Snow Bunnies

President's Day Weekend Kyle and I took Owen & Rebecca on their first ski trip. (Maggie stayed home and got to spend on-on-one time with Bee, Nana and Dahdo/Pam - and we got reports she loved the time as an only child!)

We went to Vail because there was a continuing medical education meeting for Kyle there. Bee had told us how easy it was to travel with these two when they went to Diseney - and she wasn't wrong. Four and six is not only doable but fun to travel with!

Rebecca on the plane watching a little video.

 

Mountains!

We flew into Denver and then drove to Vail. The kids actually slept most of the drive - they didn't even wake up when we stopped because an SUV a few cars ahead of us spun around a couple of times and ended up in a giant snow bank just outside the Eisenhower Tunnel!

Here is Rebecca conked out in the lobby of the hotel while we checked in.

Owen doing the same - although to this day he admits he wasn't asleep. Let me assure you - he.was.

Here she is the next morning - bright eyed and ready to go!

Let me back up and explain that since we were here "for a meeting" our schedule was a little crazy. Kyle would get up early and go to a series of lectures from 7-9, while I got up with the kids and got them dressed, fed, geared and to ski school. We had a pretty sweet deal on several accounts: 1) a friend from preschool lent us all the snow gear we would need; 2) there was a great little cafe with ready to go egg-muffin thingies, yummy coffee and green smoothies (our regular each morning), 3) the hotel had our gear rental place just down the hall from the cafe, and 4) ski school was only a short shuttle ride away. Then Kyle and I would meet back up at the hotel, get geared ourselves and jump on the lift at our hotel (true ski-in/ski-out, which neither of us had never experienced before). 

Here is Rebecca, showing us what part of the mountain she wanted to go to (on the shuttle to ski school the first day).

 

Owen hanging while I talk to his instructor.

Kyle and I on our first lift. I don't love lifts. I especially don't love that at Vail every single lift is different - slow/steady, speed-you-up-express, gondolla, 3-seater, 6-seater, magic-carpet, over-a-river-and-through-the-woods. Leaves a girl feeling like she doesn't know what to expect and what to do...and the fact that Vail is SO huge you rarely do anything more than once. #firstworldfancyskiproblems

A tale of two skiers: 1) me upside down (my head is pointed downhill), 2) Kyle's extreme-drop-off bowl area (I think I was drinking hot chocolate at this point)

Ice scream after ski school day #1

I've never been a real sentimental worrier when it comes to dropping my kids off places (and for the most part they've always done so well at church, school, play dates and parties without me) but I have to say I was super excited to pick them up and hear about their first day. And I was thrilled that there hadn't been tears or frozen anythings and that they had had a good day!

Fun in the snow - they had been looking forward to this since we got there!

At this point, Kyle had to go off to part 2 of his lecture series for the day - roughly 4-7 - so the kids and I would play and then eat and bathe and/or watch Frozen on the tv in our room (2 nights).

One night we go to take advantage of the fact that someone had pretty much built a snowman for us - his head had to be reattached and we had to add the arms and face (and creepy falic "bellybutton").

Lots of conversations about eating snow and not eating snow...

So, this little rhythm went on for our 3 days of skiing - except the 3rd day Kyle and I went up to the ski school area and took Owen out early so we could ski with him. This is him on his first big lift with us!

It was really fun to ski with him - he really go the hang of it - pizza, french fries, saying his favorite part was turning. Yep, me too buddy.    :) 

At the end of the ski school day we grabbed Rebecca and took her up for 1 run (the ski school area where Owen and the bigger kids had been was off of the main gondola - it was her first time to get to ride it).

Sillies

I helped her get into her skies the first time and let her go and she slid backwards and fell down. Ski Mom Fail. (She laughed, thank goodness.)

Owen going up one of the "magic carpets" - great little conveyor-belt-style lift for the littles.

Family photo!

Their official ski school photos - I think Rebecca wore her goggles a little crooked the entire time. :)

Snuggled up in the lobby before we headed back to Denver to catch our flight. Some of the crazy weather this spring kept us at the airport a few extra hours, but we made it home late that night.

