Mammoth 2016

Back to the snow for us.  We got a week off from skiing and then we packed up the kids and repacked our snow gear to headed up to Mammoth for a long weekend.  Since Jake and I had our own solo ski trip, this one was all about the kids.  It was going to be Skylar’s third year on ski’s and Madden’s first.    I really wanted this to be the trip that we got to ski with the kids,.  The usual suspects join us as well; Mom, Dad, and Jeremy.  We made record time and arrived to Mammoth by lunch time.  The condo was great and the kids were in heaven like they always are when it comes to hotel rooms.  That evening we ate dinner at the condo and after much discussion decided on ski school instead of a private lessons for the kids. 

We headed up the mountain early to get the kids signed up to ski school.  For weeks now we had be talking to Madden about skiing and he was pumped for it.  He kept telling us how he was going to go super-fast just like he does on his scooter.  He was going to ski with Sissy and get to have hot chocolate and a cookie.  He was all about it…well that was until we paid for ski school. I spent 10 minutes trying to convince him to just take off his snow boots so they could measure him for skis and boots.  He got sized up and put on his ski boots to only walk three steps and demand we take them off and he proclaimed he wouldn’t be skiing.   I tried for another 15 minutes telling him how much fun he was going to have, how he will be with Skylar, how he was going to get to ride an escalator and go really fast down the small hill.  I even threw my birthday at him, telling him its Mom’s birthday and the only thing she wants is to see him ski.  Nothing work…he would just say “No, No, No!”  So me dream of seeing Madden ski is just going to have to wait until next year.  Jake and I skied most of the morning while trying to peek in on Skylar.  Skylar was of course a gem and rocked ski school.  She had a blast and improved so much and got the OK to try and ride the Poma lift. 

#skischoolfail

Skylar age 3, 4 and 5.

That evening we went out to dinner in the village to celebrate my birthday.  Jake and the kids made me my favorite ice cream cake and everyone sung happy birthday to me.  It was a perfect birthday for me. 

The next morning Skylar was all about skiing with Mom, Dad, and Papa.  Yes, Papa rented skis and hit up the mountain for the first time in years. I don’t think I have seen him ski in almost 20 years.  What grandparents will do for their grand kids.  My dad was always an awesome skier and he still had it, I just wish he would of lasted longer than 5 runs. 

Jake and I probably should of listened to Skylar’s instructor better because we decide to forgo the Poma lift and head straight up the mountain on a bunny slope with Skylar.  Skylar got off the chair lift like a pro.  When we told her it was time to start skiing down the mountain everything went downhill, and not Skylar skiing downhill.  The tears began running down her face and they didn’t’ stop. She would only move as long as she was holding on to my arm, which in turn was us falling and not moving much.  We tried to tell her it’s just like what she did at ski school, she wasn’t going to get hurt, she wasn’t going to go fast.  It was just pizza all the way down, but she was crying and screaming so much she didn’t care.  She just wanted off that mountain.  At one point my Dad took her between his legs and was able to move her more than two feet.  That didn’t last very long and by that point she had pretty much given up and wasn’t even trying.  She would honestly move 2 inches and fall down on her butt and just cry and cry.  We finally just took her ski’s off her and she walked down the mountain with Jake.  In the end it took us an hour to get down the bunny run and it made me realize why lessons and instructors cost what they cost because they are worth every penny.  Jake and I said it was the hardest hour of our life as a parent for Skylar.  We knew she could do it and were so frustrated that she wasn’t even trying, but at the same time felt so bad for putting her in that situation.  I figured she would never get on a pair of ski’s again.  We left her with Jeremy at the bottom of the mountain and took off for a couple runs as we figured she  needed space from us and we did from her.

The chair lift up was fun.

This was just one of her many falls.

To our amazement when we came back from doing a couple runs Jeremy had Skylar back on her skis and she was skiing down the bottom part of the bunny slope, and not to mention she was skiing amazingly well.  Jeremy was a miracle worker and so great to  see her having fun after the debacle on the mountain with us.  She even hit the Poma lift and rocked it doing it a handful of times.  We couldn’t of been more proud of her!!!

Snowman building with Dad.

All smiles.

High five to sister after her awesome run.

Lending a hand to his sister.

