Hot Tub & Larry

What do these things have in common?

Let’s take a trip!

How to have a perfect vacation:

Start with a giant leak in your ceiling from the upstairs bathroom. Damage your wood floors with all that water. File an insurance claim to get your floors fixed. Schedule your floor to be done at the same time your husband has a business retreat in Park City. Take all the kids to escape the fumes of the floors. Enjoy!!

We started the fun with an attempt at a movie, but the only one playing early enough was 3-D. Since we didn’t want to start the weekend with a roaring headache, we skipped the movie and went to lunch instead. Grandma and Grandpa Heugly joined us for lunch then sent us on our way to beautiful Park City. Our room was pretty amazing. We had a Master Suite and bathroom, a kitchen corner, a living room, and a separate room with another queen-sized bed, a pull-out couch, another bathroom, and a kitchenette. But the best part? The hot tub on our personal balcony. Now THAT’S what I’m talking about! Since Joe had to work part of the time, we filled our time with games: Tea parties: And fun adventures to the store. We needed a few things from the grocery store and Smith’s was right across the street, so I strapped Annie to me, put Camri and Beau in the stroller and made the older kids stay close as we walked to the store. We got lots of fun looks and comments, but everyone was so kind!! At the store, I asked an employee where the earplugs were. She looked at all the kids and started laughing her head off before she told me. At the checkout, the cashier asked, “Are you sure you don’t need any extra helpers?” I replied, “You’re right, I should’ve brought the rest of my kids!!” His eyes got big as he said, “Seriously?!!??!” I guess we were quite the novelty in cool, sophisticated Park City.

The kids had great sleeping arrangements and loved to have slumber parties every night. The first night, Joe had a work dinner that we took some of the kids to. It was right down the hall from our room, so we left Dakota in charge of Camri and Beau. She did a great job and we brought some dinner back to the room for them. At the dinner, each table had a box of tinker toys and the competition was to build the tallest, sturdiest structure. Sadly, I have no pictures. We definitely had the tallest structure before one of our pieces snapped and the whole thing collapsed. We were robbed. But at the end of the night, other tables were bringing us their boxes of tinker toys and we left with four whole sets. The kids were thrilled!!

After Joe’s work portion of the trip, we packed up the kids and headed to the outlet stores. I found some great deals ($.98 shirts!, $5 pants!), we got some Christmas shopping done, and the kids had a fun time on the playground with their ring-pops. More games…yes, that’s a Chicago Bears Monopoly game… Some swimming. The pool was neat, it was halfway inside and halfway outside. Because it was a little chilly when we went, we spent most of our time in the inside pool, the hot tub, and the sauna. We had the place to ourselves, it was great!

Cafe Rio was literally right under our room. And it was goooooooood eats! We found the bowling alley…not a great shot, but notice the huge screens behind the pins. It was very cool!

We drove over to Heber for a picnic in the park, we saw the beautiful fall colors, and we played and played and played. The second night we were there, Joe surprised me by scheduling a massage….for me. He said I deserved it. He said I do so much. He said I love you, loud and clear. He watched the kids while I went downstairs for a heavenly massage. It was luxurious!! No kids for an hour!! :) He is my amazing man.

This was the view from our balcony. Notice the green Olympic slopes in the background. Goodbye Newpark, we will just pack our things and be on our way….

The name game

While I was pregnant with Annie, we kept a running list on the white board of possible baby names. Here are the final contenders and the winner: While I wrote the names, Joe would rate them from 1-10. Colin wrote the warning, but when it came time to ree-race, I took a picture first.

We love Annie!!

Utah State Fair…Uncommonly Fun!

I think the last time I went to the State Fair was on a date with Joe in the pre-kid era. So, it’s been a while.

Monday was the first furlough day in my kid’s school, so they had the day off. Coincidentally, it was kids-under-12-free day at the fair. Perfect! We called Grandma to see if she wanted to go and we ended up having a very good time!!

Right when we walked in the gates, we saw the sea lions taking a break between shows… A cool race car… And found the Be Ready Utah display. The kids competed against each other in an emergency-preparedness relay. They had to fill sandbags… I love Camri’s face here… Put emergency vests on… Wind up a flashlight… Filter some water… And a few other things. They all won prizes like thermal blankets and waterproof first aid kits. Very cool!!

Next, we went to see the Pig Races. The pigs were cool, but I kind of preferred the announcer. He was a funny old cowboy. We saw all kinds of fun displays… Tired goats… Hungry goats… Sassy goats… And oh, the cows. That just does NOT look comfortable. As a nursing mother, I felt that I could relate a little too well… Awwwwwww…. The kids had fun with Grandma and I was very grateful for the extra hands! Koko liked this little bird…

Of course we had to catch the sea lion show. We found a good spot in the shade… The sea lions were great! Even Annie had a good time (and a nice nap!) Good morning sunshine! Ice cream all around!! It was much tastier then some of the other food options… By the time we left it was very hot and very crowded, I think we timed it just right! We may just go again next year….