We're thinking we'll try to make this meeting trip happen again next year. Probably one more year without Maggie and then start her at 4 - Rebecca's age just seemed about perfect even though we know there were younger kids. And I'll start with a lesson - if for no other reason then I can see the writing on the wall that its only a few years before my kids are hauling down the mountain ahead of me wondering why their lame mom is still wide-turn-wedging her way down. (At one point Kyle veered off of our path and did a little jump and landed in a bunch of powder without his poles or skies - and then gave me a hard time for not following him. He threated to tell my friend Katie that I woudn't ski with him to which I replied fine- tell her! And then a little kid zipped in front of me right after Kyle and I just could not let a 5 year old show me up. So I reluctantly followed. Its exhausting being such a bad skiier. :)

IF

Back at the beginning of February I got to help host a local "gathering" for IF:Gathering. A day and a half, 20 women, apple tv up and running so we could participate as if we were right there at Austin City Music Hall. It was a wonderful weekend of worshipping, connecting, encouraging, challenging...and eating. :) Already looking forward to next year.

Earth

As part of Owen's unit on the solar system, the kids were each assigned a planet to "be" in their living solar system activity (I think they rotated around each other in order). Owen was "Earth" and according to him was the only kid to get the planet he/she wanted (I'm laughing at such strong preferences)!

The only parameters for the costume was that it 1) should be easy to pull on over their regular uniform so a dad-sized t-shirt as a base was the recommendation, and 2) be made mostly by the child. 

I think it's pretty clear we followed the rules.

 Owen freehand drew continents and the waves (front, back, even the sleeves got some love). I helped him print out people, flora and fauna outlines which he colored and glued on.

 He had to memorize 3 facts of his choosing to tell the class about Earth - I can't remember two of them, but I know one was that its the only planet that has an atmosphere suitable for life (air) hence the significance of the snorkel.

Ole Ole Ole Ole

Last spring Owen played soccer on a YMCA team with Emmy and Bailey and really enjoyed it. We took the fall off to give ourselves plenty of margin to adjust to Kindergarten, but we were ready to get back to it! This year he's in a league that groups teams by grade and school (given enough players) so Owen is on a team with 8 other boys from Regents which is fun. It's still the kind of league that combines "practice" and the "games" all in one hour (about) on Saturday morning or afternoon, providing a good fun to sanity ratio.

Here they are lined up for a drill. (Even though I told Owen they were giving him a uniform he wore his old Y jersey just in case. He was super excited when he go to change into his team shorts, t-shirt and socks. Also a little bashful about where to change - I think we've entered that now.)

 With one of the coaches.

 There they go!!!

 The games are typically 4 on 4 which is nice because it means there is theoretically more running and passing and less herd-of-kids-kicking-each-other-at-the-ball.

 Game strategy or life skills discussion? Probably both.

 Trying for a little defense.

 Father-Son Fist Pump. Boom!

 I missed whether or not our team actually has a name, but if they're in need of a mascot I think I can suggest one - Rebecca, Princess Knight of the Round Table. (Crown, pj's, breastplate, shield, sword, sarong/cape, hello kitty rain boots.)

It's sure to be a fun season. Will keep you posted. :)

Blast Off

So, I've got lots of updates to do, but Kyle asked me to prioritize getting our taxes done (he's such a slave-driver) and even I couldn't argue with that. But I couldn't resist sharing these two photos. 

This has been the dominating view from pretty much every angle in our living area and kitchen - a giant rocket ship. 

Owen's class built it (with the help of several very man-crafty dads). It was originally covered completely in foil and even had blinking lights/keyboards/other spare electronic pieces inside. I had heard all about it and Owen kept telling me how big it was but I clearly didn't quite believe him. So when his teacher emailed the class parents and asked if anyone wanted to take the rocket home before it went to recycling (the unit was over) I said sure! 

When I saw this beast in the school hallway (with Owen & Rebecca in tow) I did a laugh/cry. How in the world??? No way I can get this home. But with Owen on the verge of tears at the prospect of leaving it there...we found a way.

Actually, we found a Mr. Charles. Who had a huge exacto blade and bungee cord. He cut it in half and shoved it in the van and it was a miracle we made it home without pieces flying all over Mopac. But we did. And after a little reassembly, the kids were about the happiest little astronauts ever.

Now its in the deconstruction phase on our back porch. I told the kids to pretend it crash-landed on the moon, you know, to ease the pain of seeing it taken apart and thrown away. It's not helping much. ;)

Once Upon a Time...

Owen, Rebecca, JoJo and Bee flew on a magic carpet to a far away Kingdom. Well, not exactly but we did fly to Orlando for 3 full days at Disney World. Hi there from Bee. I'm excited to make my second appearance as Guest Blogger and to share a few of the special moments from our big

trip. You will notice right away that Sid and I are both "point and shoot" kind of photographers. If the picture captures the moment, it will likely be included in this blog, blurry or not. So here you go.    We surprised Owen and Rebecca with the trip on Christmas morning. The travel arrangements were made and the rest of the planning was done via the internet. If you haven't been to Disney World in a while, be prepared for a high tech adventure with Fast Passes, Magic Bands (they're really magic) and My Disney Experience phone apps., etc.

