amount of water being dumped in one place at one time. Don’t get within 100 feet unless you want to get wet! For admission prices, park hours and other info visit the Cowabunga Bay website. The water park is located at 12047 S. Factory Outlet Dr. in Draper, Utah.

Last night I was on my way to a friend’s house & got HORRIBLY lost.  I was driving in circles, cursing Google maps for almost an hour when I finally was able to get a hold of my friend and have her talk me through getting to her house.  Yikes.  The embarrassing part was that I’ve been there before, at least several times, but I guess something didn’t stick this time; must have gotten off on the wrong exit or something.

The highlight of getting lost, however, was finding all the little mom and pop restaurants around town that I had no idea even existed!  Not that long ago, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed them.  I remember thinking awhile back how I wish I knew of a good local restaurant, upon which I gave up & went to a chain franchise instead.  However, now I’ve caught a bit of the vision of why local business is so important to our communities and local economies.

There have been many “buy local” campaigns; the photo above is from a Utah business supporting one such campaign.  The argument is that when we support local businesses, more of our money stays in our local economy, creating & strengthening jobs.  However, some economists argue that the point of a good economy is to have access to whatever goods you need, regardless of what package they come in.  While both sides make a good argument, I liked the reason I found in a Business Week article discussing Buy Local campaigns:

But many consumers choose to buy local because the intangible benefits are precisely the things they care about: vibrant downtown areas, stores with local character, and business owners who know shoppers’ names. “They find value beyond the economic value,” says Village Books’ Robinson. Now, with businesses of all sizes struggling, some independent stores are counting on buy-local campaigns to remind consumers of that value. “It gives people a reason to think about who they’re spending their money with,” says Marty Jelinski, owner of Bay City Supply, a cleaning-equipment store in Bellingham. “What do they like about Bellingham? Is it the big-box stores up on the north end of town, or some of the stores that are a little bit unique?”

I loved that spin on why supporting local business makes such a difference.  When I go to downtown Salt Lake, my heart doesn’t flutter at first sight of the gigantic Smith’s Marketplace on 4th south.  I love to go downtown because of all the unique little shops and restaraunts; those elements are the flavor of Salt Lake City.  It’s the old buildings turned into shops and eateries; the architecture preserved in the heart of downtown.  Preserving local businesses means preserving our entrepreneurial spirit.  It’s buying a cake from someone that always wanted to open a little bakery or finding a wedding dress at a small, family-owned shop, rich with history.

This is what the SassyScoops.com project is all about.  We feature local businesses, help bring out their flavor, making them more personal to our community.

What are your favorite local haunts?  What’s your take on supporting local businesses?  Why do you think it’s important?

We recently posted on UtahMama.com the questions we’d ask our mothers. (and I promise I’m usually more upbeat than this!)

What would I ask my mom . . . as I thought about this question, I wanted to be lighthearted, I wanted to be funny. Let’s be honest, I was a pretty easy, wonderful child to raise, and I can’t imagine I caused her much trouble, so what would I really ask her? ;)

And then this really heavy part sets in for me. It’s Mother’s Day — and something is missing. It’s my sister, it’s her baby, the girl we buried the first week in October 2008 after a brief but aggressive battle with cancer. I look around at the arms that are empty or mourning, like Maddie’s mommy, like Thalon’s mommy and yes, like my mommy, and many others.

It’s these people, their events, their stories, that have made us all pause in our children’s bedrooms, staring at them for just one more minute, paralyzed at the thought of losing them.

What I really want to know is not how my mom handled raising me, or how any other mom raises her kids, I want to know how one lets them go. No matter how old you are or how long you have been a mother, I want to know how.

When all is said and done, the greatest Mother’s Day gift any of us has ever received is the gift of these little people in our lives, however hard it is, for however long we get them.

“Sometimes when you pick up your child you can feel the map of your own bones beneath your hands, or smell the scent of your skin in the nape of his neck. This is the most extraordinary thing about motherhood – finding a piece of yourself separate and apart that all the same you could not live without.” — Jodi Picoult (Perfect Match: A Novel)

So how, Mommy? How do you live “without”?

To read the complete article CLICK HERE

Image by Maigh, shared via Flickr.