Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Delightful

I have to admit that after our family NO-cation to Park City my nerves were somewhat on edge. I was in need of some much needed quiet time. So our friends agreed to taking our "angels" (haha)
for a couple of hours so Mike and I could date a date night.

So the best place for me when I am in need of a quiet and calming enviroment is a temple.
Which was a wonderful way for me to start calming my nerves but.... Mike wanted to ride his motorcycle so here I am....in a skirt..... Alittle tricky but I managed. It just involved alot of tucking.
After our temple date we headed back to pick up our kids and put them to bed. I am probably the only mom who puts their kids to sleep when the sun is still up. I don't care...after they were in bed Mike and I enjoyed another delight.
 Our favorite date nights are a treat and Netflix. It doesn't take much to make us happy.
But after our date I feel that I'm 1/2 way back to being myself.

Black & Yellow

He's done! After 8 months Mike transformed his bike from this....
To this.....

 I am so proud of Mike. He did this project with no prior knowledge. All he had was a book, the internet, and his mad mechanic skills. I love it!


"So many women tell me of the great adventures they have planned before they have children. For me, having children was the greatest adventure of them all." ~ Unknown

Sunday, May 29, 2011

What was I thinking?

About 2 years ago Mike and I were tempted into one of those timeshare presentations where you get 1 free night at their resort. After 4 hours of  the sales team talking to us we give in and agreed to a trial period. And now after 2 years of red tape we finally took our vacation to Park City.

On Friday 5/27/11

Our kids were so excited to be going to a hotel that when I woke up I heard Hailey and Lily singing "I can't wait to go on vacation....IIINNNN a HOOOTTTEEELLLL!" I think the tune was from Tangled.
After packing we headed up to Park City alittle early. Which was nice since we needed to do some errands before check in. Like checking out City Park in Park City. Who thought of that name?








Then it was time to check in....and WOW our room was super nice!
 Patio, dining table, full size kitchen, washer and dryer, 2 full size sofa beds, a full size bed in the master room , 2 HUGE TVs, a fireplace, sauna shower, a jaccuzi...that everyone wanted to take their bath in


 Here's a photo of Cati is trying to reach the knobs. I guess she wanted to be the 1st person inside.
Hailey and I enjoying this super soft bed.


But it being a Friday Mike had to work. So after he left the kids and I explored the resort.

Mason and Hailey are enjoying the free box of cookies that were given to guest.
 Mason being his joker self. He's pretending to be attacked by this bear.
 The kids were impressed with the indoor waterfall. I think Hailey's trying to jump in.
But then we got lost.... this resort doesn't have the best layout so we were lost for 45 minutes! When we finally found our room we were so thankful since it was time for dinner and to begin our bedtime routine. But...
 What was I thinking?

 Lily started to jump on the sofa bed. Cati ran around the room throwing the house towels. Mason and Hailey played freeze tag on the couches. Whoa! I was in over my head.


But I'm familiar with Newtons Law of Physics "What goes up must come down" So after waiting patiently and keeping my cool 30 minutes later everyone tired themselves out and fell sleep.




 On Saturday: 5/28/11
Mike was excited to start his vacation that we all woke up early (6:30am) so we can eat breakfast, get dressed, and go to the pool before anyone else in the resort woke up. I thought it was such a crazy plan but....

What was I thinking?

We were all along so our family enjoyed the pool for about 90 minutes before the crowd started to come in. By that time we were looking like prunes so we were OK leaving.



 We headed back to our room where we changed and enjoyed a snack. Afterwards we headed out to see what other activities we could enjoy. We went to the resort playground. This was the cause of the previous activity yesterday where we were lost for so long. When I asked hotel workers where I could find the park no one knew where. But that doesn't matter; everyone enjoyed themselves at the park.





After our playground fun we went back to our room- ate lunch, watched a movie on the HUGE TV and went to another timeshare presentation that only lasted 30 minutes this time.

I have to give my awesome hubby 2 thumbs up. When the salesman and tried to give Mike a bogus line on why we should buy Mike would comeback with an polite comment that left him speechless. For example,

Saleman: When on vacation why would you spend $80-100 bucks a night for a hotel room and not have all these extras involved like the pools, saunas, kids clubs, fitness centers,blah,blah, blah?

