Today we took a group photo before Joseph flies out tonight. He's headed back to California for a few more weeks until he comes back for school at BYU. He had a phone call with the MTC at 10. We were going to take our group photo at 10:30. At 10:30 he was still talking... So we waited.
Ethan stepped away from his MTC class to join us. Peter was so cute smiling up at him.
And here's the whole family -
After that I headed to the pool with the kids while Corey took Mel, Hyrum, Wes and Abi biking. We got the chair lift bike pass today for 5 bikes. Peter was cute at the pool.
We hung out in the shade for a bit, then we got in. My third time swimming this week. Another Mom and Peter selfie, he's just so cute.
We came in for lunch, sandwiches again. We've had oatmeal every morning for breakfast, and sandwiches for lunch. It's been simple and doable. We brought up some boxes of snacks, like granola bars and cliff bars. They were gone pretty quickly, so when the kids wanted snacks after Tuesday, I sliced up an apple for them. The kids took a break watching tv. Peter fell asleep. I had changed his diaper and then put the swimsuit back on. It was dry by this time. Cute Peter
Corey and kids back from their bike ride.
I was surprised at how dirty their legs were.
I guess that means I don't know much about mountain biking. I decided to learn. Hyrum, Wes, and Abi watched the little kids. With Owen and Peter both napping, it looked like our perfect opportunity to go.
Taking the lift up to Jenni's Trail.
I think we actually started down Tommy's Two Step from the top, but when I started paying attention, the signs we were following were Jenni's Trail. It was really fun. A little scary at first. The trail seemed so narrow, and there appeared to be a steep mountainside down on the side, but I didn't dare glance over lest I tip and fall, so I just let out hoops and hollers as I panicked. Mel did great. Taking a quick water break.
She borrowed Isaac's bike, and it had shocks, so Mel really enjoyed this ride down. "This is a lot nicer!" You can thank us for keeping your expectations low on the first 2 rides!
I led in front and only fell once on a sharp right turn. I can do left u-turns pretty good, but the right u-turns were harder. It was really fun though. I took a break to wait for these two slow pokes to catch up.
Just kidding. You guys aren't slow. Or if you are, I guess it's nothing for me to brag about since the trail was downhill.
Do you like Corey's scruff? His teenage boys have been begging him to grow it out forever. This week seemed like a good opportunity. The boys all say it makes them respect him a lot more. Our dirty shoes in the elevator. Now I now why their legs were dirty. It was a dirt trail!
Peter enjoying an apple and happy to see we made it back safe.
We cleaned up ourselves from our bike trip and Corey went to the pool with the kids,
Social distancing in the pool. You don't have to social distance from family, so we were a big group
Almost all of the kids were in the pool having fun and splashing each other, Joseph had about 20 minutes before his departure time.
He had to drive to Provo, flight was at 10, so the plan was to leave right after he at dinner, which started at 7, so he left around 7:20. Saying goodbye to his little brothers - Bye Daniel! Bye Peter!
The kids playing 5000 with grandma again tonight.
Ethan was there to make sure they didn't stay up too late. The MTC missionary bedtime of 10:30 has been great for him. As for us, Peter was almost asleep at a decent hour, then he woke up and was high energy. We were up past midnight. He's cute though.
It was another good day, it's been a great week. Checkout is Sunday, but we'll be heading home sometime tomorrow.
Hyrum and Wes threw up yesterday, today it was Abi's turn. I'm glad when it's an older kid that is sick, cause they suffer it well. I'm really hoping this bug doesn't spread to the little kids. Abi ate breakfast and then was hunched over most of the morning holding her tummy. She finally threw up after lunch and then she felt better. Abi, Seth, and Issac played Skip Bo with me today. We increased the intensity by starting to play killer Skip Bo (similar to Killer Uno)
Daniel asking to go swimming with Alix, wearing a little frankenstein mask. We've had to wear masks at the hotel this week, when we're walking room to room or going out to the pool.
So everyone went swimming today, of course. The kids have been doing crafts with Corey's mom every morning, making bracelets and stuff. Natalie and Peter were well entertained today with some crafts that we brought up that a neighbor gave us last week. A bin of buttons and beads and string and sequin.
The made a sparkly mess all over the floor but everyone helped clean it up tonight before bed.
This afternoon, I attempted to go biking with Wes, Corey told me to go buy a lift pass for him and I, but we barely were able to get the bikes off of the garage wall and I didn't find a bike that I liked or that felt good to ride and I couldn't get the seat feeling right and I began to be reluctant to keep trying. Then Nancy and Jordyn came down to the garage and they were going for a ride out in Deer Valley and they had room for one more, so I told Wes to go with them. I don't have it in me to learn this yet. I'll leave the biking to Corey. Later tonight Wes wanted to go ride again, so Corey took him out with Joseph at night, and Corey came back to the room tired and excited. "I have found my new favorite sport! That was really fun. It's like pod racing through the trees!" Well fun! Maybe I will try, but I need Corey to go with me so I can follow his lead and not be the leader.
