Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Slopes, Sleds and Sesame

Slopes, Sleds, and Sesame
Jon and Cara head to Utah to go skiing while Kate stays with the rest of the family.

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This should be interesting. Jon and Cara off together while Kate mans the house? Yikes.

Since Jon and Cara had such a great time in Utah last year, they decided to come back to Park City and spend some quality father-daughter time. This is awesome and I'm glad that they are spending time together, but did Mady feel left out or bad that she didn't get to go? Does Jon plan on spending quality time with the other kids? Because I think that would be important, too.

Kate stayed back at home and took care of the other 7 kids. But first she had to take Mady in for a tune up on her braces. Since Kate didn't know how she would do, she didn't allow cameras to document that occasion. I'm shocked. She lets them film her kids in the bathtub and we saw Mady's dental consultation. I'm impressed that she flexed her moral parenting card here.

On a side note, Kate looks about 100 shades tanner and 50 lbs thinner. And that look, it's *not* flattering. Not in the least bit.

Jon had a huge day planned for him and Cara. They were starting out skiing/snowboarding, heading to the bobsled track, and finishing up with snowtubing. We see Cara skiing down these huge mountains and doing an awesome job. She was really great when the family was on vacation the last year, but you could tell that another year of age was great for her. Her ski instructor seemed awesome. And Jon had some weird snowboarding pro with him the entire time too. But they both seemed to be having an awesome time together.

Cara was experiencing a bit of homesickness. She seemed to love being with Jon by herself, but when she's using to being with 7 other kids all the time, it makes sense. Jon said he didn't know if she should talk to Kate (um, that would be a good idea!) but after they talked, Cara seemed better. Although Kate claims that Cara really missed her...when asked...Cara listed the dogs, Kate, and the "other peoples" as the order of missing.

After a morning of skiing, Jon and Cara headed to the Olympic Park where Jon was going to head down the bobsled track. This looks super awesome and something I think I would love, but it's more than likely not in my price range. Jon piled into the bobsled with a few other people and headed down the track. It looked fun. But that bobsled goes crazy fast. And Jon said that it's a 400ft drop to the first turn. Crazy. He totally loved it.

After bobsledding, Jon and Cara headed to the snowtube hill. The first time down the hill, Jon and Cara went together and she just smiled the entire time. I'm so glad that she enjoyed herself. In some of the recent episodes, she seemed a little sad. But this totally seemed to get her out of her shell and having some fun. Both Jon and Cara headed down the hill a bunch of times.

It was a long day for the pair. Cara was ready for bed, but Jon convinced her that they should have some food, first.

Back at home, Kate's working on feeding the dogs and getting the kids ready to go see Sesame Street Live. I'm sure it was exhausting trying to get all the kids ready, but you're the mom. Don't you do it by yourself the rest of the time? Oh, right. You have Jon or the nanny do it for you. I just realized that Kate throws the kids into the van and then lets them buckle themselves. Aren't you supposed to check it to make sure they are safely secured? I'm not even a parent and I know this.

I have no idea how far away Sesame Street Live was, but the kids were sleeping when Kate arrived. She didn't know what to do when she got there. Hmm? Wake them up? One by one, she managed to get them out of the car. On their way into the theater, Hannah melted down. And I mean completely melted down. Screaming, crying, and jumping. All of the other kids were acting very well behaved and Hannah just completely lost it. Now I know that Hannah's clearly Kate's favorite. So what did she do? She picked her up and carried her inside.

I'm not parenting expert, but I can tell you that when people are acting irrational and demanding things, giving in, isn't teaching them a lesson. The best thing would have been to wait for her to calm down before going inside. *Or* packed everyone up and headed home. Because all of those options...are *exactly* what my parents and many other parents I know did and do every day.

I'm also wondering if the nanny was with Kate during this whole thing. Even though she says she was doing it alone, there was definitely someone else with her helping to pass out snacks and holding doors and such. Kate's definitely said the nanny doesn't want to be on camera, so I wonder if that's why they're making it seem like Kate's doing this alone.

The Gosselin family got a private box to the show. In order to keep everyone happy, Kate passed out popcorn and other treats to the kids. They seemed to be happy with this and sat in their seats. The only person not so excited was Mady. She seemed sad without Cara and not thrilled to be attending a *baby* show. I know she's not into skiing, but I wonder if Jon's going to take her somewhere.

Sesame Street Live turned out to be awesome. The kids had a blast watching it and couldn't believe the characters were right there in front of them. They seemed super well-behaved and watched the whole show.

After the show, the kids headed backstage and got to meet the characters. Each of the kids got to hug the characters and they took tons of pictures. The kids also got a goody bag. Which is awesome for them. Alexis just couldn't get enough of Elmo. Kate asked her if she was going to marry Elmo and Alexis gave her a look like she was so embarresed that Kate would even think of that. Oh, when Alexis is a teenager they are going to be in trouble! hehe

The episode concludes with Jon and Cara eating dinner. Cara looks so tired that she can barely keep her head up, but is still enjoying time alone with her dad. Jon sincerely tells her that he loves her and it was just such a sweet moment between those two. I'm glad that they bonded and reconnected. I am so close to my dad and loved spending time with just him sometimes. It's really great for us. And the memories of doing fun stuff with him will last me forever.

SassySarah's Review: It was awesome to see Jon and Cara bond over their love of the outdoors. Two thumbs up.