Little Buckaroos and a City Slicker

 Even though I like winter, it's not that wonderful to be wrapped inside a cocoon of carbon emissions.  Along the Wasatch Front, we don't have "January" so much as a special season we call "Inversion."  With my parents' Park City condo available for the weekend, I definitely wanted to rise above the smog and see some blue skies.  The only people available to go with me, however, were all under the age of nine, and there were a lot of them.

I don't know if it was desperation or stupidity, or just a stubborn desire to prove I could do it, but I took the four youngest kids, and even threw in an extra seven-year-old for good measure.  Scott stayed home to attend a Daddy-Daughter nerd dinner with Ari.  I told him to wear his regular clothes and the other dads would think he was nerdy.  He's so in, he's out...at least in this neighborhood.  :)  Ari informed me that a nerd isn't a bad thing.  It's someone really smart who is really good at one thing and only cares about that one thing.  So the nerds went to dinner and my buckaroos and I took off for the wild blue yonder.

So, was it fun?  There is always a point with kids and trips/sleepovers/adventure where you vow, "Never again.  What was I thinking?"  Then there is always a point where everyone is asleep and you think, "Heck ya!  This is great!  I have the best kids ever!"  I hit both of those points, so it's safe to say the overnighter was a success.  We had pizza, played Candyland and Monopoly, the girls had a photo shoot, the boys played Minecraft and I generally did what I do at home:  Try to read but end up cleaning and corralling kids. I guess you could call me a nerd, since my specialty is trying to read, but cleaning and corralling kids.  And I really, really like it.  AND I look pretty darn nerdy doing it.

 Lil buckaroo!

 The girls' dream came true:  to be sisters and have a sleepover.

 

 The drive home was beautiful, thanks to blue skies, and peaceful, thanks to 101 Dalmations II playing in the back.  We went to church, had a bunch of meetings, enjoyed a delicious roast and good company at Bruce and Marlene's and it was time for the next adventure.

A special girls' night with just Araceli and me in downtown Salt Lake.  First, we went to a Baroque concert at the U.  I love their Sundays at 7 series.  Libby Gardner is a beautiful hall, the Sunday faculty concerts are only an hour long, and they're free.  We enjoyed it, especially the timpani solo.  Wow! 

 Part of the reason for our outing was that Uncle Trajan gave us the keys to his downtown condo while he's out of town.  After the concert, Ari and I got our pajamas on, had dinner and enjoyed being cozy and warm with a view of the icy city out our window.  Trajan's place is awesome!  It was fun to have just Ari.  I'm lucky to have Scott to stay home and keep the homefires burning while I roam.  I tried to convince him to get away for a solo trip, but he decided to stay home.  After being up during the night with Tziporah and then having Golda get sick during the night, I'm willing to bet he'll take me up on the getaway offer next time.  No sense taking any chances of losing a good night's sleep!