Utah Olympic park

On Thursday, while Tiffy was at dance camp, Josh and I decided to go up to Park City and get some lunch, do some shopping and go to the utah Olympic Park (since we've never been there before). We would have done a zip line or something that they offer, but it was pouring down rain and thundering and lightning. So, they closed the rides down. We went to the museum instead (which is free) and checked it out.

There was this bobsled that you could get in to see how they ride and how it feels. You are really low to the ground in the sled and it isn't that easy to get out of either. LOL.




After, we went upstairs and saw a "torch" and took some funny pics with it.






There was this wall poster that showed what Salt Lake City looked like during the 2002 Olympics. It reminded Josh and I of what it was like then and how much fun we had out one night on the town when we pretended to be "tourists" from another country. LOL.



They had all of these props and costumes from the opening ceremonies. It was pretty cool. There was this one head that held 14 people underneath it when the ceremonies opened.



There was this skiing activity. You would lean up on it and there was a vibration under your feet with a screen in front of you. So that it felt like you were downhill skiing. It was fun.




At the end, there was a thing where you could take a pic with your head in it and look like you are skiing in Utah snow. LOL. We laughed when we were doing it. We are dumb, but it's good to relax and be chill sometimes.




It was a lot of fun, but it was definitely kind of weird for Josh and I to be hanging out just the 2 of us without Tiffy. Not a bad weird, of course. But still a bit weird. I guess it shows that we don't get out much if we don't have Tiff with us. Josh and I talked and agreed that it's a good thing to get out just us two every once in a while.

Leaving for summer dance camp 2010

Tiffany left for dance camp on Thursday, July 29. Their camp was held at Murray High and it was 2 solid days of class after class and dancing all day with 1 hour of lunch break. A lot of work, but Tiff had a blast. I took a picture of her before she left. She was nervous but excited at the same time.



I knew that I would miss her a lot, but I also knew that she would have a blast and would learn a ton and would have a good chance to bond with some of her new team mates.

The first night, Thursday, Tiff called and said she was not doing good. That she had been kicked in the stomach by a girl who wasn't paying attention and then later smacked in the face by another when dancing. I asked her if she was having fun in spite of that, and she said that it was really hard but that yes she was having fun. They ordered pizza and went swimming that first night.

The second day, they had dance camp all day and then they went to Olive Garden and hung out watching football player boys. LOL. She was glad that camp was almost over but she admitted it was a lot of hard work and fun.

On Saturday, we had the Dance Camp Summer Blast (which is their version of a recital). All the girls were going to perform all the dances that they had learned in classes. The classes were split up into Mini's, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Tiffy was in the intermediate classes, which were really hard, but would push her to be better instead of hanging out and being in her comfort zone.

Josh and I came down to watch Tiffy's performance. It was cute. I could tell she felt overwhelmed with all the work that they had done. Learning that many dances in 2 days is really hard. Tiffy is one of those people that it takes her a bit to learn it, but then once she does, she works on the technique after. It's hard to work on technique when you have no idea what you are doing. I thought her dances were all cute, but I could tell she was being really hard on herself for not knowing them all. She told me not to post her lyrical video because she barely knew the dance and said that it sucked. I told her it didn't suck, but that I understood. Tiffany did a Jazz dance, lyrical dance, ballroom dance (mambo and salsa), hip hop, camp dance, and summer slam dance. So, here is her Jazz intermediate dance:



I will not be posting the lyrical as per Tiff's request, but here is her ballroom intermediate dance:



Here is her hip hop intermediate dance:



Her camp dance was intermediates and advanced together. So, here it is:



At the end of the "recital", they did a summer camp blast song. Since 7/31 is National Dance Day, and it happened to be the last day of camp, they did a dance to send to You Tube and Facebook. So, look for it online and I'm sure you will be able to see the whole thing. It's not a great angle and you can't see Tiff for most of the video, so I'm not posting it, but it was way cute. LOL.