A storm was brewin so Friday evening into Saturday morning we got some snow.  We decided to not ski and take the kids to our old sled run.  We built a snowman, did some sledding and the kids had a snowball fight with my Dad and Jeremy.  Snowballs were definitely Madden’s highlight of the trip.  We ate lunch at one of my favorite places in Mammoth that I hadn’t been to for years.  Saturday the snow really started dumping so we stayed indoors and played rounds and rounds of monopoly and uno.  Madden was definitely the champion of the weekend after winning most of the games.  Sunday morning we woke up to so much snow that it was hard to leave it.  Fresh powder was everywhere.  The snow was so bad and coming down still that we had to put chains on just to get out of Mammoth. 

Madden refused to be in the picture because the snowman didn't look enough like Frosty the Snowman.

Until next year Huck the Bear. 

February 2016

We celebrated our best girl's 6th Birthday.  

Skylar had a playdate with her preschool besties.

Skylar, Madeline, and Emma

We took the kids to Monster Jam!  Which was very cool to see live.

Breckenridge 2016

From wine country to the rocky mountains!!  Jake and I got to traveled to Breckenridge last weekend for a nice get away.  Back in the Fall when it was announced that Jake hit another sales goal and won the trip to Breck, it was right around the same time Tommy announced he was leaving Alaska to work the winter in Breckenridge.  It has been almost four years since we last saw him so Jake and I were pretty stoked how it all lined up.  We dropped the kids off at school and left them in the hands of my mom and dad for the long weekend.  The drive from Denver to Breckenridge was pretty awesome.  Mountains and snow for days.  We arrived and immediately met up with Tommy for dinner.  We caught up all evening and made plans to meet on the mountain early the next morning.  We spend the whole next two days following Tommy all over the mountain (which my body is still feeling).  For dinner we went into town at one of Tommy’s regular spots.  We would met up for happy hour with Jake’s co-workers and had one dinner with them, but were lucky enough to spend most of the trip with Tommy or on our own.   For anyone who likes to ski or snowboard you have to try and make it to Breckenridge once in your life time.  The ski resort is massive and has the most epic views everywhere you look.

Just check out that view in the background.

Napa 2016

A couple weekends back we took a quick weekend trip to Napa, all thanks to Jake for winning one of his companies sales contest.  The company was even nice enough to pay for the kids as well.  Knowing it had been some time since we had seen Paul and Suzie we invited them to join us.  We arrived on Friday afternoon to what was some awesome weather.  We walked the grounds of the resort and had lunch. 

Jake’s company purchased tickets to some fancy wine events that the resort was hosting.  The first night was a lovely 6 course wine pairing dinner inside their wine cave.  Seeing that I don’t drink, I had Jake take his Dad to the event.  Suzie and I took the kids out to a restaurant close to the resort.  It was a cute little place that looked similar to a barn.  The kids were pretty tired, so it was a quick dinner for us 4.

That morning we decided to continue soaking in the warm weather and took the shuttle into town to walk around and grab some lunch.  There were a ton of shops and restaurants all around.  We even found a little park area where the kids could run around.  Skylar really wanted to souvenir of some sort (more like a toy) but sadly we couldn’t find a toy shop anywhere.  A friend recommended an amazing sushi place so we ate lunch there.  It was probably some of the best sushi I have ever had and the view was very lovely.  

They had to have a picture with their favorite food.. mac and cheese.

Biggest chair we had ever seen.

Next up was the stemware class.  I felt like I needed to attend one of the events that Jake’s company had paid for so I went to it.  It was definitely boring for me but I got to meet some of Jake’s co-workers which was nice and the chocolate they had with the wine was pretty yummy!  

Lots of water in different wine glasses for me.

That evening Jake took this mom to an event that featured a bunch of the local wineries.  They walked around and sampled a ton of very expensive wines paired with different appetizers.  Paul and I hit up the resort restaurant and took the kids to the hot tub.

The next morning was the highlight of the trip for me.  There was a  huge Valentine’s Day Brunch.  We ate all morning and the kids took one more trip around the vineyard.   Napa was a fun place, don’t think it’s really my cup of tea, but it was fun having spending time with the family and having a nice getaway for the long holiday weekend.

Enjoying her chocolate donut.

Classroom Valentines 2016

This year both kids were really excited for their Valentine’s day parties at school.  This being Madden’s first one he was doubly excited.  I found really cute Valentines cards for the kids.  They helped me put them together and signed them.  I think Skylar signed about half of Madden’s as well.  Madden was stoked that he got to have some of the leftover matchbox cars.  This was Skylar’s first year where she got to decorate a shoe box for all her Valentines.  Lucky for her I had just bought a new pair of shoes so we had an extra box laying around.  

Bear is the lovie of the week so they requested a photo with him.

Both kids got spoiled by all their classmates and came home with a ton of stuff. 

Lucy, Skylar and Liam

My sweet Valentine.