Sept 14, 2011

With temperatures set to return to seasonal 70 degrees, this is probably our last swim day at the lake for the year. It was a beautiful, calm evening.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.2

Cartoon cuddles

My three boys cuddling together on Saturday morning to watch cartoons.
Apparently, Toby (who just celebrated his 2nd birthday on Thursday) makes a good pillow, too.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Awana Games

Ben did really well with this years awana games. His team took third place, but the scores were 45-44-43! Very close! It was a good to see all the games Ben had been telling me about.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Leprechaun trap!

Here is Sam's leprechaun trap, called the Tangle-a-chaun. He has been very focused and determined about this endeavor over the past few days. In fact, this is his second trap. (The first trap involved digging a hole to place the trap in, which Mommy vetoed given how wet the ground is.)
This trap involves lots of string, sticky tape, a tiny door, a few golden things, and a light to attract the leprechaun.
Sam desperately wants to catch a leprechaun so that he can keep him and he can be Sam's "little buddy". He is so earnest and sincere about this whole thing! I am really hoping there will be a small Irish fairie in there in the morning!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Feb 25 20011 A Blue Bird Day

Mama got a new gadget! Especially for sharing our fun with Daddy...

ski day #3

Fresh powder! I just had to head up the mountain and get some!
I didn't get on the lift till 10am, rode basin express to midway, which was full of soft semi crud. It was fun to ride through it, at the end I cut up onto starfish and found fresh patches. It was right about then that the perma-smile started!

Next I headed up the great escape and down to loophole loop. The great divide was ok this time, but got worse each time I went. That's the price you pay, I suppose. I skied loophole 3 times in a row! I was able to make fresh tracks and I felt like I was *floating* down every time. It was amazing. And even though I practically had to jog on the cat track back to the lift, that run was worth it. Perfect conditions for me to practice bouncing through powder!
I went to the backside via Vagabon, rode Stella up, got a wild hair and went down Kathy's yard sale!!!

Maybe not the best day to try it for the first time, but I made it down. The standard was knee deep powder with mid-thigh deeps in between the bumps.

 I am so glad I didn't lose a ski! It was beautiful in there with the trees, and the sun was shining (can you see my shadow in the picture?). I got down 2/3 of the run then cut over to Zip Down. That one was pretty cut up, but still soft over all.
So my stats for the day were:
7 Runs, 12.77 miles, 27 mph max speed, 10,161 ft of vertical. All in 1.5 hours!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

ski day #2

Presidents Day... the mountain was busy, and so were we!

The boys and I went up to ski TOGETHER! I was so glad I would be able to ski with my boys and have them show me their favorite places and runs.

We started with a warm up run down Lower Sam's Alley, to the terrain park off Midway, then down Primetime. (Ben and Sam hit every little bump, jump, and trail through the trees available on our way!)

Next, we headed up the Great Escape and decided to head out to the T-bar. It was fun to ride the T-bar behind the boys and watch them talking and looking back and waving at me. The t-bar took us out to the very perimeter of the backside and Little Blue Ridge Run. The conditions were great, we had a bit of sunshine, and it was a terrific run to just follow behind the boys. That took us to Stella, and we went up and over to the opposite side of the backside and skied Springboard. Again, loved it! Good conditions and so fun to watch the kids.

Stella back to the top and then back to the front side to meet up with the Hausers, who were up for the day. Sam hung out with Tommy and his dad, while Ben and I skied with Richie a few runs on the front. 

We took a break for lunch and then went over to the backside. The weather had deteiorated and the ride across the ridge wasn't too fun, but we made it. We took Vagabon down to Stella and then had time to do 2 runs down Cathedral Aisle before heading back to the front and calling it a day.

Here are our stats for the day:

Ben 20 miles

Jenni 17 miles

Sam 10 miles

What a day!

ski day #1

Today we rode the bus up with Sugar and Pa so the boys could show them their 'stuff'. Lucky for all of us, it was a gorgeous sun shiny day!