At camp they gave out ribbons to some of the girls for good behavor, hard work, good toes, etc (whatever the teachers were attracted to and looking for in classes). Tiff didn't get one and was way ticked, but I reminded her that sometimes we aren't going to get any awards and that's okay. lol. All in all, it was a great experience for her and she has learned a lot.

Spider bite

Tiffany was bit by a spider the day that we went to Kennecott. It didn't hurt at first, but it kept getting worse throughout the day. However, it wasn't looking gangrenous or extreme. It did hurt her a lot and so she stayed off her feet for most of the next few days so that she could get better for dance camp. Every day it got a little better. After 2 days, it didn't really hurt at all. She did ice her foot a few times after, but she was okay after that. By Tuesday, she was good enough to go to tumbling and was ready and set to go to dance camp on Thursday. When she first got bit, her main concern was that she wouldn't be well enough to go to camp. LOL. She is funny.

Kennecott Copper Mine

Yesterday, I was in a blah mood and wanted to get out and do something. So, we decided to go on the Kennecott Copper Mine Tour and Visitors Center. Josh and Tiffy had never been and I haven't been since I was 15..so it's been a long time.

There was this BIG tire that is so huge. Each of the trucks have about 6 of these tires on them. It was pretty fun to see the comparison.



There was a really good view of the mine. It was pretty cool to see.



There was this bucket that miners used to ride down the mine shafts. We were going to get a picture butthen this old lady cut in and just plopped her kid in the bucket. it pissed me off that some people are so inconsiderate and oblivious to everyone else in te world. But whatever! I wasn't going to let that ruin our trip. After they moved, Tiffy tok a cute pic. :)



Afterwards, we took quarters and used them to see out of the telescope things that they had to see up closer and in detail. It was pretty awesome. There was this BIG semidown below and it looked tiny in comparison to one of the big hauler trucks. It was neat to see though.



After that, we saw this mine shaft train thing that was pretty cool. Tiffy took a cute pic on it.



It was a long way out there, but we had a lot of fun and it was a good fun free (since its free family week) family fun. lol.

Faux Camping

After fishing, we went farther up the canyon and built a campfire so we could all roash smores. We all sat around the fire...




Jeanie and Coby got a bit goofy when roasting the smores. LOL.




Tiffy and Josh had so much fun roasting, but she was a bit ticked when she had to stop eating smores. lol.



We all hung out for a while and then went home. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad that we took the day to do something different.

Fishing

We decided that since we have been really busy and haven't had a chance to go camping or go on a vacation, that we would take a day and go fishing and do some smores up in the mountains...kind of a faux camping trip. Jeanie and Coby btought the kids and we all went up to butterfield canyon.



Jeanie and I mostly chilled and watched the guys and the kids fish. They didn't catch anything, but had fun anyway.



The kids were so cute fishing. I smiled just seeing the joy in doing it.





Most everyone got into the fishing action.

Red Butte Gardens- part 3

We went over to the wedding area, and there were covered areas and open fields. It was really pretty.



We found another resting picnic area.



There was a cool bridge but there were lots of spider webs on the bars so the kids had to make sure they didn't touch the edges. lol. Tiffy wanted to "pose" and Brieann copied her. It was pretty funny.






As we walked along, there were some great picture spots.











Mostly, the kids were holding up well under the heat, but you could tell it was started to wear on them. Next, we went on to feed the fish. There were fish and ducks in the same pond and the kids had a blast feeding them.






After we had rested and played for a bit, the kids decided to play on a big fish and take some pics on it. Tiffy's facials cracked me up!




Down the path a ways was a moose. The kids played on it and took some pics.





After that, we were all really hot and tired and decided to walk back to the beginning, which wasn't far away. All in all, it was a fun activity and trip.

We did get some dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (good food- yum!) and then we got the kids some clothes. I got some great deals on clothes for Tiffy- 3 whole outfits for 15.00. I was very proud of myself. Woohoo!