365 ~ 2016: Day 60

Today Shaun auditioned for a roll in his music groups production of Lion King, Jr.  It was optional for 2nd and 3rd graders in the group to audition and he decided to give it a try.  The music group is made up of kids from grades K-8th grade, so the chance of him getting a major role is slim, but we are so proud of him for giving it a shot!

I'm brushing up on looking down,
I'm working on my ROAR!

365 ~ 2016: Day 59

A little Deal or No Deal at Funspot today.

February Vacation - Family Ski Trip to Jay Peak

With no real plans for a vacation this year we decided to spend a couple days up north at Jay Peak Resort up in Vermont.  Mother Nature was not on our side for this trip but we still managed to have a great time and I can't wait to try this place again next year (hopefully under better weather conditions!).

We drove up Wednesday morning.  The weather forecast was for snow with a change over to freezing rain.  It mostly snow for our ride up, but by the time we hit the slopes it had changed over to freezing rain.  We were determined to make the best of it by getting in some runs.

Evan and Momma selfie...you can see the freezing rain on our goggles and helmets!

After taking a few runs it was time to warm up and dry off in the lodge for some lunch.  One one of our runs down to the lodge, Evan and I found some of the Mardi Gras necklaces that had been tossed in the trees (that was the theme for the week).

Waiting for his brothers so we could get some lunch!

After lunch we tried to get in some more runs, but it was just not fun anymore.  The chair lifts were so cold and wet from the freezing rain and we were getting soaked!  Unfortunately we still had an hour before our room was going to be ready but we were all so done skiing that we decided to get out of our ski stuff and hang out in the lobby.

The Hotel Jay

Once we got our room we were able to get our skis and put them in our room locker.  Check out the ice that formed from them sitting outside.

We headed up to our amazing room (a two bedroom with a kitchen and living room space) and got all our things organized.  We hung up all our wet stuff, so that it would hopefully dry for the next day, and got our swim suits ready to enjoy the indoor water park in the hotel!

Ready to play!

After some fun in the water park, we made a quick bite to eat and it was off to bed.  The weather reports for Thursday were showing heavy rain during the night with clearing in the morning before a second round of rain came through in the afternoon.  We needed to be ready first thing to make it to the Tram.  Our goal was to go to the summit as a family before the rain.

When we got up, we continued to check the weather reports.  It was foggy, but not raining so we got all our gear on, grabbed our skis from the locker and got in line for the Tram.  It was too bad that it was so foggy because we missed out on the views.  But we made it to the top!

We made it to the summit!

And I made it all the way down and lived to tell the tale!

It was very, very slushy and in fact you could see a river of water running down the side of the very top.  It was so warm so at least we knew it wouldn't be icy, but it was still a challenge for me, but I plugged away at my own pace.  I was proud of Evan and it was on this run that I realized he had passed my abilities as a skier!

After that run I was ready to go back to some smaller hills.  My legs were jello.  I did one more run and waited for the boys to come back from another trip to the top, including Evan, who was able to keep up with his older brothers!

Evan and I were ready for lunch, but the David and Shaun went up with Dad to the summit for one more run before the rain really started back up.  Unfortunately for them, it started right after they got on the Tram.

David, Shaun and Dad riding on the Tram

After that last run, they were soaked!  We grabbed all our skis put them in the locker and headed back up to our room for some lunch (the nice thing about having a kitchen was being able to bring some food).  After lunch and a realizing that it was going to be raining for the rest of the day, we gave up on skiing anymore and headed down to the water park.  It was crowded, but the boys still had fun.  You could see that the rain was quickly changing to snow and the wind was picking up.  The temperatures were going to drop from 50 to 10 in less than 12 hours.

Shaun trying out the boogie board!

Chilling out in the lazy river!

The lazy river was fun, there was a section that was almost like a wave pool!

David in line getting ready to try surfing

He didn't have the balance but managed to stay on long enough for me to take a quick picture!

Evan trying the boogie board

Waiting in line for the slide

After some time down in the water park we headed back to our room to get ready for dinner.  We were going to take a shuttle to the other lodge to eat.  There was a restaurant that had diner style food on their menu we thought the kids would like.  Their pancakes were SO good!  We had some time to go back to the water park and let the kids swim and it was much less crowded.  Then it was off to bed, we had to pack and check out in the morning.

