January Weekends

After our ski weekend up north, we've had two pretty uneventful weekends.  Which I am completely fine with.  It's been really nice to just have good old fashioned family time.  Lazy weekend mornings that start with a show On Demand in our bed to give us that slow start to the day instead of being rushed by an alarm clock and an agenda.

Mornings with time to cook up a batch of cinnamon french toast or Scott's famous breakfast stew.

Time for learning to color in the lines.

And to play barber shop in our kitchen and get haircuts by Daddy, complete with a post-haircut sucker and all.

Normally, this time of year we'd be snowed in, but we totally embraced the mild weekend we had and the lack of snow.  We actually broke out all the spring/summer toys like the velcro mits and ball, t-ball equipment, and the soccer net.

We were so inspired by the weather, that we did something totally uncharacteristic on a Saturday afternoon.  We took the kids downtown to the Box Bar, let them play on iPads, and ordered appetizers and beer.  A trip to the doggie bakery and to the cupcake station were in order too.  It was the perfect Saturday!  No tutoring for me, no obligations, no errands.

But even without nice weather and the ability to play outside, we took some much needed time to introduce the boys to some classic movies like Jumanji and Hook.  Clearly we were on a Robin Williams bender this weekend.  And shockingly enough, they both watched Jumanji from start to finish, loving every minute of it.

The movie captivated them so much, we were only able to pause it long enough to make homemade pizza and then we were back to the living room to resume watching the movie.

No carefree weekend would be complete with a trip to open swim at Aqua Tots on a Friday night.  And what are the odds?  Sean's friends, William and Natalie, from his class were there too.  It was so much fun to be on the other side of the glass, spending time with the boys doing something they love.

And it was nice spending time with the boys at the Michigan Science Center and introducing them to the DIA on a Saturday morning while Scott coached.

But, some of my favorite memories from these past two weekends were just letting the kids stay in jammies most of the day, letting them play with their toys and each other.  Look what can happen under the right circumstances.  Sharing.

As we close out January and welcome February, I'm loving our slow, but steady start to 2016.  January flew by!  Today we celebrate Bailey's 9th birthday!  Hard to believe we welcomed Miss Bailey into our lives 9 years ago.  Almost feels like another life.

That's the thing with time....people warned us that it would all go by so fast.  Being parents.  We acknowledged their warnings, but brushed them off.  I'm finally starting to realize they're so valid and so on point.  The kids are growing up so fast before our eyes and the days keep coming quicker and quicker.  While it's been a blessing to have months with jam-packed weekends and fun events on our calendar, the true beauty lies in those weekends where we can just be home, as a family.  Embracing all the little moments.

I have a dream...

I have a dream...that my kids will know how to ski as I did growing up.  So, that we can take family trips up north over MLK weekend and President's Day weekend to ski and tube.  So many ski resorts to enjoy now as an adult...Crystal Mountain, Boyne, Schuss, Shanty Creek, Treetops, The Homestead, and many more.  There's such a distinct smell and feel when you arrive at a ski resort.  The smell of wood burning, whether it's a bonfire or a fireplace in the lodge, the smell of cinnamon sugar donuts and hot chocolate, collecting pins or patches from each place you visit.  I'm so excited to share that and introduce that to my boys.

We decided to join Scott's sister and her kids up north at his parent's lake house in Gladwin for the weekend.  Unfortunately with Scott coaching Saturday mornings, it meant we had a later start to our "weekend".  We left after lunch on Saturday and arrived around 4pm.  Both kids snuck in a cat-nap in the car, which was great since the rest of their time up north would be full of activities.

Just as Scott's family was returning from skiing, we pulled in the driveway.  The kids ran around the house and let out energy, reconnecting with their cousins while we unpacked.  Twenty minutes later we were off to the lake's clubhouse to do some indoor swimming.  It was a blast and the boys' swim lessons paid off to watch them swim without their puddle jumpers!

As we all started turning into prunes, we knew it was time to head back to the house for a late dinner, baths, and bedtime.  Pizza and salad really hit the spot and the kids all enjoyed looking at books with flashlights in the dark on the bunk beds.

They all went to bed fairly quickly, which gave the adults time for some euchre and drinks.  It ended up being an early bedtime for all of us since we had to be up and moving around 7:30 Sunday morning.  The boys had private ski lessons at 10am and the ski slopes were a good 40 minutes away due to icy back roads as our route.

Everyone was so excited to go out on the "magic carpet".  It was definitely chilly at about 6 degrees, but we bundled up and not a single person complained about the cold the entire morning!  I seriously cannot stand how cute Evan looks in his snow gear...

