Park City . ..Thanks Ryenne & Kate!

Ryenne & Kate have always been dedicated thumb suckers. Until now, none of our efforts to help them quit have helped. (Kate did once suggest we put mosquito repellent on her thumb each night, but we didn't think that sounded very safe.) This summer, Courtney & I were telling them that they needed to stop sucking their thumbs, or they would eventually need braces. Kate immediately said, "I want braces." Courtney and I quickly tried to explain how yucky braces really are, but it didn't seem to help convince her. Finally, Courtney said, "Braces cost lots of money. They would cost as much as a fun family vacation would cost. Wouldn't you rather spend that money doing something fun, rather than having to go to the dentist?" Well, the girls and their dad worked out a plan. He told them if they would quit sucking their thumbs, we would go on a fun family vacation.
Well, within a week or so, the girls had quit. Cold Turkey! Whenever anyone asked them why, they would tell them, "Because my Dad and Mom are going to take us to Costa Rica if we quit." This is because around this time, we had been talking to my OBGYN about Costa Rica, and she had said it was the best family vacation they had ever taken. So, of course, the girls decided that Costa Rica sounded like a pretty great reward! It sounded pretty great to us too, but unfortunately, is a little out of our budget. I asked the girls, "If we can't afford Costa Rica, where would you like to go?" Ryenne immediately responded, "Bear Lake!" After a little discussion, we settled on Park City. So, this past weekend we headed up the canyon for a little family fun, thanks to Ryenne and Kate. We'll have to keep saving our pennies for Costa Rica!

We arrived on Thursday night, and the girls were thrilled to have their own room to sleep in. Kate was mostly impressed that their room even had a microwave. All weekend, she kept saying, "We can even make our own nachos in our room!"

Friday morning the girls played a few games of cards, and then we headed up to Kamas to the swimming pool. They have a great indoor swimming pool that has slides, a lazy river, and a fun playground. The best part about our swimming was that it was homecoming night at the high school, so we had the pool to ourselves! The lifeguards told us it was our own private pool party. The girls had a great time. We topped off the night with pizza and put the girls to bed.

Saturday morning we headed up the mountain with a Gondola ride. The leaves were all turning, so the scenery was beautiful! Ryenne and Emmy were a little worried about being so far off the ground. Not Kate! She thought it was great!

Once we got to the top, we spent a while hiking around. It was gorgeous and the weather was perfect. The girls loved collecting all the different colored leaves that had fallen. My idea of a perfect day is hiking (or in this case, walking) in the mountains on a beautiful fall day. It doesn't get much better!

After lunch, we headed for the Park City Mountain Resort, where the girls and Courtney spent the rest of the day having all sorts of fun adventures. We bought them all day passes, and they loved racing their Dad on the Alpine slide, jumping on the trampolines, and riding the Alpine Coaster. Kate even tackled the climbing wall. Claire and I had some great people watching! They all had a blast and were the last ones on the Alpine slide before it closed at 8:00 pm! Ryenne got to be a pretty crazy driver on the slide, and almost beat her Dad and Emmy! (She probably would have, but she was going so fast she almost went off the track on one of the corners!) Of course, Emmy spent the rest of the night talking smack about how fast she was. The highlight of the day was seeing a black bra in the trees from the chair lift. The girls decided someone must of gotten really hot while riding up the hill.

Ryenne and Claire recovering from a busy day.

Sunday we reluctantly checked out of our room and headed for home. On the way, we stopped at Temple Square. The flowers, of course, were beautiful. We enjoyed the visitors center and listened to a bit of the organ recital in the Tabernacle. (Kate said that she had heard the organ before, but it had never sounded so "beeeeautiful".) It's always nice to visit Temple Square.

Emmy, our budding photographer took this picture. I bet you never would have guessed.

Thanks Ryenne and Kate for a wonderful weekend!