Happy Birthday to me

I guess I'll admit that I just turned 38. I had to work the night before so I slept away most of my birthday. But when I got up, this beautiful cake was sitting on my counter. Brianna is turning into quite the little baker. She also helped Cord make this cute card. So thoughtful!

This morning I took the kids to see "Toy Story 3" to celebrate. We haven't taken Cord to a movie since he was a baby but I was pretty sure he would sit through this one. He loves the first 2 movies. I guess we were lucky that there wasn't very many people there because Cord definately had a hard time sitting still. We ended up sitting on the end, he kept changing seats, would try to go up and down the steps, and we spent a lot of time in the little hallway next to the seats. The older kids did enjoy the movie and yes (Lindsay), I did cry at the end. I even teared up just talking about the ending with the kids at dinner. Brianna just looked at me and said "mom, you are a cry baby". I know! It was a good movie. I look forward to seeing the whole thing after it comes out on DVD.

Family Ties

Part of our activities was to tie dye shirts. The kids loved it and did a great job. We put them on for our family photos before we all hit the road. I just love being with this group of people. I also treasured my time with my grandma.

Family baseball game

One of the highlights of the family reunion for me was the family baseball game. Cord has always loved baseball, but this was his very first "game" and he LOVED it. He loved throwing the ball, hitting, and running the bases (even though it was a little misguided and all over the place). Mason even agreed to play (he's been "done with sports" for quite awhile) and got a great hit. He was our team captin and was a great catcher. Chelsea and Brianna also got some great hits and seemed to be enjoying themselves. I even got a hit (after a few tries). It was a no-pressure, fun game. Toward the end of the game I could tell that Cord was a little tired. The fact that he was sitting in the middle of the tall grass with a blank look kind-of gave it away, but it was super cute.



I love the look of pure joy for making it to the bases and then the look of determination!

Flying Aces show

Saturday we headed back to Olympic village to watch the "Flying Aces" show. It was a bunch of Olympians (past and present) who participate in the aerial ski jumps. They actually train here in Park City all year. They jump and land in the pool which they fill with bubbles to soften the blow. I was amazed at the cool things they do in the air. At the end of the show they all went at the same time. It was amazing that they didn't bump into each other. The kids got to get their autographs after the show.

Olympic Village

Friday afternoon we headed up the the Olympic Village. We had a good time exploring the museum. Mason's favorite olympic event to watch was the bobsled. He was excited to see a real bobsled track. Then we headed over to the rides. After getting to ride the ski lift up, the boys and I went on the Quicksilver Alpine Slide. It was steel track with a lot of turns as you slide down the mountain. Cord LOVED this and laughed all the way down. He kept asking to do it again and again. Mason also had a good time on it. The girls were braver and went on the zipline. (see following blog post)

Extreme Zip Line

There are 2 ziplines in Park City. The Ultra zipline was closed the first day we went. It's shorter and slower. The Extreme line is the worlds steepest zipline and you can reach speeds of 50 mph that gives you the feeling that you are ski jumping. You even zip down the ski jump run. The girls were the first to jump on and had so much fun. Then I saw my parents go down with smiles on their faces. So I went ahead and went down with my sister. Brianna videoed her experience going down but for some reason I can't download video's anymore. The girls went down at least 2 times on friday and once on saturday (the line was 2 hours long on sat). Mason and I went down the Ultra zipline when we went back on saturday twice. I was so proud of him for being brave. They pack you into the harness pretty good as you sit behind the door. Then they open the door and you go zipping out. What a rush! On Saturday there were actually olympians going down the ski jump. Man - so cool! Chelsea got to ride up the ski lift with one of the ski jumpers and asked her a ton of questions. :)

Old town Park City

Friday morning we headed down to the historic older part of Park City. It was just fun to walk around the shops and experience the feel of the town. We rode a trolly around town to see everything. We also enjoyed all the old homes. We went into a school that was turned into an inn.