January 2, 2014

We had a non-stop flight from Austin to Orlando at 6 p.m. It was touch and go all day because Rebecca had been pretty pewny for a couple of days. We made the "Its a Go" decision around noon.  Here we are at the airport waiting to go.

I couldn't resist including a few photos of Alison and Alex's Disney World trip in June, 1990. Alison was 9.5 and Alex was 5. Here we are 23 years ago waiting for our plane. My, how time flies.

The kids appeared to be pretty nonchalant about flying, but they both wanted the window seat. As you can see, Rebecca drew the short straw. Don't worry, she had the window on the way home. As soon as we got in our seats, Rebecca pulled out the emergency manual from the seat back pocket and began studying it in detail (seemed like something Owen would be more likely to do). She said "Look Owen, this plane can fly in the water". I'm pretty sure Owen knew better, but fortunately he did not explain emergency water landings to her.

The flight was perfect. O and R watched a video and just like magic we landed with no problems.  But it was late and our Magic Express Bus was missing in action. As you can see, Rebecca was pooped but not fussy. Finally, a mini van delivered us to our Disney Resort: The Wilderness Lodge.

Alison had ID bracelets made for both kids. They both had them on from the time we left Austin and understood it was important to wear them. You can see R's red bracelet. It made the flight, but we never saw it again….oh well. Disney knew who we were, who we belonged to and could track our every move.

January 3rd

 We had a neat set up in our "Villa". The kids slept on a sleeper sofa in the living room and their own TV complete with the Disney Channel, of course. We did not get off to a very early start that first morning, but we loaded up on Micky pancakes and waffles at the Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Lodge.

Fun note about the Whispering Canyon Cafe, the waiters and waitresses sing and dance (kind of hootenanny style) and holler back and forth at each other. Its a constant silly hillbilly show. When we asked for ketchup at dinner, our waiter said that we must all yell "We need Ketchup", really loud. So we did. Then, we were bombarded with ketchup bottles (at least 8) from everywhere. A few minutes later, other guests yelled, we need ketchup so O, R, JoJo and I all took all our ketchup bottles to that table. It was hysterical and quite a mad house!

We're ready to head out for our first day in the Magic Kingdom. It was cold that morning, about 45 degrees, but we were prepared and it warmed up to almost 60. We had the option of going by Bus or by Boat. We went with the boat since its a very short, fun ride with no stops. It worked

great and went back and forth every 20 minutes.

And there it was, the Magic Kingdom! Gotta get the photos in front of the Train Station and the iconic "Let the Memories Begin". And boy did they! 

And here's Momma and Uncle Alex at the entrance back in their kiddo days.

Owen, Rebecca, JoJo and I arrived at about noon along with the rest of the world just in time to watch the main street parade.

As soon as the parade was over, we started making our way toward Fantasy Land.   And then, we got a first good view of the Castle.  I wish you could have seen the kids faces.    They were mesmerized by it, the crowds, the Christmas decorations, and all the Disney stuff.  We were all on Sensory Overload! 

Owen and Rebecca did a great job with their disposable cameras. Owen was quite a bit more selective and Rebecca liked close ups! I was just pleased that we made it home with them.

We had missed our fast pass reservations, but the Disney folks set us up again with no problems. We went straight to "Its a Small World" for our first ride. Its still a classic for the youngsters and the oldsters.

Next Stop:  Dumbo

Our favorite ride that day was an unexpected surprise in Tomorrow Land: Buz Lightyear, Space Ranger Spin. It was really fun and fast paced so no way I could get any pictures. Owen especially loved it. It was early evening when we took the boat back. Rebecca was still not 100%, so we thought we'd rest up for our next big day at Adventure Land. Here's the view from the boat heading back to the Wilderness Lodge.

The Lodge reminded me of the Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone. It was really a perfect place to stay! The kids loved the Totum poles, Indian headdresses and rustic, cabin-like atmosphere.

January 4th

Back on the boat, on our way to the Magic Kingdom. Its 20 degrees warmer, Yea! Less to keep up with!   

The weather was very nice, so we stopped on main street and in fromt on the castle again for a couple more photos.

