Park City: Vacation Part 1

This is one of those posts that I feel like I need to do for myself. One of those things I'll be glad I wrote down in 5 years to remember everything. Because my entire family (and Brians) experienced this with us, I'm unsure of who I'm writing to and who in the world will even glance at all of these pictures I've shamelessly plastered on my blog....because there are quite a few. 

We went to Utah on the 24th of July. I couldn't sleep the entire night before because I was so excited. Strange....I wanted to leave Utah so badly and couldn't wait to move. Here I am, only one year later, unable to sleep like a child on Christmas Eve because I'm going home. 

The flight was good, the kids were excellent, and we made it safely and happily. We spent one day at my parents before going up to Park City with Brian's family. The kids were so excited about the sandbox and lack of humidity, that their little bodies soaked up every ounce of kid friendly weather. They spend maybe one hour inside from noon to bedtime and crashed as soon as their heads hit the pillow. 

This is a good representation of how exciting Brian thinks my parent's house is. Sleeping. (Jared must have thought Daddy was trustworthy enough to watch out for his cars).

My mom is only a LITTLE excited to see us, as you can tell. 

24th....the Utah holiday. I found photographing a good firework shot was harder than I thought (I'm sure the fact that I didn't go to a firework show contributed. Thank you neighbors for lighting some.) 

AND....on to the main event! Park City.

First time in her swim suit. 

There was endless cousin time and endless playing. Having best friends live with you for a week is a little piece of heaven for kids and parents. The kids have so much fun and parents have it easy at bedtime. Life is easy when entertainment is provided and passing out at night is a given. 

Oh, wise Aunt Mary brought the fun!

Claire's first drawing of people. Nice work! 

We dropped in on Park City's display of a billion whatever they're called. I should have not deleted that closer picture I took so I could recall the name. Oh well.. 

I like this one. :) 

Hailey thinks Scott is hilarious.

On Saturday we went to Cascade Springs. It's a nice walk and it was beautiful weather. I couldn't get enough of the weather! Seriously, to go outside without dying....sigh. What a wonderful life! Why did I want to leave dry heat? Next time I go crazy like that, someone slap me. 

Of course Jared was watching the tiniest pieces of water. I knew he was seconds away from jumping in, so we kept a close distance to make sure it didn't happen. 

I tried to get a group shot. Here you have it. The only two people in our entire family that listened to me. 

Just to stinkin' tired to keep going.

The boys went on an overnight hike on Monday night. They enjoyed the rain. They walked in it....for miles....and then slept in it....sounds fun, right? I was grateful to be in an oversized bed and a shower during the rain, but I'm glad they stayed safe and actually did have fun. Little Scott there made it up 6 miles! Crazy good for an 8 year old and completely surpassed my expectations.

While the men were gone, we just played. I hoped the rain would end, but it persisted the entire week.  

Now, this was hilarious. I had Jared sit by the bear so I could get a kid shot. He stayed there for about 5 seconds and it turned from this.....

...to this.  He just sobbed on the ground until we left. Apparently the bear was a little too scary. 

Candy. He couldn't even walk he was so preoccupied.

 Daddy's swim boxers.

Claire's birthday was that Tuesday and the rain killed all of my premeditated plans of going to the splash park and enjoying the day outside. I spend enough time indoors in Texas with the heat, so I got a little cabin fevery and decided that a scavenger hunt was just what we needed. Luckily, the kids thought I was genius and had a great time. We ended with watching Cars 2 (which we rented for free because Claire, Iris, and I won Disney Name that Tune the night before....ahem....and they were so excited for all of "their" hard work! We danced and skipped all the way to the lobby in excitement.)

Oh boys. They love flatulence , don't they? The woopie cushions were a hit. 

BUBBLES!!! 

The money shot of the entire trip. A smile on Claire's face is easy, Jared is a little harder, but Monte? Impossible. Easily our favorite picture from the trip. 

Good Gracious! I didn't even mention our art class! I will here since Diane and Brik are sitting in front of it. Diane, Mary, and I took an art class from the paint Mixer. It was SO FUN! They teach you all how to do a painting and they all turn out different, but so good. It was a blast! I'll have to post pictures when I remember. 

Scott had been looking forward to our Rubber Ducky Rigata all week. It was a blast. 

Claire's b-day gift from grandma/pa James. She loves that doll. 

We had to light that candle three times. First because Brian told Claire to blow it out before we sang happy b-day. Second, because Brian blew it out while blowing out the match. Third time's the charm.

Us girls on our "hike". Very foggy and very beautiful.

KICK BALL! I thought this was a fantastic idea because I hadn't played kickball since grade school. You know, sometimes it's disappointing to revisit something you loved so much because the nostalgia isn't enough to make it good again? Guess what, kick ball IS that good. Gosh, can I go back to 6th grade, PAAALEASE!

A tub full of bubbles. Seriously! She fell down and all I could see were feet in the air. I had to blindly grab her outta there. 

"Mommy, I can't hear you because my ears are shut" (by bubbles).

Thank you, Thank you, my dear Park City, for being such a wonderful host. It was our funnest vacation yet even with all that rain. You've become almost like my home away from home and I miss you already. 'Til next time. 

I Love You!