On the drive up, I let the kids play on their Kindles. I hardly ever let them do that because I think video games fry their brains, but it was a long drive, so I agreed they could. Brandt was on the sunny side of the car and couldn't see his screen, so he covered himself up with the window shade.
Waiting in line for the ski lift.
There are only six people allowed on a ski lift. So I went with the big kids,
and Tysen followed with Lyla.
I didn't get a good picture of them--they were too far away.
We did the alpine slide first. Everyone could go in their own sled, except Lyla. She had to ride with Tysen. She didn't want to. She wanted to be all by herself. I knew that Brandt would be a bit nervous about the slide because he is naturally cautious, but when we were up there on the track, moving towards the start, Blythe said, "I'm scared. I don't want to do this." I rolled my eyes, told her there was no going back, and that she was absolutely going to love it. She did. Because she doesn't weigh very much, she doesn't go very fast, even when pushing as far forward as you can, so I caught up to her about two turns from the beginning. Without even pushing the throttle lever forward, I was right behind her. Next year when we go, I'm going in front of the kids. Brandt said he pushed forward and went as fast as he could.
I took pictures at the top of the slide, and Tysen (who went down first) took pictures at the bottom.
I cut Ava off a bit in this picture.
It was very bright and I couldn't see the screen very well.
After the alpine slide, we went to do the alpine coaster. This is like a roller coaster in that you sit in a car and race along a track. It doesn't go upside down, but it does go down very fast. You are on a track and can't come off, so the guy who was sending us on our way said, "Go as fast as you can because that is more fun." Blythe was small enough that she couldn't go by herself, so we went together. She said, "Mom, I want you to go as fast as we can," so I did. I never put on the brakes and we zoomed! She was shrieking with delight/excitement/a bit of fear, and giggling a bit too. Brandt had said he didn't want to go on the coaster (cautious nature), but I assured him that he could go as fast or as slow as he wanted, and in the end, he went as fast as he could too. It was everyone's favorite, even Lyla's. We were not allowed to take cameras on the ride, so I leapt out of my car and took some pictures of those coming behind me, but we don't have many of this fun attraction.
Lyla sat on the ground while we waited.
She didn't want to walk.
After a bit of lunch, we went on the zip line. They have two zip lines at Park City, one that begins at the same point you get off the ski lift for the alpine slide, and a smaller one that starts and ends at the same point. The kids didn't weigh enough to go on the big zip line, and none of them really wanted to anyway. Too high. But they were willing to do the smaller one, especially as you got to sit next to someone. Brandt insisted on going with me, which was what I had planned anyway. We all took turns, Ava and Blythe going first, then Crew and Griffin, and me and Brandt. Lyla wanted to go, but she wasn't tall enough.
Getting ready to fly like an eagle.
If an eagle could fly backward.
They liked it!
We could hear them shrieking 830 feet away as they started the return journey.
They are holding their ears because the coil that slows them at the end was really loud.
Crew and Griffin look less enthusiastic.
They plugged their ears too.
Brandt was feeling just a little nervous, but he did fine.
A-ha! Brandt liked it!
On our way home, I was hopeful that we could see part the Tour of Utah, a professional bike race that takes place around Utah. Today was Stage 4, which began and ended at Soldier Hollow just outside of Midway. Brandt watched some of the Tour de France with us last month, and was interested in seeing some racing too. He told Crew and Griffin all about it, and they wanted to join us in watching as well. I hoped that as we headed home, we would be stopped somewhere along the way and we could watch from the side of the road as the bikers raced past, rather than trying to fight my way into Midway and Soldier Hollow with road closures and four kids in tow.
Turns out, we were lucky. As we came down the canyon from Park City, at the most western light outside of Heber, traffic was stopped and the race was coming through. I drove along the shoulder until we were pretty close to the blocked off intersection, and then told the kids to leap out and we'd go watch. About a minute and a half after we were in position, the lead car came through giving us an update on the race. There was a seven man breakaway, and if they had any chance of winning the stage, they had to be about a minute and a half ahead of the peloton. They were about ten minutes behind the lead car, so he told us to start our stopwatches when the lead group came through and see how much time they had on the others.
It was so exciting waiting for them, then watching the helicopter come around the mountain and being able to see cars and bikes speeding down the canyon. They came rocketing past us, probably doing about 50 miles and hour, and Brandt started his stopwatch. The peloton was less than a minute behind them, and we all cheered and screamed wildly as they zoomed by. I think I saw Frank Schleck! It was super exciting, and was a fun end to a fun day.
Bike race watchers, eagerly anticipating the arrival (and speedy departure) of the race.
Lead riders.
They weren't able to hold on.
Can you see Frank Schleck?
I'm pretty sure I see him.
These still shots don't do the race any sort of justice,
because they were absolutely hauling the mail, as my dad would say.
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