Summer Trip: Park City

Sunday, June 17

After church we finished packing for our trip. We would be staying two nights in Park City for the Larsen family reunion before heading to Capitol Reef.

We got a new rental car to take on the road trip. The girls were very excited about the GMC Acadia with its extra seating. The trunk space is a lot smaller than we're used to in the CX-5 so it's a good thing we pack light!

Since it was Father's Day we planned on making dinner for our group (Grammie, Papa, Melanie, and our family) in the condo. Jeff made homemade pasta dough at home then brought the pasta machine to roll and cut the dough later. I made alfredo sauce and caesar salad to go with it. We made and ate dinner in Vel's condo, then later, all the Larsens came over for cake. It was Father's Day, Gary's birthday, and Ruby's half-birthday all on the same day!

The girls asked if they could go back to our room to play since all the adults talking in one room was getting loud. I took all the girl cousins down to our room to have some girl cousin play time. They loved it. They watched the rock chucks (yellow-bellied marmots) out the window, they watched Disney Jr., they braided each other's hair, and they had races running down the hotel hallway.

Khloe (almost 5) and Alyza (3) are best buddies since they both live in Idaho Falls and get to see each other often. Our girls met Khloe last year and this was their first time meeting Alyza. She was shy at first but warmed up fast. And my girls adored her.

Skylar and Taylor showed off their impressive hand clap. The younger girls were mesmerized.

And then Skylar started teaching my girls how to do it. They caught on fast!

Eventually everyone left for the evening. Jennett, Katie's family, and Adam were all staying somewhere else in Park City. Jered's family was staying in Jeremy Ranch. The rest of the Larsens - Mike & Debbie, Jill's and Cyri's families were all staying at Marriott Mountainside.

Monday, June 18

Gary invited the Swallow group to go fishing on his boat at Strawberry Reservoir. We planned on leaving at 9 to drive out to Strawberry and meet Gary and Xin. Gary didn't actually give us directions to get to the marina though, so we spent quite a bit of time driving around trying to guess where to go. But we eventually found it!

Gary bought life jackets for the girls so they could go on the boat. I didn't know that all kids 12 and under are required by law to wear life jackets. Seems like a good idea to me!

Gary got Ellie to sit on his lap to "drive" the boat. 

Gary drove us around to a quiet little fishing spot out of the wind. It was gorgeous.

I can see why people love to go boating. It was so peaceful and relaxing to sit in the sun.

Gary and Xin set up and cast a few fishing rods and let Ruby reel in the first fish that bit.

Ruby wouldn't even touch her rainbow trout, let alone hold it for a picture! Jeff held it for her so I could snap a pic.

Melanie kissed Ruby's first fish since Ruby wouldn't.

Ruby's second fish was bigger than her first.

Ellie didn't end up getting to reel in any fish. The rest of the fish were too big for her to reel in so Gary and Xin had to do it. Gary said they were the biggest fish they'd caught all season.

the braces club

Uncle Gary caught two landfish in a net!

We hadn't known how long we'd be gone or out fishing and we did not come prepared. By 1:30 we were all really hungry and wanted to head back.

Ruby borrowed my sunglasses for the windy ride back to the marina.

When we got back to the hotel we heard that the cousins were down playing at the pool, so we joined them. Right when we got down there the clouds moved in and it dropped at least ten degrees. I got in the hot tub with Ellie for a little but for the most part Jeff and I sat out while the girls played in the pool.

Skylar and Ruby had the same swimsuit!

These cousins played chicken in the pool. At first they were all just slapping each others' arms but then Ellie took it to the next level and pushed over Brooke and Logan right after I took this picture.

Vel and Jennett had dinner duty that night. They made baked potatoes and set up a whole baked potato bar on one of the big tables down by the pool.
 📷: Kaatia

  📷: Kaatia

Ellie and Skylar get along really well. I know she wishes we lived closer to them.

Family Picture Time
The Larsen guys: Ryan (Cyri's husband), Jeff, Michael, Jered, Adam, Abraham (Katie's husband), and Mitch (Jill's husband)

The Larsen ladies: Jill, Melanie, Cyri, Katie, Me [apparently I didn't know who was taking the picture], Kaatia (Mike's wife)

The Larsen Siblings: Mike, Vel, Jennett, Gary

The Swallow Family

Tuesday, June 19

We didn't have to leave by a certain time and we still needed to ride the Park City rides! We met up with Melanie and Grammie at 10 so we could beat the crowds. Both Ruby and Ellie were too tall to be passengers on the alpine slide. Ruby opted not to ride - she was too nervous about falling off the track. But Ellie wanted to ride! Grammie, Melanie, Ellie, and I rode up the lift together while Jeff stayed at the base with Ruby.

