I LOVE my sisters.
They inspire me, motivate me, and remind me that there's a great big world out there! So when we decided to celebrate Sarah's 30th birthday in Sundance together, I was all in!
leading up to it, so when the day finally came we were all excited! Lydia and I headed out on the now-familiar route to the lower 48.
I flew in the night before, picked up the rental car, and got to spend the night at Heidi and Mike's. I was so happy to get Lydia and her grandparents together again! Bethany, Zac and Whitney came over too, which Heidi called "the Laura and Lydia fan club!" Ha!
After a lovely dinner with the group and an early bedtime, the next morning I drove up to SLC to pick up the sisters!! Ellen flew in first, and we did a big Trader Joe's haul for the week. I gotta say we did well, because when we left at the end of our stay, there was only a half container of almond milk and some salsa left over. Perfectly planned!
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| L loves her aunt! |
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| Our blossoming Trader Joe's aficionado 🌸 |
After packing the groceries, luggage, and baby into the car Tetris-style, and leaving room for more bags, we headed back to the airport. This time it was to pick up Sarah!
That's when the party really started - with an airport ambush involving a birthday sash, princess crown, and the first of many selfies. :)
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| Miss America moment! |
We piled into the car and drove the scenic route through Park City to get to our cabin escape in Sundance.
The cabin was tiny, cozy, and absolutely perfect!
That first night we explored the cabin, E and I built a fire, everyone snuggled Lydia, Ellen made a Trader Joe's dinner, we watched a hilarious movie and, to end the night, went hot tubbing... with chalices of sparkling cider, surrounded by snowy mountain beauty! ("Is this real life?!")
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| Discovering the loft! |
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| ❤️ ❤️ |
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| Roadkill Ralph! |
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| Pot stickers, kale salad, and stir fry! YES! |
We also made sure to light Sarah's '30' candles and sing Happy Birthday!
It was the perfect kick-off to the weekend. :)
The next day S & E walked to a yoga class in Sundance's yoga yurt!
While they were out they wandered around the resort and took in the beauty. So not LA! So not Amsterdam!
The next stop was to drop Lydia off with her grandma and grandpa! She spent the afternoon with them and it looks like they had a GREAT time. :) This was a really big deal for me - I was so glad to add some grandma/grandpa time into Lydia's weekend! I really want her to be familiar with them, so I'll take any chance to get them together. :)
Books, Grandma Heidi, Grandpa Mike, and new toys! What's not to love? They got her to sit up - without screaming - and ever since she's been sitting up like a champ. Major milestone!
Meanwhile S, E and I headed to Provo for breakfast at Ivie...
...and then back to Sundance to hit the (snowshoe) slopes!
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| We put the 'ski' in Wleklinski! |
After wearing ourselves out on the snowshoe superhighway (there were lots of other people out), we went back to the cabin to recuperate.
Pretty soon we headed down to Heidi and Mike's again to get Lydia!
Zac and Whitney were there too so we stayed and chatted for a while, and got this once in a lifetime picture - because how often are these people in the same room together? Almost never!
After we got back we made dinner and started a movie. Later I went with Sarah to The Owl Bar for live music, and then came back to go hot tubbing with Ell!
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| Harry Potterrr! |
Yep, just about as close to a perfect day as you can get!
Ellen and I have each been to Sundance before (
HERE and
HERE) and remembered their AMAZING breakfast buffet. So the next morning we blocked out two hours there for recreational eating. :)
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| Omelette bar! |
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| "Ellen, put your hand back on the coffee cup for Instagram!" - S |
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| Lydia "gnawing" on the table got some laughs from passers-by! |
It was just as good as we remembered. :) After several rounds of food and some great conversation about life, we walked it off by exploring the resort! Lydia was loving the attention from her aunties.
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| "Lydia" spelled out in toy train pieces! |
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| Sending pics back to Mom and Dad via the family group chat |
We decided the visit wouldn't be complete without a trip to Park City, so that was the next stop! I drove us out there and we took in the beauty of Utah while listening to Ellen's great playlist. :) Then we walked up and down Main Street, checked out the super-fancy ski shops and the cute, tiny houses.
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| A little too bright for Lyd! |
It's hard to believe we found a part of the world to show Sarah where she'd never been, but that Ellen and I had visited several times. It worked out perfectly!
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| L pulling on E's hair :) |
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| Picking out the perfect caramel apple :) |
And then we came back to enjoy our adorable cabin for one last night!
None of us wanted to leave the most perfect cabin we'd ever stayed in.
Quick photo shoot on the bridge which led to the hot tub and "bird's nest"...
And in the snow which started to fall pretty heavily as we were leaving (perfect timing).
We hung out at the resort for a little bit, watched the snow fall, sipped our various breakfast drinks, and Lydia got a little more time with her aunties.
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| L loves hanging out with the big girls. :) |
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| S and L's statement Nikes! |
Eventually we said goodbye to perfect Sundance and drove up to SLC! I gave them a super quick tour before catching our flights.
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| "Dewey" |
Then we went straight to the airport!
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| S pulling my bags and her own - babies require a lot of stuff! |
As we said goodbye, we all talked in amazement about how well the trip had turned out. SO sad to see them go!!
But my trip didn't end there.
Sarah and Ellen went to their adjacent gates and Lydia and I went a different way to ours, only to find out, two hours later, that our flight was cancelled!!
It turns out that hundreds of flights to Seattle were cancelled that day, which led to mild chaos in our terminal. We had to stand in line for over an hour, only to be told there was no possible way we'd get home that night.
So, the airline gave us a hotel voucher and we got an extra day in SLC!
I called in the reinforcements, and they came through 110%. Bethany drove up from Provo and brought dinner, and hung out in the hotel room for a couple hours. Suuuch a lifesaver. Love her!
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| Poor overly-tired Lydia! She fell asleep right after this. |
The next morning Heidi drove up (she got to my hotel room before 7am!! Hero!) She took care of Lydia so I could shower and eat breakfast. THANK YOU! She also helped me get the bags to the airport and sent us off. I'm honestly not sure how I would've done it if she hadn't been there!
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| At the hotel breakfast |
They got a little more Grandma / Lydia time which actually made the delay worth it. 💗
After a lot of hang-ups and a particularly rough travel day, we finally made it home to Alaska.
And Matt was there to pick us up. ❤️
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| Poor exhausted little traveler :( |
Looking back on the whole trip, I'm SO happy that we could pull off such a great birthday weekend for Sarah! It's something we'll always remember. And I'm so happy my sisters and I went on our first sisters-only trip!!
Already looking forward to the next one. :)
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