Junior Moves in the Field Test

 Sunday, March 21, 2021

Today was Emily's next US Figure Skating test.  This time she was testing Junior Moves in the Field.  I can't even believe it.  Junior moves.  How has she accomplished so much so fast?  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  First, she had to pass the test.  

We headed to Lexington on Friday right after school and met our skating friends for dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill.  Then on Saturday morning, we were off to an early morning freestyle session at the Lexington Rink to get test ready.  Saturday afternoon, the girls spent shopping and eating their way through the town - all the way through dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

   

Then bright and early Sunday morning we were off to the rink for the test!  She had a solid warm up and seemed very confident going in.  The test looked good to me, but then again, what do I know??  She worried that she might have put a foot down at one point, but also thought maybe no one noticed.  Heidi thought the test looked good, so we were hopeful.  And we did not have to wait long...

SHE PASSED!!!  

She was so excited (and so was I)!  Her silver medalist gift (this is the only test she has ever gotten a gift for - I just felt like this was such an accomplishment...) was a beautiful ice skate necklace.  I've had it for her for a while so I was thrilled to finally get it out of my closet.  This means she only has one test left to earn her US Figure Skating Gold Medalist Jacket. WOW!!!

    

Last Day in Park City

 Thursday, March 11, 2021

Today was our last day in Park City.  Daniel and Emily headed back to the Park City slopes (the non-canyon side).  Full disclosure: since I did not go skiing, I did not take these pictures and I have no idea if I am putting them on the correct days of this trip or not.

   

    

I headed out on a Park City tour - which means more pictures!  I got to see Utah Olympic Park, the Upper Falls, parts of the Sundance Resort and lots and lots of winter beauty from the snow in the past couple of days.

   

Winter beauty!

Jordanelle Reservoir

Upper Falls - Still partly frozen 

   

   

Views of Sundance Resort

Remains of Midway Ice Castles

   

Coy pond and views from the top of the Homestead Crater and Hot Spring

   

Utah Olympic Park!

After we all regrouped back at the cottage, it was time for dinner at the Wasatch Brew Pub...in our own private igloo!  It was a little chilly, but totally worth it.  The food was great - even dessert was good!  

   

   

On our way back to the car we made some stops for souvenirs.  It was the perfect way to wrap up this trip.

    

Park City - Day 3

 Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Back to the slopes for Daniel and Emily.  This time they tackled the canyon side of Park City.  Bye bye Deer Valley.

   

I stayed in the cottage again today watching Hallmark, handling some work stuff and editing photos from the photography tour on Monday.  I splurged and ordered myself some room service lunch.  Yum!  Then, much to my complete shock, there was a bald eagle outside the window.  I could not have gotten to my camera fast enough.  I'm not sure that my settings were quite right, but I had to move really fast to get these shots - some of my favorite of the entire trip!  I have only ever seen a bald eagle in a zoo so this was a real thrill.

   

For dinner, we headed to a little Italian place, Buona Vita, back on Main Street.  Their food was really good.  We wandered through the shops for a bit after dinner and got an evening treat at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  I have seen Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory before - at the outlet mall in Jeffersonville, but had never tried it.  We were not impressed.  Oh well.  Here's to hoping tomorrow night's dessert would be better.

More Park City Fun

 Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Daniel and Emily were back on the slopes today as soon as the lifts opened.  They had planned to spend Monday and today out at the Deer Valley slopes.  They were big fans of Deer Valley because it was not too crowded and because there are no snowboarders.  Just skiing.

   

I stayed in today and just caught up on some work and hung out in the cottage.  It was really relaxing.  After the snow bunnies came in, we made dinner and then headed out to the Resort Center Ice Rink.  It was snowing so much that it was hard to skate, but Emily still had a blast.

   

After skating, we headed back downtown for ice cream at Java Cow.  The place was a little bit of a dump, honestly, but Daniel and Emily liked the ice cream.  Personally, I really only liked my cone. 

   

   

Still, it rounded out another fun day in Park City...and even though I did not love the ice cream, I also have to admit that Park City was growing on me...even without the palm trees.

Spring Break in Park City, Utah

 March 8-12, 2021

It was kind of an accident that Daniel ended getting Emily's spring break off - for the first time EVER!  We did not realize that public school had a different spring break than us and so when he got down to his final two vacation picks for 2021, Emily's spring break was still available.  I was super excited...until I realized that there would be no palm trees, Disney or ocean.  Daniel and Emily wanted to go ski.  In the cold.  Where it snows.  So, off to Park City we went.

We stayed at Hotel Park City, a Marriott Autograph property using many of the points we didn't get to use in 2020.  It was really nice.  We had our own cottage complete with a kitchen, multiple bathrooms and our own hot tub.

   

We arrived late on Sunday evening, after dinner, but we were able to get some really good deep dish apple pie for dessert (to go) and then get Emily fitted for her skis so they wouldn't lose any ski time. The next morning - they were off to hit the slopes!  The pic below is Emily on one of the Olympic runs!

   

While they skied, I went on a photography tour.  I could fill this posts with soooo many pictures, but I will stick to a few of my favorites.  I spent all day on the tour and took hundreds of photos.  I even learned more about how to edit in Lightroom.  Definitely a great experience.

   

This is McPolin Barn in Park City.

   

These were all taken in downtown Park City.

   

Mt. Timpanogos in Herber valley/Midway area and shot from the Jordanelle Reservoir.

  

Tate Barn and Herber Valley Railroad

  

Wild West section in Herber Valley and the Legacy Bridge in Midway.

Jordanelle Reservoir

We all met back at our cabin late in the afternoon and then headed into Park City for dinner and to see Main Street.

   

We were really excited to see Dolly's bookstore and meet Dolly herself!  I had read about her on several blogs before our trip.  I've decided my retirement goal is to have a book shop with a bakery inside...with a cat...or two.

   

  

Great first day in Park City...even if I wasn't initially excited about the lack of palm trees!