Annual Ski Vacation - First Weekend

We are up in the mountains of Colorado for our annual ski vacation.  Things got off to a rocky start on Saturday morning when we were pulled over for speeding before even reaching the slopes.  :(  However, a day at Breckenridge with our fill-in parents is always enough to wipe away our blues.  Blue skies, little wind and perfect temperatures made for a great first day to the vacation.  We stopped for lunch at Peak 9 and that's when the wind started to pick up.  It was the perfect time to duck into a building as the snow was pelting us like sand.  After lunch we headed up Chair 6 to some tougher terrain, higher on the mountain and windier conditions.  Bartee was leading the way down the bumps and he stopped to wait for us.  I didn't think anything of it because he always has to wait up for me.  As I got closer, he says... "My back is stiff; I went over that bump and it tightened up on me".  Within a few minutes he laid down in the snow to let the spasms subside.  Needless to say, that was the last run of the day.  We headed home where Bartee spent a lot of time icing, heating and taking drugs for the back.  So far the vacation wasn't turning out the way we'd hoped.

On Sunday we decided to take the day off from skiing so that Bartee could recover.  In the morning we walked with friends to a nearby sledding hill where Caboose even joined in the fun.  

You can see from these videos (Priya and Sanjay), that the wind was a little crazy.  The bizarre thing was that this wind was blowing in from a high pressure so it actually was a warm wind.  So from the video you may think that we are freezing out there, but that was not the case.  However, I'm glad we stuck to the lower elevations on Sunday rather than hitting the ski slopes.  That wind wouldn't have been much fun on the chair lifts.

Sunday afternoon was spent with friends at the outdoor hot tubs and pool at their timeshare in Breckenridge.  Even though we didn't ski, it still seemed appropriate to sit in the Apres Ski bar for a drink.  

Cold Temps

Wow... it's been cold the past couple of days (yes, these temps are Fahrenheit, that is not a typo):


resulting in a couple of days out of school for the kids. This afforded them a rare occasion mid-week bath in which the bathroom windows immediately grew a layer of ice on the INSIDE pane.

While being stuck in the house Priya has been practicing her dance moves

She demonstrates the Baby Cradle

and the kids have spent A LOT of time together. Sanjay has drawn this conclusion:

"I <3 Priya so muth" = "I Love Priya so much"

A Dog's Life

Not a care in the world... I can't tell if he's completely relaxed or just really, really bored.  This post sums up our dog's day in three pictures;  two of which provide no additional information.   :)

Morning

Noon

Night

Why I Love When They Learn to Read...

When they start reading, they start writing things down... everywhere.  And though it makes perfect sense based on the letter sounds, the spelling combinations they come up with can be quite interesting even while they are dead wrong.

Here are some of my favorites from Sanjay:

Post-It Notes Left on Daddy's Desk Within Hours of Each Other

I'm not sure what happened but obviously Daddy did something to upset him.  First note: "I love you". Second note: "I do not like you".

Of course they are "fireflies".  Can you see them glow?

And, I found this one on his bedroom whiteboard before going to bed tonight.  He and some friends were playing Space Police legos and I think he wanted to make it clear to them what role he was playing.  Either that or he was coming up with a New Year's resolution.  :)

Translation: "2011  I am a secret agent"

Merry Christmas

I set a deadline to myself to finish this video before Christmas this year... and I did it just in time.  However, I'm just now getting around to posting it on YouTube and my blog to share with everyone.  The original was a little longer, but I had to chop some stuff for YouTube to be happy with the size of the upload.  Enjoy!!

That Reminds Me

The picture of my cousins all together in the same place reminded me of another such photo taken years, and I do mean many years, ago.  My, how we've changed.  :)

A side note:  Bartee started a blog, too.  I don't know that he wants me to promote it, but if you're interested in following along, I'm sure he wouldn't mind.  With three posts in the past week, he is already updating more than me!  :)

When The Cat Is Away, The Mice Will Play

Last weekend I made a quick trip back east for a funeral, spending just two nights away from home.  Before leaving, I pulled out all the Christmas boxes so that the kids and Daddy would have something to do over the weekend.  How thoughtful, right?  :)  In my excitement about coming home to see all of that taken care of, I even cleared a spot for the tree so no furniture had to be shuffled about.  Mind you, it's the same spot that we've placed the tree for the past 2 years or more.

Walking in the house on my return, I see this stunning tree and it's not in the empty spot which had been cleared for its arrival.

Let's analyze:

• Beautifully showcased between two windows, optimizing the view for those on the street.
• All clutter in this corner cleared away to highlight the tree.
• Decorated with several of the kids' masterpieces of art.
• Ornaments are not uniformly distributed making it obvious that the kids had tons of fun putting them on.  I love this about it.
• Very pretty white garland.  Ok, we probably need to get something a little longer, huh?  :)

So, if we take everything into account... meaning the things that this photo doesn't show... we see a totally different picture.  Certainly I can appreciate the effort that went into this and the fact that I didn't have to lift a finger to make it happen, however it became obvious to me the moment I walked in that some changes needed to take place.

Let's look at what's not showing in the picture:

• The tree is overwhelmingly filled with green lights.  It seems that our Christmas tree strand of lights (red, green, blue) had one-third of the lights not working.  So, handy-man Bartee opened up the control box, fiddled a bit, put it back together and voila... now two-thirds of the bulbs would not light up.  Only the green lights were working and so he went ahead and strung the lights.  Obviously.  :)
• A recliner chair, which had regular use, was moved out of this corner to make room for the tree.
• This recliner chair had an end table next to it that also seems to have disappeared to make room for the tree.
• All this is well and good, IF they had some place to stay for the next couple of weeks until the holidays are over.  Sadly, they do not... and this seems to be the "best?" place he found for them.

It is possible that one recliner chair could have been salvaged, but shoving the end table between it and the couch nudged it far enough towards the other end of the room that viewing the TV from that angle would certainly cause neck strain.  And, the other chair... well, it might as well be in the back yard.  :)  

This is Bartee's response to my questioning his decorating decisions over the weekend, "I'll admit... the living room with the christmas tree etc... not my best decision".  So, things have been rearranged and the room is functional again.  Now before Christmas gets here, I need to get outside and string some lights!

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Although the occasion for heading home was filled with sadness, it was nice to see so much family.

The Potomac River on a somewhat gloomy day in West Virginia

There are just three cousins (on one side of the family) missing from this photo: