Park City, June 2015

We spent most of last week in Park City at the Mountainside Resort.  I'm not sure that I previously was a huge fan of the staycation, but with toddlers, it was pretty much perfect.  The short drive was bearable and it didn't take long to get settled in to have fun.  Before going I really wasn't sure how the kids would do, and I brought a lot of toys, books, and activities because I thought they would need entertaining.  I shouldn't have worried, they absolutely loved it.  In fact, the original plan had been to have them stay with my parents for the last two days, but they were having such a great time, we decided to keep them with us.  The pictures will show pretty clearly that we got more than our money's worth from the pool but the entire resort was kid friendly and very relaxing.  Driving home today Tim and I talked about how much fun the entire trip had been and how grateful we were to experience it all together.

Day 1 of Swimming

Day 2 of Swimming

Park City Main Street

After a lunch of pizza, we headed to Main Street to wander through the shops.  We stopped to take a picture of Franz, the famous bear.  Luke thought he was too scary and had to be convinced to get close enough for a picture.  Ruby was a little more friendly.    

 One of the fun things about Main Street is that there are plenty of spots to take a good picture.

It turns out that most of the shops are not exactly kid proof.  We spent most of our time trying to keep the kids from breaking or ruining something and finally decided that the trolley was a better option. The kids loved it and we rode up and down Main Street for quite awhile.

The hotel where we are staying has some really great activities for kids.  Friday morning we spent some time in "The Mine" letting the kids create and play.  It has been so fun for me to watch them play and experience so many new things.  Luke keeps telling me "I had so much fun". 

Day 3 of Swimming

It has been amazing to see how quickly the kids' confidence has grown after just a few days in the water.  The first day they were pretty cautious and wanted to cling to me or Tim, that is if we could get them off of the stairs.  By the third day, they only wanted me to hold on if they needed a tow or to change directions.  They loved floating, "swimming" and jumping.  Luke started small, jumping off the stairs and not wanting to go under water at all.  Before long he was jumping off the side of the pool and demanding that we back up further.  Ruby eventually decided that she wanted in on the fun too and started jumping as well.  I think it is time to start swimming lessons. 

When I was in college my friends and I loved to drive up to Park City for dinner at the Baja Cantina and dessert at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  Ever since we met, Tim has humored me in this tradition and we have tried to make it happen for my birthday or our anniversary.  We have been with various groups of people, but Friday night we added the babies to the fun.  They made it a little louder and kind of crazy, but I loved having them with us.  And when it came time for dessert, they were definitely excited to go to a chocolate factory.  Luke chose the chocolate covered marshmallows with lots of sprinkles.  Predictably, he had a few bites then passed it on to Ruby who was happy to eat "clean up"

It's been nice to be staying so close to most of the mountain activities.  After dinner we thought it would be fun. to let the kids play on the kiddie rides.  Turns out that my kids, who are complete daredevils at home, and seem to have no concern for injury, are terrified of some little amusement rides.  We started on the merry go round where both kids cried the entire time.  I was able to convince Ruby to ride the plane, well at least go get on the ride.  Before it even started moving though she was screaming so we pulled her off.  It was kind of funny because while she was on the plane Luke stood outside the gate screaming that his sister didn't like that ride.  We eventually found some fake rocks for them to climb on and salvaged the night.

Saturday morning we loaded the kids up in the baby jogger and headed out for a run/hike.  We had the best time exploring the hills and trails.  My legs were burning since we pretty much went either straight up or straight down and I can only imagine how Tim's felt since he was pushing the jogger.  The kids were troopers and hung out with us for about two hours, at least they got rewarded with a Slurpee.  By the end, Luke was begging to go back to Park City and go swimming.  Lucky for him we didn't have any  other plans except to swim and hang out.

Day 4 of Swimming

I'm not sure how the kids are going to handle it when they have to go back to life without a pool.  I literally had to carry Luke away from the pool screaming because he didn't want to leave.  I couldn't have imagined that it would be so much fun to watch and play with these sweet babeis in the pool. 

Saturday afternoon Erika and Clark came up to spend time with us.  The babies had so much fun teasing and chasing them around and were pretty upset when they left.  With their encouragement we tried the rides again.  We made it through the carousel without tears, but Ruby had a total meltdown on the train.  Maybe next year...

Sunday morning we slept in late and had to hurry to get packed up and out by checkout time.  Luke basically refused to leave until Tim told him that the maids had to come and clean so someone else could come stay at Park City - that helped him decide that it was probably time to go home.  On the way back, we drove through Midway and stopped to see the crater.  Tim grew up camping at the Homestead but said he hadn't been back since he was little.  I've never actually seen the crater so it seemed like a perfect time to experience it with the babies.  We climbed the 84 stairs and made it to the top where we had a great view of the valley, as well as a look down into the crater.  When Tim was a kid, it was all just an open hole.  The bridge and grated cover made it a little tougher to see in, but definitely a lot safer for curious little ones.

Not my picture, I'm not sure who to credit, I just wanted a shot of the inside

As we left, the kids said goodbye to the pool, the elevator, and "Park City".  Thanks Park City for showing us such a great time.