Mike: I don't go on vacations to stay in a hotel. I go on vacation to see and experience the area.

Salesman: Oh. I see.


After the salesman seen we weren't interested  he thanked us and we left to go enjoy some delicious dinner in Park City. But yet again....

What was I thinking?

When we plan to go out for dinner I'll search on-line for either coupons or gift card deals. One website I can get a $25 gift certificate for $2. Great deal right? I was really looking forward to dining at this particular restaurant. But when we got there the restaurant completely changed from what it claimed to be on the website. Mike and I decided we would try it out since we were hungry and dinner would be 70 % off. But when we got the food.....hot dogs were wrapped in tortillas. Pizzas were on flour tortillas. Ribs that look like rocks, old lettuce and bacon bits consisted of the house salad. We left there within 1 minute of receiving our food. And the shocking part was that the waiter wasn't surprise we didn't like the food. Mike paid for his $3 coke and we walked across the street to Main Street Pizza and Noodle. No discount but so yummy! Everyone left there with smiles on their faces.


And we promised our kids an ice cream dessert for being so brave for trying that horrible food. So when Mike dropped me off at the grocery store for some ice cream I picked up some essentials  so we could have a date nights. I can't go wrong with  Krispy Kremes, sparkling cider and a movie.
 I was looking forward to a pleasant evening with my family but...

What was I thinking?

The hotel shower stopped working so everyone bathed in the jet tub. Which was fine until I had to give 2 toddlers a bath in a jacuzzi tub. Lets just say I was soaked from the waist down in my jeans. 
Lily broke a crystal glass. I really hope that we don't get charged for that. The kids were grumpy since they missed their beds, toys, blankets, etc. So we planned on leaving early so everyone could get back to routine.

But the upside was that Mike and I enjoyed our date after the kids went to bed. 

 On Sunday 5/29/11

 We had planned to go to the pool one more time before leaving. Then come back shower, pack,eat lunch, and then go home. But.....

What was I thinking?

It snowed during the night so no pool. The water pressure valve was still broke so no shower. Since all of our morning plans were canceled we quickly ate breakfast, packed up our stuff and drove home. Hallelujah!

 We all missed my house. I missed all the baby proof locks and our plastic dinnerware. Mike missed our California King size bed. Cati missed her crib. (she does not do well when her routine is broken) Mason missed his own room and not having to share. Hailey missed her toys. So....

What was I thinking?

 We all enjoyed spending quality time together this weekend. But we don't need to get away to a expensive resorts to have family time. Quality time comes from all those every day things like drawing a chalk family on our walkway,going for a picnic in the park, or family movie night. It's was a very important lesson that Mike and I needed to learn before we planned another vacations while we have 2 toddlers. That's what I'm thinking.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

P-O-T-T-Y Time


Lily has entered the stage of learning to use the potty. She has been the most interesting child to teach....so far! I've read everything to do with potty training but when it came down to it she trained us. She would kick me out of the bathroom and would tell me "I'll do it myself!" And she did....she learned #1 within a few days. She was so proud of herself.  But #2....not so successful. She'll tell me when she had an accident in her "ponies" (panties). When I help her clean up she'll tell me "Mom, poop is tricky".  She's so independent and confident in her abilities that it amazes me.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Schools Out for Summer

Mason was so excited to be done with school. He wanted to celebrate like he seen on a movie where all the students throw their graduation cap into the air. Well since 3rd  graders don't have cap especially home schooled students we improvised. He threw his homework and yelled "No more homework!" 

Now for some summer fun!
The old blog address is now deleted. It's sort of sad since we've had that address for almost 2 years. But it's alright...I exported our blog  with all our family memories are here so all will be well.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Rollin'

I love watching our kids express their imaginations. Some of the things they can come up with is just amazing. Ducati got tired of jumping on the trampoline so she started to roll. Which lead to Lily following

which leads to crazy standing hairstyles



I couldn't stop laughing while I was watching them flip around their hair like a punk rocker.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

New Park

We love parks! But when our neighborhood park got a new play set my lazy behind didn't get our kids there for about a week. But when we did get there.....it was worth the wait!





Before we went to the park Mike was having an unpleasant day. But Cati did her best to change that...




 That made Mike smile long enough to enjoy himself at the park.