You'll note that Uncle Alex has a sword or a saber.  Owen also ended up with one before our trip was over. Its a requirement for little boys at Disney World!

Next stop:  Adventure Land and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Rebecca wasn't crazy about the Pirates, too realistic, I think. Owen liked it but he still preferred Buz Lightyear. Owen and Rebecca each brought some of their saved allowance on the trip. Owen found a    Pirate Lego Set and Rebecca bought Izzy, a doll from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. 

We had some time to kill before our next ride, so the kids and I went up and through Swiss Family Robinson's Tree House. It was a big hit, but those two were really hard to keep up with!

Next stop:  The Jungle Cruise, a Disney Classic

The Cruise was great fun. Remember the really bad jokes the tour guides are required to tell during the ride? I heard them with Alison and Alex, too. Trust me, they haven't gotten any better!

 We had quite a while to wait until our next fast pass reservation, so we walked over to Frontier Land and watched the fun on Splash Mountain. Then we took the barge over to Tom Sawyer's Island. It was a perfect break from the fast pace and mobs. The kids loved exploring the trails. They could run a bit away from us without the constant worry that we'd lose one...or two. With all of the fancy attractions and entertainment, Owen and Rebecca loved the simple pleasure of exploring the island.   The Langhorn Fort is amazing. It is complete with very realistic looking and sounding guns (all different kinds) and a secret underground escape tunnel. Owen and I found our way out first.   Rebecca and Sid turned back, but then decided to push on and finally made it out. The kids weren't too sure they wanted to brave Injun Joe's cave, but we all finally made it through it. Seriously, the island was a highlight for all of us.

Time to get back to Adventure Land so all of us could ride the Magic Carpet Ride.

A visit to the Magic Kingdom is not complete without a ride around the park on the Walt Disney World Railroad. Ahhhhh, a nice break!

Back to the main terminal for some photos with main street, below.

Well, we still have to ride the Monorail. So lets do it. We rode from the Magic Kingdom, though the Contemporary and then to the Polynesican Resort where we ate a late lunch. Our waitress brought Izzy her own high chair. As you can see, Rebecca was completely worn out. Bless her heart, she slept through lunch and we carried her back to the Lodge, via a taxi cab. She couldn't have cared less that Owen had the best desert ever!

Rebeeca came around after she ate a bite at the Lodge. We had seem an artist doing caricature's in the lobby and Sid really wanted the kids to have their's done. So off we went. Rebecca jumped in the chair first and went straight into her pose. She took it very seriously. The artist was great with the kids. They carried on interesting conversations. Rebecca wanted to be Princess Belle and she was happy with her portrait. Sid and I sat on a bench watching the process. It was a real treat!

Owen wanted to be Luke Skywalker. The artist asked Owen about his favorite food. She was pretty shocked when he said "my Dad's deer meat sausage"! (Definitely not the answer she was expecting.) She and Owen hit it off. She wrote "The Force is strong with this one" on his portrait.

Rebecca loved watching another artist at work.

Owen was noticeably thrilled by his portrait!

Rebecc was feeling fine but she did not have quite her usual stamina. She was in bed and fast asleep by about 6:00! Sid decided to watch a football game and stay with Rebecca. So what should Owen and I do?

We really didn't have any choice! We had to go back to the Magic Kingdom, just the two of us for the fireworks and parade! Owen was fired up about our night time adventure.

I told Owen I thought we could sneak in another ride before the fireworks. He took it literally of course and said, "Bee, we can't sneak in!" Anyway, there was only a short wait at the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups and it was a blast! I don't remember Owen with such a big smile. I couldn't get a picture of it cuz we were both busy making the cup go faster and faster. But, his face was beaming with shear joy!!!

Looks like we liked it back then, too!

After the tea cups, Owen and I staked out seats on the ground inside the ropes along Main Street and waited for about 50 minutes. He was a real trooper. The castle was all lit up and kept changing colors.   Then there was about a 20 minute spectacular light show on the castle that is indescribable. Just magnificent! Owen and I were both very sad for Rebecca because she would have loved it. Owen said he didn't think we should even mention it to her because he did not want to make her sad. I agreed.   Owen never said a word about the castle or our outing for that matter. That Rebecca did not get to see the castle at night, the fireworks and electric parade was the only disappointing thing about the trip.   Knowing she will get to go back when Maggie is older makes me feel better about it.

We scurried to the boat after the fireworks and beat most of the crowd. We were on the first boat back to the Lodge. It was still pretty late. Sid and Rebecca were both fast asleep. They got some needed extra rest and Owen and I had our very special time together. 

