So for like weeks, Ryan has had this Park City trip planned for us. I can't even remember when he first told me about it! He told me when it would be, where it would be, but nothing about where we were staying. So sneaky, that guy... He knows I love surprises and he's been laying it on real thick lately! (Ryan, is there something you're buttering me up for in the near future?) Seriously, I'm beyond spoiled by this boy.
Finally, our magical secret getaway weekend arrived! We left for Park City on Thursday in drizzling rain, and looking forward, it was only supposed to continue or get worse for our stay. We were a little bummed, but we had no idea what we had coming, haha! The next 10 hours held nothing but hilarious (though not particularly hilarious in the moment) adventures and seemingly absolutely nothing going right, though it all turned out great in the end. Read on for a mile-long list of the events that ensued.
- Took a wrong turn that tacked on quite a detour as we were nearing our destination (I was navigating. My fault)
- Hit tense driving conditions on the steep dirt roads that took us up into the mountains for our place
- Hit even sketchier snow-packed and icy roads as we got higher
- Slid a couple times
- Got to the end of the road with wrong addresses surrounding us
- Realized the host had added a few notes about the weird directions to the place, and we were definitely at the wrong cabin
- Tried to turn around to get to the right cabin
- Slid some more
- Got stuck
- Got unstuck
- Slid even more
- Found our cabin
- Tried to park. Slid some more
- Got stuck
- Got unstuck
- Finally parked
- Unpacked our things (unfortunately in quite bad moods 🙈) into our beautiful TREEHOUSE(?!? More on that in a bit)
- Realized we still needed to pick up a few things at the grocery store, 30 minutes away down the mountain of hell, and I told Ryan if he left me and tried doing that all again I would kill him soo we just ate what we had brought
- Read that snow was in the forecast for tomorrow morning (on top of the slick roads we already had?!)
- Slept horribly due to my residual anxiety from the day's events and thoughts of getting stuck up here with a baby, or possibly sliding off a cliff on our way out tomorrow & dying (completely unfounded, I know. Anxiety is a wonderful thing)
- Woke up at 4:30AM to total silence (we had fallen asleep with a fan going) and the baby monitor beeping its "no signal" beep downstairs because... drumroll please... THE POWER HAD GONE OUT 😂
- Tried to contact the host but only reached the cleaning lady, who said she was having trouble getting in touch with our host (but bless her heart for texting us back at four in the morning)
- Didn't sleep (me) due to freaking out & praying that Oliver would stay warm enough as the temps in the treehouse dropped
- Woke up to a cold, cold treehouse, snow falling, and no power still, and dressed all three of us in three layers and hats as we ate whatever we had that didn't need to be heated up
- Finally heard back from our host who said an ice block had fallen on our meter but that it was the electricity company's job & he would let them know about it
- Waited and froze
- Realized, while we were talking in the kitchen, that we were not alone in the apartment. A chipmunk had been in the treehouse with us for who knows how long!
- Successfully corralled and herded said chipmunk out the front door
- Finally decided we had to get out of there even if it meant sliding off a cliff, and packed up the car to head into Park City
- Said a prayer and began the drive down, when Ryan came up with the idea to rent a 4x4 vehicle purely to ease my mind because guys, I kid you not, I was almost going to implode from the dread & anxiety those roads gave me (my husband seriously rocks)
- Tried to call Budget to see what they had; went around and around with robots and service reps that were impossible to understand (sorry if that's insensitive) until we finally realized that Budget sucks and no one could give us a phone number to get in touch with an actual human at our Park City location
- Stopped by said Budget location and found that it was closed despite its posted hours saying otherwise. Like, what?!
- Tried Enterprise and had a fantaaastic experience and drove away a massive pickup truck that seriously made me feel so safe I wanted to cry 😂
- Were told by our host that the power company would have power back on by 5pm (it was 11am by that point)
- Tried to decide how the heck to fill six hours with a sleepy baby and two even sleepier parents
HAHAA. Oh my. Writing it all down it really obviously isn't that big of a deal but in the moment, oh man. It was rough!! Our first family vacation disaster! It has to happen to everyone, right? So. Needless to say it was an adventurous first day of our vacation! We knew that if we got some food in our tummies we'd feel better. Kneader's to the rescue.
One of my favorite memories of the trip: Ryan spinning these tops that Oliver got in his kids meal, and getting down real close to them to ooh and ahh while they spun. Within minutes Ollie had picked it up and would mimic his daddy. I lost track of how many times Oliver asked Ryan to spin the tops. I couldn't handle it! So cute!
