Thursday, July 2, 2009

Park City

My parents had points that they needed to use up before July and couldn't go, so they let us use their time share again and we went up to Park City for 3 days. We had a lot of fun! For being unemployed, we've had a pretty busy and fun summer vacation so far.

They had a really nice indoor pool and spa which we swam at many times. They also had really nice BBQ grills we could use, so we bought a bunch of chicken and steak and Chase just grilled our dinner every night we were there.

Our first full day there we found out that Park City offers free public transportation which was sweet! So, we rode the bus up to Main St. and walked around and saw some of the shops. We thought about walking through some of the art galleries, but decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea with all the kids, especially with one rambunctious 22 month old. Also, our kids have this thing about touching everything. We saw a moose statue dressed up, and a bear statue on a bench, which the kids thought was cool. We walked into a jewelry shop and got the kids free polished rocks, which they were ecstatic about. Addie especially loves to collect things, especially rocks. I was just excited that they were free. The guy unlocked a case and pulled out a penguin necklace I was admiring. He started to go into description about how it was made of black, tahitian pearl with white gold on a white gold chain and stated the price was only $695.00. That was our cue to leave. We said thanks for the free rocks and left.

Some guy tried to sell us a timeshare up at the Canyons as well. They were going to give us $100. in cash with a free buffet and all we had to do was show up for a 90 min. "tour"(really a sales pitch). He started asking us all the qualifying questions.... "Do you make at least 50 grand a year?", "Did you pay for your accomadations while you're staying here?". I laughed and informed him that Chase was laid off and my parents were footing the bill for us to be there. He said, "That's ok, can you just say you make 50 grand and you're paying to be here?". Then he wanted $20. refundable deposit saying we'd show up to do the tour. Chase "unfortunately" had left his wallet at home since we rode the bus. He also had a job interview the next day in Salt Lake. He must have been desperate for some sort of commision because then he waived the $20. deposit and told us to just show up if we could and gave us his cell # to call.

We ended our first day with a free trolley ride up and down Main Street which was fun. It went up this huge hill to the top of Main Street, which would have been a pain to walk with all the kids. We caught the bus back to the resort and Chase grilled some more dinner for us. My sister Monica works at Cloud Rim just above Park City at the Girl Scout camp, so she came down and ate dinner with us. She also told us about a lot more free stuff we could do while we were there, since she knows everything there from working 7 summers there I believe. The next day we wanted to take her up on one of her suggestions and hike a trail to a historic farm, but the kids were too tired and we still had to eat dinner. We ran out of time to do all the things we wanted to do, oh well, maybe next time.

Our second day we decided to ride the Alpine Slide. We were a little nervous about this because you have to ride a gondola (ski lift) up the mountain to get to the top of the slide. We were mainly worried about Emery's reaction to the height. Unbelievably she was completely fine, weird kid. Chase says it's probably because she was wedged down between him and Bailey and she didn't have a clear view of how high up we were. It was cool because the seats were big and our whole family fit on one chair and rode up together.

The kids had a blast and loved riding the slide. Chase rode with Cam so I have no pictures of them because Chase had the camera. Addie rode by herself and at first pushing herself off the starting point just held onto the sides. I was riding on a seperate track next to Addie and had to keep yelling at her to push the stick forward or she wouldn't be going anywhere soon. Finally she got it, and in no time shot down the mountain at full speed ahead of me and Emery. Chase said she didn't even let up at the end when you're supposed to slow down and stop. She came careening to the very end screaming in excitement. Bailey caustiously went ahead of me, but warmed up and had fun. There were gophers all over and Bailey freaked out I guess because one ran across the track in front of her and she thought it was a rat. There was one gopher just calmly standing up next to the track when Emery and I went by. It was so close I could have reached out and grabbed it if I was fast enough. It was so weird, but I guess they're used to all the traffic.

We had so much fun and wished we could have stayed longer. Thanks Mom and Dad for the fun vacation, it was a blast!
We bought icecream bars and Emery really enjoyed them, as you can see.
This is Emery's intense eating/dancing face that she makes on occasion.

I can't believe how wide she got her mouth open.

Bailey nervously getting ready to go down the mountain.

Addie, screaching past the stopping point.

Mommy and Emery at the bottom of the slide.

Addie, excitedly anticipating going down the mountain.

Mommy and Emery waiting our turn to go.

I love the view behind me on the gondola.

Bailey, Addie, Cam, & Mommy high up on the gondola.

Cam, Addie, Bailey, Emery, & Daddy on the gondola.
You can see the Alpine Slide track below us behind Chase.


Addie on the trolley.

Cam & Bailey on the trolley going up main street.

Emery looking out the trolley window.

The kids getting ready for the trolley ride.

Kids with the bear statue on Main Street.

Riding the bus.

The kids playing around in one of the rooms in our suite.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Canyon Trip

Bridal Veil Falls
Addie, Bailey, & Cam at the top of Bridal Veil Falls

Addie getting sprayed by the waterfall.