On Friday morning, we packed up our room and got all our ski gear on.  We were going to brave the wind and cold for a few runs before heading home.  The bellhop came and took all our bags and brought them down to store them for us until we were ready to go and we headed to the lockers one last time to get our skis.  The wind was gusting so hard that they shut the down the Tram.  I was worried about ice, since all that slush that was on the trails on Thursday would have frozen and even though there was about 3 inches of new snow, the ice would still be underneath all that.  

We headed up on one of the quads and it was COLD!  The snow was blowing all around and I knew it was going to be tough skiing.  We managed to get in a few runs and while I was right about the ice, it wasn't icy everywhere, only in places where the wind could really blow the snow off the trail.  The boys skied a few runs in the woods and Charlie said it was some of the best skiing he's done in a long time and that it was too bad it was so cold.

Look at all the snow blowing around!

We had some lunch and then it was time to hit the road.  Evan went with Charlie for a couple of extra runs me and the other two got all our bags and skis to the lobby.  We got all our things from the bellhop and packed up our van and said goodbye!  We had a blast and the boys are already asking when we get to go back again!

365 ~ 2016: Day 58

Fun with YouTube tonight and the Evolution of Dance!

365 ~ 2016: Day 57

We skied on planet Hoth today.  The temperature was 9 degrees, with a windchill of minus 10 and wind gusts up to 40mph.  The wind was so bad that they did not run the Tram today.  We managed to get in a few runs before calling it a day and heading back home.  It was a fun trip despite the crappy weather and the boys have already asked when we get to go back!

365 ~ 2016: Day 56

Family trip up the tram to the summit this morning. The weather clearly made a view impossible but the sign proves we were up at the tippy top!  And we all made it down and lived to tell the tale, although there were a few times I wasn't quite so sure.  Evan is officially faster and better than me.

365 ~ 2016: Day 55

A quick get-a-way for February vacation!  I wish Mother Nature was a little more cooperative but we will have fun despite the freezing rain/rain/snow/warm to frigid in 12 hours weather.

365 ~ 2016: Day 54

Movie night with the boys - The Good Dinosaur!

365 ~ 2016: Day 53

Last Friday, Shaun's class along with another 2nd grade class hosted the All School Meeting.  The topic was empathy and they sang a song to help explain all about empathy to the school.

But I can try to see the world through your eyes.
Put myself in your shoes
And empathize.

365 ~ 2016: Day 52

Even if the snow was lacking, we still had lots of fun skiing today with our friends.

365 ~ 2016: Day 51

On Thursday night David participated in his school lip sync!  They preformed Bruno Mars Count on Me.  He had so much fun and was excited to be a part of this awesome group!

365 ~ 2016: Day 50

My little nugget's first piano recital!

365 ~ 2016: Day 49

Our quick kitchen renovation project is completed. It's amazing how much bigger the space appears by just removing one set of kitchen cabinets. Now all we need to finish the space off and open it up even more are french doors. Just have to work on convincing the husband!

365 ~ 2016: Day 48

Wacky Wednesday!

365 ~ 2016: Day 47

Our street was an ice rink this morning.  No surprise that the 2 hour delay turned into a "snow day".

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year and since Charlie was working all day we didn't have any plans other than hang out at home.  The boys and I headed out to the supermarket and picked up the ingredients I would need for this 4th Annual "Fancy" Family Dinner.  We all got dressed up and ate in the dinning room.  This tradition started a few years ago after seeing a friend celebrating this Hallmark holiday this way with her family.  I thought it would be fun since we never really did anything to celebrate before.

On the menu was pan seared scallops, parmesan risotto and roasted asparagus.  I also made some pan seared tilapia for the boys because I didn't think they would like the scallops.  I was right, they were not fans (although they were not really fans of the fish either).   We decided to go with the chocolate fondue again for dessert and the boys got to have a piece of candy from their candy boxes.

Next year, David has requested that I make lobster for fancy diner.  Maybe I can whip up some Lobster Mac & Cheese or something!

Here are some pictures from our Valentine's Day celebration, including the boys making out their cards:

Evan working on his class Valentines

Shaun writing out his cards!

Evan's teacher had asked for a volunteer to bring in a Valentine's Day treat to school for their party.

Evan put the liners in the pan, dumped all the ingredients into the mixer and turned it on!

He also decorated them after I put the frosting on!

A couple sprinkles of red colored sugar crystals and a Sweet Tart heart shaped gummy.

My handsome boys.  They don't even give me a hard time about dressing up for "Fancy" dinner.  David even opted to put on a tie!

My whole heart!

Plating fancy dinner selfie!

Fancy dinner!

DESSERT!  The best part!

YUM!