The highlight for me today was playing Hotel Tag before dinner. I didn't get any pictures of this, cause I was playing with them (and pushing Peter in the stroller) but it was really fun. This is a game I invented a few years ago up here in Park City. Today we played in pairs. The teams were: Joseph and Natalie, Wes and Sophi, Mel and Daniel, Me and Peter, Seth and Owen, and I can't remember which cousins were with who, but it was an epic game. The game of Hotel Tag goes like this: Walk quietly around the floors of the hotel, and try to not get tagged by whoever is it. I was not very fast since I was pushing Peter. Also, pushing Peter in the stroller limited my option of going up and down stairs. so I was stuck in the halls and elevators. But Peter was being pretty quiet, so that helped. It felt like I was it forever. I did chase a group of kids down the hall. I was walking toward them, they were slowly walking toward me. Wes, Lily, and Sophi were in the group. They asked "Are you it?" I paused for a second and kept walking "Yes..." and then they fled, and I tried to quietly run after them as I pushed Peter and they were all screaming and laughing. I made it to the stairs and I almost got them and would have if I had been able to chase them up the stairs for a second, but as soon as I let go of the stroller and went for the door, Peter started to cry so I went back. I finally tagged someone else when I took the elevator up to the 9th floor. I was waiting in a hallway right by the elevator. I heard it open. I heard Wes say to Sophi "This is the 9th floor..." and I heard them getting closer so I jumped out of my hiding spot and Wes was like "Oh shoot!" and ran, but Sophi just screamed in terror, so I grabbed her and covered her mouth like I was going to kill her, it was so funny. "Sophi! You can't scream like that! We want to keep playing hotel tag, we can't get caught, so shhh!! No screaming!" So I let them go and they were it and we kept roaming the halls. Joseph called me and we decided to play it Zombie style, where once you get tagged, your are it but the person that tagged you is still it too, so soon everyone is it. We played that for a while and had a hard time finding Mel and Daniel. But it was really fun. I didn't join the hotel tag game after dinner cause I was cleaning and putting these munchkins "to bed" - ha, not really. They were jumping and wrestling on the bed.
Mel joined them.
Tickle tickle
And Peter saying cheese for the camera again. He's getting a good cheesy grin.
Another day at Park City. Hyrum and Natalie both threw up this morning, but they threw up before they ate anything, so it was just gagging, and then they felt a little better. Hyrum stayed in the room most of the day resting (watching Jurassic Park). Natalie played. I hope the little kids don't get sick, they are not as good at handling it as the older kids. Other than that, today started as most do - with several hours of Sponge Bob. I got this cute pic of Peter! He is so good at saying "cheese" when he sees me pointing my phone at him.
He is such a cutie! He discovered the Marriott sink today, and was pleased with this new found power to turn on the water from his high place on the table.
He turned it on and off with such power and intention, like he was driving a stick shift in a car race. He's a cute little man. Corey took some kids swimming, I stayed in the room and got lunch ready. Then I taught some of the kids how to play Skip Bo.
Peter played with us by making it harder by throwing cards on the floor. It's cause he thought we wanted to play AP Skip Bo. Oh Peter, you tricky boy!
The kids went swimming, I went out to watch, Peter practicing his grin out there - taking selfies with me as we watched kids swim.
Then he and I went swimming too, that's my second time swimming up here, yeah go me! Although I wish the pool was open when it was more shady. It's hours are 11 - 7, so it's full sun the whole time, and I try to avoid direct sunlight, hence why Peter and I were chilling under the umbrella. Corey took the kids biking again - he knew a little better what he was doing and where he was going, and had his dad drop them off somewhere. Corey and Joe, Mel, Wes, and Seth. They were taking a long time, but Corey texted that they were thirsty, so we went to the bottom of the hill to wait for them with a pitcher of ice water. After 25 minutes, here they come!! I see some little dots of people on bikes.
Wes and Joseph were the first two down. "THANK YOU! WATER!!!"
Next was Mel - phew! She made it!
It was a high of 85 today in Park City, a hot day for biking, It's going to be in the 90s the rest of the week. I didn't see Corey and Seth arrive at the end of the trail, cause I had to hurry in and finish making dinner, cause tonight was our night. We had meat lasagna, veggie lasagna, ceasar salad, Mediterranean salad, and rolls. Good job me. I have kept on top of meals and dishes up here this whole week! Oatmeal for breakfast, sandwiches and veggies and apples for lunch, and then we all take turns doing dinner. After dinner, I had brought up a little thing to do a hand print collage for Corey's parents (if we like how it turns out...)