Addie & Cam at the top, you can see our van at the bottom.

Bailey, Addie, & Cam under the falls.

Bridal Veil Falls, underneath Lower Fall.

Bridal Veil Falls, Lower Fall.

American Fork Canyon

Grove of Aspen trees in A.F. Canyon.

Snowy mountains in A.F. Canyon.

Hiking Cascade Springs

Cascade Springs

Cam helping Emery down the trail.

Emery, Cascade Springs.

Bailey, Cascade Springs.

Cam, Cascade Springs

Addie, Cascade Springs

Emery running around.

Cascade Springs above the bridge.


Addie eating lunch.

Emery and Cam enjoying lunch.

The whole fam at Cascade Springs.

Chase went to a friend's going away party up American Fork Canyon and got a 3 day pass for $6.00 , so we went up the canyon over the weekend. We packed a lunch and headed up A.F. canyon to hike around Cascade Springs.

We had known Emery has a fear of heights, but didn't know to what extent until our drive through the canyon. She was in the middle, not even next to the door, because our chairs slide over, but she was completely freaked out. She just kept making "Chewbacca" noises which would intensify any time we came upon a big drop off or open cliff. She was borderline tears, but mostly kept making the panicked "Chewbacca" sounds. We'd driven up this canyon before, but I guess she was younger and may have even been rear facing in her carseat. Previous to this I knew she had a fear of being up on changing tables. Any time I'd take her in to change her diaper at church she would freak out, try to get up, cling to me, and say "Fall!" over and over again. I would try to reassure her that she wouldn't fall and say, "I got ya". This never helps and she only says, "Fall!", "Gotcha!". Also, at Ceri's graduation when Emery was getting ancy during the cerimony, Chase took her up the stairs of a nearby building. The building had like 5 floors and Chase went up to the top and held her up and Emery clawed Chase's back in fear. Well, we finally got to Cascade Falls and Emery seemed to calm down and enjoyed all the water and running around on the kid friendly trails. The only other panic moment Emery had was when Chase held her up to take a picture on the bridge, even that height made her nervous.

We actually drove the Alpine Loop which went back down through Provo Canyon. The views were great and it was really nice weather and a fun little outing. The drive down through Provo Canyon wasn't as terrifying for Emery and she did a lot better, not as many drop-offs. On our drive back through Provo Canyon we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls which was fun, but crowded. Chase ended up taking the 3 older kids up the trail to the lower falls and I stayed at the bottom with Emery. I ended up just chasing Emery around and fighting off some box elder bugs, but it was ok. I took Emery down a jogging/biking trail, but she wanted out of the stroller. So, I gave her a shot at walking by herself, but had to abandon that once she was determined to veer into the biking lane, which caused some problems for the on-coming bikers.

The kids all came back with filthy bums after sliding down the trail. We were all tuckered out and hot and decided we all needed some refreshment, so we headed back to the car. We drove to Costco and got frozen yogurt, berry smoothies, and Costco icecream bars. Everybody picked something different. All in all it was a beautiful, fun, successful adventure up the canyon.

Bailey's Birthday!








Well, this is late, but Bailey turned 9 years old on June 28th! She was so excited, as most kids are for their birthdays. I let her pick out a cake she wanted me to make which was a horse cake. I didn't want to use the semi-sweet chocolate, so I used vanilla almond bark instead (white chocolate). It turned out pretty good, except the frosting which was actually a ganache with powdered sugar was a bit on the runny side and it kept sliding down the sides of the cake. But, over all it turned out great and we all enjoyed eating Bailey's horse... mmmmmmm! I also made Bailey's favorite dinner which was chicken, broccoli, cheese, and rice. Bailey opened her presents before church which she was thrilled about! After church we let her ride her new scooter with the other kids for a little in the culdisac. My mom also got Cam and Addie a scooter as well. I guess Addie's is supposed to be her "late" b-day present and Cam's is supposed to be his "early" birthday present. Bailey's other gifts were as follows...

1.The Game of Life (electronic version-no paper money to lose)-from Mom and Dad
2.A very nice gold leafed, leather copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales-Grandma and Grandpa Fox
3.Pampered Chef kid's cook book-Grandma and Grandpa Fox
4.Clothes & shoes that Bailey got in CA-Grandma and Grandpa Fox
5.Scripture bag, modeling clay, water color pencils, crochet book with needles, little pet shop stuffed rabbit, scooter, and maybe some other stuff I can't remember-Grandma and Grandpa Beebe

So, Bailey agreed that she had a very fun day, inspite of her birthday falling on a Sunday. We love Bailey very much and are extremely grateful she is part of our family. I keep telling her she can't keep getting older anymore, but she doesn't listen. I tell her every year she has to stay at that age. Oh, well, she's still my little girl! Happy Birthday Bailey Boo!