Kode was so excited and nervous for his first airplane trip. He had so many questions about the plane, the clouds, how high we were and reminded me that we could crash. Thanks for that buddy. When we finally took off he actually screamed. It was hilarious. All of his emotions just spilled over and he screamed a scream of terror and excitement all mixed together.
Our first stop was to visit my best friend from my childhood. Amity is the first good friend that I found when my family moved to Arizona in the mid 80's. She moved to Utah when we hit Jr. High and we eventually lost touch. But recently we reconnected and I am so glad that we did. I was amazed at how easily I could talk to her again after so many years. She has an adorable family and Kode had a blast playing the Wii with her son. I wish we had had more time to hang out and am sure we will make trips back to North Ogden to visit again.
After our visit to Amity's house, we headed to see my cousin Aimee. She lives in Midway and although I've never wanted to live in Utah, I think I could live there. It is beautiful there. We took the kids to the park and I was just blown away at how green it was and that I could walk barefoot in the grass without it hurting my feet.
Everywhere we went there were kids for Kode to play with. One thing that I love about Kode is that he is ready to play with anybody. He loved playing with my cousins' kids and even decided that he wanted to marry one of them. Turns out that he thinks she looks like his favorite cousin Laureli, who I think deep down he hopes to marry. He has some hard realities to face as he grows up.
One of the things that Kode was looking forward to most was the Alpine Slide and Coaster in Park City. Lyda has been talking about it for a year and he couldn't wait. I have to admit I was pretty excited too. Kode does have a little fear of heights and I wouldn't really call him our dare devil, but he really surprised me that night. I was prepping him the whole way, but he seemed totally fine. Here's us on the lift up to the slide. This was when he was the most nervous.
When we were on the Alpine Slide I was really concerned that he might freak out and then decide that the coaster would be too scary. So I decided that I would take it a little slow and I pulled on the brake a few times and every time he would say "no mom go faster" as he tried to take control of the brake. I was shocked. This is the same kid who freaked out a year and a half ago on the elevator at Bass Pro. It ended up being so much fun and it turns out that he's more of a dare devil than I even knew. This is one of the reasons I love these one on one trips. I get to find out new things about my kiddos.
And what trip to the Alpine Slides would be complete without caramel apples. I love these things. I got the apple pie one this time and it did not disappoint. So good. Kode was such a sticky mess when he was done.
To top off the night, it turned out that a demolition derby was going on. It was awesome. I have such good memories of going to the Kamas derby and was so excited to take my son. He was pretty tired at that point but he did think it was pretty cool, once he stopped being confused at why they would just crash into each other. Such a great night!
The day we flew home we stopped by my aunt and uncle's house in Woodland. I took zero pictures, I have no idea what I was thinking. My aunt made us lunch, she is the Food Nanny on the BYU channel, so no pressure with my picky eater for a son. It was delicious of course and it was so great to visit with them and to visit their house that I have so many great memories at. It is so fun to take my kids to places from my childhood. After we left their house we met up with my cousins Tara, Tamara, their kids and my Aunt Debbie. We visited at a park near the airport for a little while. We truly filled every moment of our trip visiting with as many people as possible. I loved getting to see so many friends and relatives. This trip was awesome. I had such a great time with my little boy. I feel like he gets lost in the middle sometimes and it was so fun to just focus on him. At the beginning of the trip I tried to get him to open up and talk to me about whatever he wanted to. I'd ask him questions about what was on his mind and he had nothing to say. Finally I handed him the GPS and he was in heaven and had a ton to talk about. I was reminded on this trip that boys and girls are totally wired differently. I love my little boy and couldn't have picked a better companion for this trip!