We'll see. I got most of us tonight but I'm still missing a few hands. It hasn't been bad getting the kids to bed here. Mel, Lily, Soph and Natalie are over in the lock off in Corey's parents room. Hyrum and Wes are here in the lock off next to our room, and have been very helpful since they are sharing the room with Owen and Daniel. Ethan and Joseph are in the lock off with Mark and his boys. Tonight it was cute to see Joseph, Mel, Ethan, and Hyrum playing 5000 with Corey's mom. Hyrum was feeling better.
"Don't roll again! Don't do it Grandma!!"
They say that and then they loose when she gets a straight. Funny! It's great to have these moments to make memories together.
Joseph is here! He arrived safely last night, and it's great having all the kids together again! This is a rare treat that we'll only have for a few more chances until Ethan leaves for Missouri, so we need to take a picture, say cheese~
This was taken in the morning, but it looks like nighttime. That's cause we closed the blackout curtains to block the sunlight outside. My sister saw this picture on facebook and said that Ethan made her want to sing "One of these things is not like the others... one of these things doesn't belong..." Yes, it's the missionary in the white dress shirt and tie, while everyone else is in shorts and barefoot or in sandals. No swimming for Ethan, so sad. No, he's good, he's enjoying the MTC and we're glad he's up here with us. So the kids did crafts this morning with grandma, then a little bit of Sponge Bob and swimming.
I dropped off Corey and Mel and Wes up the hill a bit (by the Montage, wow!) but they didn't know what they were doing, only that they wanted to go down hill, but it wasn't a biking trail and it was too steep and Mel crashed right away (her bike was also too big for her) and so I didn't head back to the hotel after dropping them off, since it appeared they were not moving on life 360, so I just waited ans sure enough they called and I came back for Mel who was cut and bleeding and didn't think she'd survive on that bike. Wes and Corey had an adventure after that and were speeding down hill and fishtailing and I'm glad Corey's experiencing the learning curve for mountain biking, and after he's figured out all the hard parts, then I'll come biking too, ha. It was a rough first ride, and Corey couldn't let it end as a bad experience, so before coming back to the room, they went to main street and had some ice cream. Wes was amazed at Park City main street. "This is like Newport! I never knew this was here!" Yeah, Park City isn't the Marriott, it's actually a little tourist spot! And we are finally tapping into that this year by mountain biking. Good job Corey, at making that happen. This will be the beginning of a new set of family experiences and traditions for the second half of our kids. The first half got Brazil, Costa Rica, and Chile, and Brazil again. These next 6 kids will be able to have good experiences too, a little more "normal" I guess, with biking and, I don't know, maybe we'll put them in sports or something. And Peter was being cute tonight playing by the automatic doors, it was funny.
He's so little.
He enjoying the automatic hand sanitizing stations everywhere. Part of the new normal for the world.
Today is Owen's Happy Birthday! Finally! It was a long time waiting for this one, but at last Owen is 5 years old! And he is so excited to be old enough to go to school! He opened one present this morning - an Iron Man action figure.
And Corey's parents gave him some presents of toys and clothes. Then the kids did crafts with grandma and then we made a reservation to go swimming. Their first attempt at social distancing in the pool. I guess we did ok at it?
Peter and I went swimming today too.
Then I went to the store to buy a cake mix and ice cream. I got Owen some Red Button Animal Cookie ice cream, and he wanted a "red guy" cake. He likes the "red guy" from Star Wars (see the last pictures at that link), that was his favorite toy from Christmas. So a few weeks ago I found some generic non-Lego brand First Order Red Sith Jet Trooper guys on ebay, and I got 20 of these babies and a Darth Vader for $20 bucks, baby!! Oh yeah! And they just came last week! And with that, I was ready to make his dreams come true with a "red guy" cake!
Did your mom deliver? Or did Your Mom DELIVER!
Yeah, he was happy with it.
He was impressed. We invited everyone over to sing to him. Singing Happy Birthday to Owen.
It took him seven tries to get all the candles blown out, funny!
We didn't worry about corona this time, cause we're up here in Summit County, so we're kinda asking for it. Elder Wride came over from his MTC class for some cake and ice cream.
Peter front and center on the table. It was pretty fun for Owen to be able to share his birthday party up at Park City with all his cousins.
Then I practiced violin and brought ODP home with me to grab a few things (we forgot rice milk) and some other things for a little bit and we're waiting here before we to pick up Joseph in Provo. Joseph is arriving at 9:20. We'll leave in a bit to go get him. I brought ODP so that Corey and the kids could do "big kid" stuff without these little guys slowing them down. I was able to bribe them with fries and a frosty
Cute kids. They are simple little people.
It was a good day up there, and I didn't go crazy, I'm packed for and hoping to make it through the whole week.