First, we went to the terrain park off of the bunny hill so the boys could do some jumps.
Next, we got ourselves into some black diamond action! Quicksilver is highly visible from the village so we all went and gave that a try. It was Ben's first time on that run, but it was easy for him.
After that, we went back up so that we could make the run down JR... that one feeds right into the village and has a great view for pictures and videos. Ben wanted to do his own thing, having felt like we held him back a bit on Quicksilver. So, he went down Upper JR and came right on down the lower portion all by himself. Sam and I skied all the way down the Great Divide to the Tea Kettle trail and then went down a smidge of Sundance to lower JR. We came down JR together while Sugar and Pa filmed us. What an amazing skier my little guy is! He has grown so much this season!
Well, as I had anticipated, that was not quite enough ski time for the boys. Sugar and Pa went in to the lounge and the boys and I went up to check out Ben's secret adventure spot. We took the Basin Express over towards Crystal, they went down the skiers race course and I watched from the side. We met up at the bottom and Ben led us to the fort in the trees. I saw the little tiny path they went down and immediately had some serious reservations! I called out that I didn't think this path was made for grown ups! A few kids down in that treed area called back that their mom had come down there. (Thanks, random kids.) Ben and Sam were hollering "Come on, MOM!" and I couldn't even see them! Well, it was do or die time so I went for it. I shimmied, side-slipped and used all my best don't-smash-into-a-tree maneuvers and was rewarded with a safe trip to the "fort". It was pretty cool in there, see for yourself!


Sam strikes a pose the "snow table"





Sam said, "Ben, it's like you are riding an ELEPHANT!"



After that, the boys took a path through the trees and I was able to traverse back out to the run (you know, where grown-ups ski).

We met up after a minute or two and went to find Sugar and Pa. I had them admire my fantastic locker stacking abilities and then we headed for the bus. Another great day on the mountain!

Here's a little video synopsis of the day:



Sam's Belt Test

Sunday ski day...

Today was pretty sunny. The snow was great, and my baby boy did (parts of) several black diamond runs.{kathys yard sale, sundance, and part of JR }!!!!! Ben had a great day full of adventure and fun. But he is bummed out hearing that Sams group did black diamonds, because his group didn't want to this week.
I did not have a good day on my skis despite having near perfect conditions and abundant sunshine. Guess there's always tomorrow....

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Sunday, Jan 9

First Day of Funatics for the boys. (And a free day of skiing for me!) The weather was high overcast, and cold with highs in the mid teens.

I got both boys to their instructors on time, which was a small miracle considering we had to go buy new gloves for Ben. Seems someone forgot his gloves at home! I always ask them if they have everything, but it really is me who is actually accounting for everything and making sure to say ... where are your gloves? Oh well, lesson learned! I have now packed a bag of spare gloves for both boys to remain in our locker on the mountain.

Ben was off with his group and didn't look back... he is so very independent. Sam was with a group of all girls... instructor included! But, by lunch time they had shuffled groups a bit and there were some other boys in his group.

Both boys seem to have FABULOUS instructors who are interested in showing the kids a lot of FUN all over the mountain!

Ben skied Midway x3, Great Divide to JR, JR, then Great Divide to Vagabond, then back to the front side for Mushroom Garden (somewhere by Crystal) and Enchanted Forest. {Ben's group did not get as much skiing in, but he told me one of the kids twisted an ankle and had to go home.}

Sam skied Happy Trails, Enchanted Forest, Midway x2, Sky's Edge, Gypsy, then Vagabond and Cedar Park. (We are assuming he took the Great Escape to Great Divide and Down the Hatch to Vagabond.) This was his first time to the back side and up Stella! He really seemed happy that he got over there, and I am so pleased- that kid was all over the mountain!

I had a great ski day as well. I felt much stronger physically than the last time I skied. This was hopefully due to starting lessons and also some inserts I had put into my boots. I felt like my feet stayed put and didn't get thrown into the front of the boot like they had before, so that was a great improvement. I also tried to really practice what we learned at our lesson on Tuesday and really work the ski.

I went to Midway, Lower Sam's Alley, Basin Trail to Ridge Run, Great Divide, Down the Hatch, Vagabond, Cedar Park, Cathedral Aisle, Zip Down x2 (second time after a failed attempt at Stella's Run... it was too deep!), and one more quick run through Vagabond/Cedar Park before I headed back to the front to pick up the kids.

The above shot was looking down into the village from Ridge Run. It was there that I had a really emotional moment, thinking about this time from last year...

That was a Sunday afternoon in 2010, although the camera stamp says other wise. That was the first and last time that Dad skied with my boys. Dad, Ben, and I skied Midway and Lower Sam's Alley together. Dad came up to watch the kids one day in the 2009 season, but wasn't feeling well enough to ski that day. I'm so thankful that he did on that day in 2010.

This shot was taken on my last run of the day. I was struck by how beautifully the light was hitting the mountains in the distance. It was a really good day.