Ellie's first time having to carry her own sled! She said it was heavy.

They only had one track open so it took a while to wait for our turn. I decided to ride behind Ellie just in case she went super slow. She did great! I only caught up to her near the end and just slowed down a little to give her room.

After the slide we all went to ride the alpine coaster. Ruby was tall enough to ride by herself and definitely wanted to. Ellie isn't tall enough yet so she got to ride with Melanie. I'm kicking myself that I didn't get more pictures - especially for Ruby's first solo ride.

📷: Melanie

When we got back from the rides Papa was all ready to leave the hotel room by himself. He had no idea what his room number, floor number, or name the room was under, so it's a good thing we got back when we did!

We got our stuff packed up and ready to head south!

hall of breakfast

When I heard about Hall of Breakfast, an interactive pop-up art experience, I wanted to go. It reminded me of The Color Factory in San Francisco that I never got to go to. (The SF Color Factory has closed but will be opening a NYC location soon.) I loved the idea of taking the girls to a hands-on art experience. I bounced the idea off Jeff and bought tickets for the family to go.

entering the Hall of Breakfast through the refrigerator

The truth: Hall of Breakfast wasn't as cool as I wanted it to be. The whole experience felt like a collection of photo-ops for people to post on social media. "Take a picture of me standing here looking surprised." "Take a picture of me having the time of my life swinging on a giant donut." "Everybody: look at these cool pics I took at Hall of Breakfast! Don't you totally have FOMO?!"

The biggest disappointment was the food offerings. In the egg room each person got a gummy fried egg that tasted like peach. In the bacon room they had samples of cookies containing bacon bits. [Eww, eww, eww.] In the pancake vs. waffle voting room they had samples of Kodiak pancakes [freshly-cooked but bland]. In the donut room there were samples of gelato with donut pieces in it. [Sooo not yummy]. I feel like they really missed the mark on this element of the experience. It took away rather than enhancing. There was so much potential.

It was fun though. I loved the bright colors. I appreciated the creativity. I had fun taking pictures while the girls experienced the art. In the Pancake vs. Waffles election we voted Waffle. But no, I did not post any cutesy pictures on Instagram simply because it felt like that's what they wanted me to do.

6/14/2018

end of school festivities

Thursday, May 3: 2nd Grade Draper City Walking Field Trip

I got to be a chaperone for Ellie's Draper City walking field trip. I didn't get to go on Ruby's and Ellie wanted me to come.

We walked from Sprucewood to Draper City Hall, cutting through the TRAX parking lot.

my group: Brynlee, Mya, Yoshi, Ellie

2nd grade group photo

Inside City Hall we got to have a tour of the police station, saw the city council conference room, and visited the mayor's office.

At the end of the tour the kids got donuts, which was great because it wasn't even 10:30 and all the kids were asking when it was going to be lunchtime.

Next, we walked to the Draper Senior Center to perform a few songs from the 2nd grade program. There wasn't much of an audience (maybe 8 people?), but the kids sang great and I loved hearing them sing.

We went to the Draper Library next for a story and information about the summer reading program. The city tour ended at the IFA Draper Feed Mill & Country Store. The whole 2nd grade got weighed on the giant truck scale - I think it was three tons! Then we got to go inside the factory and watch the team filling bags of feed. It was fascinating! On our way out the kids got to see the baby chicks in the store.

While we waited for the second group Ellie and her friends played group thumb war.

We ate lunch at Draper Park and the kids had almost 45 minutes to run around and play before we walked back to the school.

5/14: Ellie's card to Mrs. Allan for teacher appreciation week
"I try to get 100% but sometimes I get 93%"

Tuesday, May 15: Sprucewood Night of the Arts - choir concert

Jeff, Ellie, and I went to Ruby's choir show tunes concert. [The choir got to go before the orchestra this time! Woo-hoo!] They sang:

• Give My Regards to Broadway
• Seventy-Six Trombones from The Music Man (Ruby's favorite)
• I Whistle a Happy Tune from The King & I
• The Rainbow Connection
• Remember Me from the movie Coco
• The Greatest Show Medley from The Greatest Showman

Ruby sang her little heart out. And even though I'd heard her singing them all at home for months it was so cool to hear the whole choir together. Mrs. Wilbur told the audience that this concert had the hardest songs they'd ever done. The Greatest Showman medley was especially impressive. My personal favorite was Rainbow Connection because I love that song.

Since the concert was right during dinnertime we hadn't eaten yet and we let Ruby choose where she wanted to go to dinner. She chose Chin Wah and we figured it could be the one time we eat there this year.

Ruby and Ellie were being super silly. Ruby kept saying: "Super Diva!" and flipping her hair.

Friday, May 25: Second Grade City

This is another second grade tradition that I missed out on when Ruby was in second grade. Second Grade City is set up in the gym. There are several businesses: a toy store, candy store, ice cream shop, beauty salon, flower shop, restaurant, movie theater, and hospital. I got assigned to work at the flower shop next to the restaurant where Ellie was serving chips & salsa.

Mexican restaurant food prep

When it was Ellie's group's turn to shop she bought some markers and books, candy and a bandaid at the hospital. The most exciting part was getting her hair done at the salon. One of the moms did it and put some cute blue feathers in her hair.

La Piñata Nacho Grande
Ellie told me that her group handmade their restaurant's poster, decorations, and menus.

Each group got a second time to go shopping and Ellie got some ice cream. She pretty much wanted me to walk around with her and help her decide what to spend her money on. It was a lot of fun and I am impressed with how much work goes into putting this on every year.

Monday, May 28: End of Year Reports

Ellie's Lulu and the Brontosaurus "book float"
We were very impressed with Ellie's drawings. As with other school projects, she wanted to get this one done early and spent a lot of self-directed time working on it. I'm certain I couldn't have done a better job if I'd done it! Ellie was really motivated by having a cool book float to show the first graders.

Ruby's Rich County Report
Ruby had to write and give an oral report in front of the class, with an information poster and quiz questions.
She was assigned Rich County, which I knew nothing about before she came home with county facts. It turns out Rich County is where Bear Lake is, in northern Utah. We've never been to Bear Lake and now Ruby really wants to go. I'd like to go, too!

Monday, June 4: Dance Festival

Second grade performed The Twist dance that they learned for the second grade program. Ellie had to dance with Donnovan again, which she claims was annoying but I think she liked it.

Fourth grade danced to The YMCA. Ruby got to be on the front row but I wasn't sitting that close so I didn't get any great pictures.

After the festival I waited to say hi to Ruby. She saw me and immediately grabbed her things to hand off to me. No hello, just "here, take these."

Wednesday, June 6: 4th Grade Recorder Recital

I went to watch the fourth grade program. Ruby had invited Grammie to come so she and I sat together. They played several songs and then danced the Virginia Reel. I was prepared for the recital to be a bunch of squeaking and off notes. It wasn't like that at all; they sounded really good! I don't think I've ever heard a bunch of recorders playing together. It was actually beautiful and I finally understand why the teachers bother with it.

a few of Ruby's friends: Rowan, Nena, Sophie, Gracie, and Addie

Thursday, June 7: Last Day of School

first and last days of 4th grade

first and last days of 2nd gradeEllie wanted to dress as much like her first day of school outfit as she could.

last day getting dropped off for 4th grade

last day getting dropped off for 2nd grade (she still blows me kisses every day)

Ellie earned her Golden Falcon Award.

Jeff and I both came to the awards assembly. This was the look she gave us when she walked in with her class. She's too cool for us already.

Ellie & Mrs. Allan
Mrs. Allan was The Best. We both loved her and will really miss her. She's moving to 4th grade next year so Ellie's hoping she'll get her again.

Ruby & Mrs. Clayson

The girls got invited to the LeBaron's last day of school water party. The girls mostly wanted to go because Alta & Ellie were gonna be there, and of course the water slide. The slide was a huge hit and the adults got to hang out and talk.

The girls brought home their year-end report cards. I almost didn't believe it at first: both girls earned perfect report cards. They each received "consistently" scores on all the behavioral skills and they each received "mastered" scores in all of the language arts, math, and science categories. They scored "at or above benchmark" on their standardized testing. This wasn't the case at the beginning of the year. We were very proud of them both, knowing how hard they've each worked this year to study, learn, and improve.

We planned on going out to dinner to celebrate their accomplishments and the end of the school year. I ended up getting rear-ended on the freeway that afternoon, which threw off our plans a bit, but we still made it out for our celebration dinner.