Scraps of Paper

Time for another edition of "things my kids said in the past several months that I thought were worth jotting down".  The problem is that they are scribbled on scraps of paper without any context and sometimes I'm not sure whether it was Priya or Sanjay that made the comment.  I'll do my best to recall as much as I can.

Talking about a kid in his class, Sanjay held his hands up to his cheeks and said "That kid... he was puffy".  Later when he was describing someone else he said, "She has a skinny head".  I seem to recall that after he told me who he was talking about, this description was indeed perfect.

Priya had a substitute teacher for one of her classes and apparently the lady was not exactly one of the friendliest.  After school she described her like this to me:  "Mrs. Weaver, which silently in my head I called Mrs. Beaver, she was really, really mean".

"No I didn't hear you.  I was wide asleep"  - Sanjay (in all seriousness)

"My smelling powers ejects me that we are almost home" - Sanjay (This one is really old and may have been blogged previously.  It was uttered on the drive back home from the airport after a long visit to Maryland.)

"It's really shiny.  It's like the world is inviting me outside." - Priya in the car on a particularly sunny morning.

Sanjay has been enjoying a book series called "The Pet Fairies".  He's blown through several of the books already and keeps asking for more.  I don't know if his friends are asking or what but he has become a little self-conscious about reading books that might typically look like "girl" books.  He said to me "I thought the girls would be embarrassed of me" and then later that night asked Priya if she was.  She thought it was really cute and came running to tell me about it.

"It doesn't really hurt that much.  It's like... in the medium." - Sanjay about some pain that he was having.

"I want him to go on to the seventy finals." - Sanjay watching a tennis match.

"I expect all old mans to like country.  Or some other music that was back then." - Sanjay after pulling up to a car at a traffic light where an old man was inside jamming to pop music.

"The patriots are versing the Kansas City and the Patriots are winning. It is 10 to 3. The Kansas City they can't, they can't come up. They are so bad." - Sanjay explaining to Daddy over the phone what's going on with the football game.

"I'll just do it, like, $2.99 and keep the price.  I won't do tax." - Sanjay regarding pricing at his yard sale.

The Powerful Lure of the Haiku

Priya has been learning about the Japanese style poem called a haiku. They are made up of 3 lines each having a specific number of syllables. The first line has 5, next has 7 and the final line has 5. She had to submit a couple for her homework assignment a few days ago. Since then she has been creating quite the collection of haikus. She told me yesterday, "Mom writing haikus is addicting. I'm really into it and I can't stop". I may reference this post in the future when she's a teen and may have other ideas of what's addictive. Here are her most recent poems with the capitalization and punctuation maintained.


Home
Warm and comforting
Keeping us safe in our lives
Earth will protect us

Wonderful Things
Trees, flowers, and life
Oh all these wonderful things
Colors, grass and... Friends

Fort of Love
Fort of love this earth
Spirits sing, We care, Plants give
Surrounded by love

Mountains
Tall figures tower,
Majestically, very high
Up into the sky

Rivers
leaping and playing,
washing through the forest green
Raging Rivers play

Creatures of the Earth
Playing Manatees
Laughing dolphins, dancing birds
Creatures of the Earth

Paradise
Earth; a Paradise
Worth a thousand coins of gold
a place of beauty

The Storm
Winds blow with great force
Thunder booms, lightning crashes
rain pours from the clouds

Sanjay's edit for the last haiku:
The Storm
Winds blow with great force
Thunder booms, lightning strikes down
rain pours from the clouds

Annual Ski Vacation

As we have done for the past several years we ventured into the mountains for the annual family ski vacation. This year hasn't exactly been a great year for skiing but we lucked out with some fresh snow a couple of times during the week.

What's different this year is that my sister now lives nearby so we hooked up with them on the first Saturday at Keystone. We put in a full 3 runs on the bunny slope, had lunch and called it a day. Actually, that's a slight exaggeration as we did move over to a true green run just before grabbing lunch. Jeanette and I took the kids back to their condo after lunch while Bartee and Chad had an afternoon of fun on the mountain. This worked out great for me because it tired Bartee out early in the week. He's a maniac on the slopes and I have a hard time keeping up. Now that the kids are just as skilled as he is, I can't keep up with them either.

Just for some sympathy and to give you an idea of how crazy Bartee is about working out, I have a little side story for you. The other week while he was traveling for work, he ended up with a hotel room on the 9th floor. While staying there he avoided the elevator and took the stairs regularly. Since he was missing the gym and his routine workout, he decided to come up with an alternative. Here's what he did...

* Walked down the 9 flights of stairs.
* From the bottom walked up 1 flight and back down.
* Walked up 2 flights and back down.
* Walked up 3 flights and back down.
* Walked up 4 flights and back down.
* (you get the idea)
* Walked up 9 flights and went in his room to grab a drink.
* Walked down the 9 flights of stairs.
* From the bottom walked up 8 flights and back down.
* Walked up 7 flights and back down.
* Walked up 6 flights and back down.
* Walked up 5 flights and back down.
* (you get the idea)
* Walked up 1 flight and back down.

Needless to say his legs were still sore about 3 days later, but he did say that it was a great cardio workout. I bet!

We decided to take it easy on Sunday spending the morning at the Breckenridge sledding hill and dog park, having lunch at the outdoor crepe shop and spending the afternoon shopping in the outlets. It's the first time we've endured that many hours at the outlets but we did walk away with some deals. We all agreed that Eddie Bauer was our favorite. I scored a spring jacket for $11 and Bartee got a new winter jacket for about $30, if I remember right.

The next five days we hit the slopes hard, alternating between Vail and Beaver Creek. By Wednesday, we all had our ski legs back. At Beaver Creek, we enjoyed a lunch time photo shoot in the snow:

At Vail we enjoyed live music and some appetizers after skiing in a slope side restaurant:

The last 2 days of skiing were at Arapahoe Basin and Breckenridge. This was my first time skiing at A-Basin and I tell you, I'm a bit of a fan. That Saturday was literally the perfect day for skiing. Wind was minimal, sky was bright blue and the scenery was phenomenal. It's a small mountain with not much terrain, however it is tucked deep inside the valley. The mountains just jut out of the ground and reach up for the sky. All the more stunning on a bright and sunny day because of the shadows that are cast. The resort feels less commercial and more personal. The BBQ smells coming from the mid-mountain restaurant are amazing. My mouth was watering and I don't even eat meat! The lifts are a bit rickety and few. Some of them don't even have lap bars, which made the kids *very* nervous. The entire day I was in a state of awe at the beauty, for real. Sometimes when you live by the mountains you take the beauty for granted however on this day I did nothing but appreciate the jagged edges of the land all around me. The proof is in the number of photos I walked away with from that day.

It looks like the COO and Vice President of A-Basin was as enamored with the views as I was on Saturday.

Within the past 2 years Vail has added a vertical tracking feature to their pass so that at the end of the day you can log into a website and see how much vertical footage you covered. Sanjay became a little obsessed with checking his numbers. :) We all increased our footage each day through Wednesday, then after that it slowly decreased each day. The rest of the family covered more vertical than I on all days except for the last day we skied and that's only because I took it upon myself to make sure that I beat out Sanjay and Priya. Here's how I secretly did it: Priya was cold and needed a break in the warming hut, so I took one more run! Then Daddy took Sanjay down a double-black which ended up taking them a little more time to complete, so I went ahead and grabbed one more run to outdo Sanjay as well. It was fun to point it out to them later what had happened. They were able to rub it in all week and now it was my turn. In any case, they are both better skiers than me and have been since last year. This year Sanjay made a lot of progress and Bartee tells me that he has a hard time staying ahead of him. I'm a little worried about what the future holds for Sanjay and skiing. If neither Bartee or I can keep up with him and he's 8 years old, will he want to ski alone? I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Bartee was so tired at the end of the week that on the last day I found him asleep at 8:12pm next to Sanjay in bed. The lights were on and the kids were each sitting up in bed reading. We are all wiped out as we usually are at the end of this trip. Look at this, even the cat has had enough and she didn't spend one single day on the slopes. :)

To recap our vacation, I made a video that I should share as well. The song is one that we heard while on the shuttle bus back to the parking lot at A-Basin. It is "How 'Bout You?" by the Yonder Mountain String Band. It will forever remind me of the 2012 ski vacation.

Whiteboard Musings by Sanjay

At school the first graders have been working on constructing paragraphs. It is their first experience with expression in the form of words. The format they are being taught seems to be "First, Then, Finally". They've been at it for about a month now and so all of Sanjay's paragraphs follow the same outline and are equally hilarious. Each one is exactly five short sentences long and closes with "Clearly I know many things about..." which always cracks me up because there are only ever three things brought up about the subject. See for yourself...

This last one is a little disturbing... perhaps I should model better behavior in front of my kids. Why doesn't he notice all the cooking and cleaning I do? :)

The Amazing Birthday

Bartee turned 40 this year and I wanted to do something special to celebrate.  Although I had 8 months to plan and prepare, until a week ago I had no idea where I was going with it.  A friend mentioned a themed birthday party that she'd attended.  The theme?  The Amazing Race!  Being that it's one of my very favorite reality shows, I immediately started planning Bartee's Amazing 40th Birthday.  I thought it would be the perfect way to start off Bartee's crossing into a new decade.

First, there was the invitation:

We'll be celebrating all 4 decades of Bartee's life by driving around town to complete challenges, Amazing Race style.

The early planning stages have begun and I have lots of fun things in store for you. Teams will be designated by me before the race, so I really need accurate and timely RSVPs. *wink, wink* Also, plan to get here on time as we will get started with the race right away. After the race we'll meet back at our house for libations, various snacks, cake and ice cream. No gifts please.

The race will be adult-only, but I am planning to set up a babysitting house somewhere in the neighborhood. I would just ask everyone to chip in a little something to cover the cost of the babysitter(s), if you don't mind. Alternatively, if you want to leave the kids home with their favorite babysitter, it just means we can keep partying late into the night. His actual birthday is the 11th after all. Don't you want to be the first to wish him?

One more important detail... let's keep it a secret from the birthday boy.

Then there were clues, challenges and pit stops marked with Indian Flags:

Bartee is turning 40!  In celebration of this milestone, you will be participating in a race that will have 4 challenges -- one to honor each decade of his life.  So get ready to learn a little more about Bartee, move fast, be creative, and most of all have fun!

To reach the location for the first challenge, drive to Cottonwood Creek Park (lower level parking, near the restrooms and soccer fields).  Look for the Indian race flag to check in at this pit stop and get your first assignment.

---

Bartee enjoys working out daily.  He has a treadmill regimen that includes speed walking.  He maintains a speed of 5.6 miles per hour on the treadmill for an 11 minute stretch.  Can you compete with him?

Your challenge is to speed-walk the .6 mile paved sidewalk around the soccer fields.  You must complete this challenge as a team, meaning everyone must cross the finish line together.  No running or jogging allowed... get those arms and hips swinging. Check your form!

The team with the fastest time will receive a 4 minute deduction from their total time at the conclusion of the race.

---

It's no secret that Bartee is a bit of a cheapskate.  One of his favorite places to eat for under $5 is Taco Bell.  For the next challenge, make your way to the Taco Bell at Powers and Dublin Blvd.  On the way, draw a picture of what you think Bartee looked like as a kid. Give these "works of art" to the race operator with the Indian Flag at Taco Bell to receive your next clue.

---

ROAD BLOCK - Select one person from your team to complete this challenge. 

You have $5 for this leg of the race.  Go inside wearing the oversized Taco Bell foam hat and place an order for Bartee's favorite meal.  While waiting for the order to be filled, you must stand by the counter with the hat on.  It may only be removed once your food is received and you have been seated at a table ready to indulge.

Bartee's Favorite Meal: One bean burrito with extra onions, a Chicken Gordita Baha Style and 3 packets of Fire Sauce.

The chosen team member must eat the entire meal (belching optional).  Before each bite of the bean burrito you should squirt a bit of fire sauce on it... that's Bartee's method.  No matter how it's done, at least 3 packets of fire sauce must be eaten all together by the time you finish the meal.

If another team is inside wearing the hat, you must wait for them to finish before taking your turn.

---

Bartee loves to read.  He plows through 600 page novels like they were 2nd grade chapter books.  Among his favorite authors are Dan Simmons and Robert Jordan.  For the next challenge, you need to make your way to the East Library.  On the way to the library, jot down how you met Bartee and your first impressions of him.  Turn these in to Sandy at the completion of the race.   

 Once inside, follow these instructions carefully:

1. Locate a copy of "Drood" by Dan Simmons.
2. Note down the total number of pages in the book.
3. Turn to page 644.
4. Transcribe the first sentence at the top of the page.
5. Locate a copy of "The Gathering Storm" by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson).
6. Note down the total number of pages in the book.
7. Turn to page 559.
8. Transcribe the first sentence at the top of the page.
9. Take your notes to the race operator with the Indian Flag for verification.  All information must be correct in order to receive your next clue.

---

Bartee is an avid skier.  Several years ago he was pushing his limits hanging with a crowd that was a little more daring on the slopes.  He ended up with a back injury that he's been struggling with ever since.

For the final challenge of the race you'll have to drive to Colorado Ski and Golf at 2454 Montebello Square Drive.  One member of the team must get into a back bend position.  The rest of the team should gather around the "back bender" saving one person to take a picture of the group. The Colorado Ski and Golf sign MUST be visible in the background.  Bring this photo with you to the finish line.  On your way to Colorado Ski and Golf, complete the "word puzzle" worksheet on your clipboard.

We will always have our memories of this amazing birthday celebration, but thanks to our friends we also have race day highlights in pictures that will last forever.

Reading a Clue at the Park

Ordering at Taco Bell

Enjoying (??) Bartee's favorite meal

This team was so far ahead they took some time for a photo opp with the race operator.

Some folks enjoyed the Taco Bell hat more than others!

Fast walking at the Park

Posing in front of the ski shop

These over achievers decided to get the shop employees in the photo as well.  They were hoping for extra credit. :)

Between pit stops, the teams had some small assignments for which they earned prizes.  Some of my favorite answers to "How I met Bartee and what were my first impressions?" include:

(1) "I met you as a waitress in a cocktail bar... that much is true".  This person knows you can always get brownie points with me by quoting lyrics from the 80's.

(2) "I met him at game night.  My first impression was that he was not good at games."

Although all the artwork submitted showed a likeness to what Bartee must have looked like as a kid, in a side-by-side comparison, this one was clearly the winner (see: facial expression and sports stance):

The party lasted well into the night and as has been the case with the last 2 parties at our house, the sign of a good time is that inevitably late into the night, and by late into the night I mean sometime after 9pm, someone ends up peeing in a place other than the toilet.  In our old age though, the culprit is one of the kids rather than an adult who has over-indulged in alcohol.  Oh my, how times have changed!

Happy 40th Birthday Bartee!  Now, what shall we do for your 50th?  :)

And in case you missed it on Facebook, I made a little birthday video for Bartee as well.  His favorite part is the dancing solo.  Check it out!

First Day of School

4th and 1st grade!  I don't believe it.  The kids are super excited about school starting again.  Sanjay woke up early and kept pestering me every 5 minutes to get in the car and go to school.  Priya on the other hand had to be woken up.  She's not a morning person at all and to top it all off she had trouble falling asleep last night because of her wild imagination.  We rearranged her room before leaving for Maryland and the poor thing still hasn't adjusted to the new and improved scary shadows that are cast on her walls views.  The day ended well and they are ready to do it all again tomorrow.

These are all kids that live in our neighborhood, but 4 of them are missing from the photo.

Fishing in Maryland

My sister it turns out is an avid fisher.  You may remember that she took the kids to try fishing last year, but  that didn't work out so well.  We ended up with some great pictures but no fish.  This year we tried again.  A couple of weeks earlier she and my cousin had found a nice quiet spot and they caught "tons of fish".  She basically guaranteed the kids that they would make their first catch.  We ended up here...

Cute little dock.

Beautiful swans.

The algae was not here a couple of weeks ago when Jean was fishing.  Not surprisingly, we ended up with more algae on our hooks than fish.  In fact, we caught exactly zero fish after about 45 minutes of hanging out.  So on to plan B.

We picked up my Mom and nearly ran out of gas driving to the other side of town where she had a distant relative that owned a farm with a private stocked lake.  Lucky for us she treats the lake to prevent algae so we were in good shape.  We set up camp under some weeping willow trees.

Within one minute of casting his line, Sanjay had a fish.  But the little guy just ate the bait and took off before Sanjay could reel him in.  :(  Priya was the first to actually catch and bring to shore the first fish.

It was quite a small fish... you can see him on the end of the line.

It was exciting, but didn't compare to what she caught a little later.  Jean said this was probably bigger than any fish that she's ever caught, and I ended up getting the whole thing on video.  Priya's reaction was priceless.  Have a look!