Scott and I skied on the bunny hills during the boys' lessons so they would feel more comfortable.  We ventured off to try the chairlift for a few runs, but were back just as they finished their last time down the hill.

Evan wanted to take a break and warm up inside with Nana, Pops, Adelaide, and some hot chocolate.  I'm so proud he made it through his entire lesson!  Sean was willing to stay out on the bunny hills with me and try the backpack harness.  It was a pretty smooth operation...until he wanted to try going on the chairlift and down the big hill.  Let's just say I'm glad ski patrol was out and about to help me guide him down the hill.  The plus side of that...a free mini-lesson on how to turn to help get you down a black diamond!

See that hill to the right of Sean with a snowboarder coming down...yeah...we tried to take Sean down that.  I think we'll stick to the bunny hills and blue squares for a while lol.

We all went inside for lunch and to switch back into regular snow boots for some tubing.  This was something I was really excited for!  Tubing was new for me...well, first time tubing in over 15 years.  Man were those hills super fast!  And riding up the tubing hill in a sitting position attached to a tow rope was pretty relaxing.

An hour of tubing and we were all getting pretty tired.  We managed to convince a few kids to head back out on the ski hills for a few more runs.  I took Evan out in the backpack harness on the bunny hill and the last run of the day he made it down the hill without falling!

With that success, we packed up and got ready to head back to the cottage.  All that fresh air and exercise was sure exhausting...

And as weekends usually goes, mine came to an abrupt end.  Scott's sister and I had to both work on Monday, so we drove home together leaving the kids with Scott and his parents through Monday.  They went sledding on Monday morning and packed a picnic lunch for the car ride home.  It was really strange...but really nice to have the house to myself Sunday night.

I was left with some sore muscles, windburned cheeks, chapped lips, but some great memories!  I'm definitely glad I went up, even if it was only for what...28 hours?!  Has me looking forward to President's Day weekend where we'll be back up for more swimming, skiing, tubing, and sledding!

Ice, Ice Baby

Cue Vanilla Ice's only hit song..."Ice, Ice Baby".  That's right - it's Plymouth's Ice Festival weekend!  And we couldn't have gotten worse weather lol.  48 degrees and it was more like a Slush Festival.  I have to admit though, despite the melting ice sculptures and muddy walkways, it was so nice to not have to have the kids in snowpants, gloves, etc.

On second thought, given that Evan fell just before this picture was taken in the mud pile behind the melting penguin sculptures, snowpants would have been a blessing.  Thank goodness it wasn't Sean...that kid would have had a meltdown over mud on his pants.  Evan got up and didn't even bother to look at the mess.

Some of our favorites this year were Darth Vader, Mickey Mouse, and this awesome frozen fish tank.  Others were so unrecognizable in their half-melted state, but we appreciate the effort!  We made it halfway through and stopped for our traditional Detroit Donuts!  Yum, yum, yum!!

We weaved our way through the second half the park and circled back around to grab a corn dog for Sean.  The boys might have snuck in a few minutes of dancing to Bruno Mars by the main stage.  Good times!

We made one loop by some of our favorite restaurants/bars on the way back to our car and Scott and I were able to enjoy a few of the sculptures.  Love that there's something for everyone!

Considering it's going on mid-January and we've only had one weekend cold enough to hit the ski slopes, we took advantage of it!  I heard it's going to be a mild winter and it figures...the winter we buy Sean his own ski equipment.  Sean and I headed out to Mt. Brighton last weekend bright and early.  He was booked for a half day group lesson and I had the goal of trying out my skis that I haven't used since middle school to see if I could hold my own.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I've hung up the snowboard.

Mission accomplished on both ends!  Skiing is so much easier than snowboarding (thank God!) and Sean seemed to really enjoy it this season.  I heard 5 was the magical age...I think they may be on to something here.

A year ago I wouldn't have been able to ski right by him and wave.  He wouldn't be smiling.  He wouldn't ask to go out again sometime soon.  It's amazing what a difference a year can make, both in his ability and his motivation.  We'll be heading up north next weekend for a little getaway with Scott's family and will be hitting the slopes again up at Snow Snake as long as the weather stays cold enough to keep the runs open.  I can't wait to get back out there!  I might even buy a harness to take him down the hills with me instead of another lesson.  But, I kind of want to put Evan out there too...so we'll see!

I'm seeing ski weekends up north in our future just like I did growing up...and it makes me smile.