When we saw a 4 day weekend on the February school calendar it didn't take long for us to decide that we needed to spend it skiing in Utah. And eating waffles.
THURSDAY:
I pulled the kids out of school at lunch time so we could get a head start on the road. Can you believe that I have never pulled my kids out of school early? I had a hard time believing it. They thought it was pretty awesome. Anna said that when they called her name over the classroom intercom her entire class erupted into a choir of sad voices, "Ahh, we'll miss you Anna! We love you Anna!" She was loving it.
6 hours later we made it to Provo and our first order of business was to visit Waffle Love. Ohhh, they are amazing. Do you see that scoop of cream? Ah-mazing. If ever in Provo you must visit their shop or track down one of the Waffle Love trucks. Mmm, mmm, mmm.
FRIDAY:
Ski day! But first, some Valentine love for the kids. They each got some warm socks and chocolate.
Papa Dennis was able to join us for skiing. Which was great because this was the first year that all 3 kids were going to be on the mountain and Scott would definitely need an extra set of hands. I planted myself in my usual spot -- in the lodge, with a book -- and sent everyone off with a hug and smiles.
Anna did great. She had great balance. She was going for it. Gliding right along
And then on her 3rd run she had a big crash and that was it for her. I consoled her in the lodge for a short while and then Scott made her go out for one more run. His philosophy is that you can't end the day with a bad run. Gotta get out there one more time!
And she did, but after that she was really done.
The boys kept skiing and had a great time. I think the final run count was 10 or 12. Conner made sure to get in a few races -- with Papa and then with dad -- and Scott said that he was able to hold his own. I can tell that Conner is going to be a great skier. He just loves it.
We piled in the car to drive back down to Salt Lake and Anna was asleep in less than 5 minutes. Back at the hotel we hit the hot tub and then joined Dennis & Valerie in the hotel lobby for a Valentine's Day dinner of pizza and visiting. We love hanging out on the big leather couches by the fireplace. It's a great place to just chill.
SATURDAY:
We met Dennis & Valerie and Randy & Kate at the Grand America Hotel for breakfast. Two words . . . crepe bar. It was wonderful! Anna thought that the hotel was too fancy -- it made her uncomfortable for some reason. Looks like I need to work on teaching that girl about the finer things in life! And Payton thought the artwork was creepy. Which really, it kinda was.
The rest of the day we spent driving around hitting up some of our favorite spots and some new spots: the ferris wheel at Scheel's, J-Dawgs for lunch, Dear Lizzie shop in Alpine, Sweet Tooth Fairy for cupcakes, a LEGO Movie matinee,
. . . . and more waffles!
Seriously, this was not in our plan to do waffles a second time. But we pulled into the parking lot at Dear Lizzie and what do you know, the Waffle Love truck was sitting right there! It was meant to be. When the universe tells me to eat waffles, I obey.
SUNDAY:
Before leaving town we thought it would be great to go watch a taping of Music and the Spoken Word in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. This is a weekly program that is broadcast every Sunday -- the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings several songs & hymns, and there is an uplifting spoken message to go along with it. We watch it most Sundays on BYUTV while we are getting ready for church. Anybody, age 8 and older, can attend the live 30 minute broadcast. No tickets needed.
Anyways, because Anna is now 8 years old our family was finally checked out to attend the live broadcast. We arrived early and got great seats. It was really interesting to watch the choir and orchestra do a rehearsal run-through. The kids loved watching the cameras moving around.
It was a beautiful program! Scott fell in love with the song "Sunrise, Sunset" from the Fiddler on the Roof. The John Rutter arrangement of "For the Beauty of the Earth" was just magical. And Payton was bopping his head along to the final number, "This Land is Your Land".
When it ended we took a quick picture, but Anna was sporting her I-need-to-go-to-the-bathroom-right-now face. Half-way into the live program she pokes us to let us know she needs the bathroom. Sorry, girly. You just gotta hold it!
One more photo and we were out of there.
It was a great family getaway. We got to experience a little bit of winter, which was great, because we returned home to 81 degree temps. Seriously? It's February!