Next we wandered the outlets, which mostly just meant following Oliver wherever he wanted to go. He was in heaven. Lots of people to wave at and have fawn over me? Lots of stuff to touch? Mom & Dad in tow wherever I go? Done and done. Also that stuffed animal Ry is holding was just one of an entire collection of "Tiny Heads" stuffed animals and I kind of loved them.
I put this hat on Ollie in the Columbia outlet and as soon as he caught sight of himself in the mirror, he was so smitten with his magnificence that he left the hat on for the next 15 minutes. And of course he stopped within a few feet of anyone & everyone he saw, in order to allow them to pay compliments and tell him how handsome he looked.
Also, no matter what else happened on this trip it officially became one of the best vacations of my life the moment Oliver suddenly decided to start saying 'mama!!!!!' Ahhh!!! He had been saying Dada since he was so young, and I tried to wait patiently for my time. 😉 Then randomly, while we were in the family bathroom changing Ollie's diaper, I asked him to say mama and he said it right back to me, as sweetly and clearly as could be! Over the next day or so he became a total pro at it. I was close to tears every. single. time. 😍😭😍 Yay yay yay!!
I looked up free stuff to do around town and found that the library was doing Lego time at 2pm, so that was next! Oliver loved it. Building with Duplos was obviously a hit, but mostly he just loved watching and "chatting" with the other kids. I think the highlight for Ollie was the older boy who let Oliver just give block after block out of the bin of Legos to him for like five minutes straight. It was hilarious. Our boy's got his dad's sociability. 😉
It was around then that we heard back from our host that the electricity had been restored! WOOHOO! Hot water and warm beds tonight! We jumped back into our tank of a truck and headed up into the mountains to our treehouse. (PS - The truck became my new best friend that day. Four wheel drive made all the difference and it was amazing.)
Back at the treehouse, we put Oliver down for a nap and enjoyed showers and blessed, blessed heat. Electricity is an incredible luxury.
Time to throw in a few pictures of our digs! It was so adorable!
Just so cute.
Teensy (but so beautiful) bathroom.
Bedroom upstairs (and please note how the tree comes into the room. It is BEYOND AWESOME).
Once Oliver woke up, we went back into town for dinner at Ruth's Chris. My happy place.
Our waitress put that napkin around Ollie's neck with much exaggerated pomp and fanfare and I truly think Oliver felt like he would hurt her feelings if he took it off, so he never even touched it the entire evening (SO against his nature 😂)
Full tummies and happy faces!
It's funny, during this day (once we had gotten the truck, and some food in our stomachs) I kept looking at Ryan and laughing and saying "I love this day!" It was a rollercoaster of craziness inserted into a weekend that we expected to be relaxing and easy, and in the end I really enjoyed it(?!). Haha. It's weird. But we just spent so much time together and experienced it all together and it made it so much fun. And add to that the fact my baby boy was saying "Mama" every time he saw me! He was saying it over and over again, and even started throwing in some kisses when we were getting him ready for bed later that evening. If I was holding him, he'd pull back to look at me, point at me, say 'Mama!', and then pucker up his little lips and go right in for a kiss. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. The fact that he just initiated it on his own so suddenly! My heart almost couldn't take any more Ollie adorableness. It was an evening I'll never forget!
The following night we slept SO, so much better, though Oliver woke up at the crack of dawn. But sleeping in a heated treehouse with a warm breakfast to eat? We'll take it!
A slow morning in the treehouse, just sitting on Daddy and talking together for a couple hours. I loved it.
When Oliver went down for a nap, we did too! And then it was sadly time to pack up and clean for checkout.
^^ I stinking love that big guy. Forever a special place in my heart for him. ❤❤❤
Packing & cleaning somewhat thwarted by a toddler who, for some reason, loves to sit on people (seriously, I need to write a blog post devoted purely to pictures of Ollie sitting on Ryan and I. It's a habit he started early).
We said goodbye to our treehouse, drove the behemoth truck back into town to where our own car was parked, and while Ryan transferred all the bags, Oliver and I explored the Swaner Eco-Center. Uhh, good choice. I got to show Ollie some red-winged blackbirds and sandhill cranes, we crawled around in the awesome exhibits, and mostly I just loved it and I think Ollie-boy did too!
Reunited with Daddy & looking for elk from the observation deck!
Snagged some lunch at Zuppas, where Oliver continued to dole out tiny waves and bask in the resulting adoration, and then we left for home after a two-day trip that felt much longer but will always be one we'll talk about in the years to come (for many different reasons)!!
I loved this weekend! For real. It was the best. Love my little family and doing life with them!