January 5th

It was a beautiful day.   It warmed up another 20 degrees and almost made it to 80.   Rebecca and JoJo are just hanging out on the balcony.

We all wore our matching Mickey shirts.  How original!

This was an exciting day!  We were starting the morning in Disney's Hollywood Studios and the Star Tours ride in a 3D simulator.   We had all looked forward to this one!

Here they are waiting to board the Starspeeder 1000.  

Anyway,  Star Tours was great but a bit much for R. Owen got a new light Saber. He was very pleased with it, even though he did not remove it from the package until he got home.

We watched a show with little Jedi ("Padawans") in training.

Alison, Alex and I did the Star Tours ride too. But the big event at the Disney Studios back then was seeing the Ninja Turtles, in person. Alex got Michelangelo's autograph. It was a huge deal!

We rode the Toy Story Ride after a quick drink.  It was almost as popular as Buz Lightyear.

Did I mention that it was almost 80? It was warm. Thank goodness for sunscreen and caps. We're waiting for the bus to take us to Epcot and lunch with the Princesses!

We had lunch reservations in Norway at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.

While we were waiting to go inside, Owen said " I hope there aren't too many princesses." Sorry Owen. He did like it that the princesses called him a "Knight" instead of a Prince.

Rebecca was excited but she was also a little shy. She was so cute!

The kids followed the Princesses in a parade trough the Royal Banquet Hall. They were accompanied by the applause of the adults.

Each Princess came by every table for photos and autographs. It was a special treat.

After lunch, we did the world tour at Epcot.  Here we are in China.    You'll note that I broke down and got Rebecca a stroller when we got to Epcot.  It was the right decision!   We all had a great day at Epcot.

Here we are in Germany, I think.

And there we were 23 years earlier.

The kids loved the miniature village and trains.

Owen saw a good photo opportunity.

After a ride back into prehistoric times, we stopped for a little shopping.   Rebecca got a Rapunzel Doll and a pen.   Owen and Rebecca picked out a gift for Maggie:  a baby Mini Mouse in a blanket.   Then, we made it back to the Epcot entrance and took the bus to the Lodge.  We spent about an hour in the outdoor swimming pool and called it a day.

January 6th

Well its time to go home.  He had breakfast at the Whispering Canyon Cafe, our hangout.

We spent the morning in the gift shop and taking photos inside the Lodge.

Rebecca was impressed with the sinks specially made for kiddos. After all, it is Disneyworld.

Waiting for the buss to the airport. Disney leaves no opportunity for a bored child. There is entertainment everywhere! The kids were watching vintage Mickey Mouse cartoons in kid sized rockers.

Everything at Disney runs flawlessly. They even checked our bags at the Lodge. We did not see them again until we got home. A nice touch but it could have been a problem. When we got to the airport, we learned there was a 4+ hour delay. Flights were being cancelled and the airport was packed. Our plane was coming from Chicago and many of the Chicago flights were cancelled. We were lucky, we had a 6 hour delay but we did make it home. Yea!

It was so fun to go back and look at photos of the Disney trip with my own children.  Much has changed. But fun times and good memories last a life time. 

I must brag about Owen and Rebecca here. They were perfect little travelers, not just at the airport, but the entire trip! They knew the flight was delayed and might be cancelled. There was absolutely no whining or complaining! Rebecca made a little friend and Owen entertained himself with his unopened light saber. I surprised them with Rice Crispy Mickey Mouse Ears on a stick that I picked up at the Lodge. They were a hit. Anyway, they watched a video, we ate dinner and we boarded the plane about 9 o'clock. Yep, they're studying the manual again. They both slept most of the way home.   Alison picked us up sometime around midnight. We had a magical trip but we were all glad to be home.

Sid and I want to thank Kyle and Alison for allowing us to take Owen and Rebecca on their first trip to Disney World. We missed Maggie but we hear she had a good time with Momma and Daddy all to herself. Next time, you'll be big enough, Maggie Lu. And thank you, Sid for giving me such a special Christmas gift! There is absolutely nothing like seeing all of the magic through the eyes of children, especially when they are your own sweet grandchildren. I hope the kids will have fond memories of our adventure. For me, it was a trip of a life time and these precious memories will fill my heart with joy forever. Love, Bee

***Note from Alison: Bee thanked us??? Well, that's just ridiculous! Thank YOU Bee and JoJo for taking our kids on such a special adventure. I have no doubt it will remain a childhood highlight for them - something they'll always share with you and that is so special. Thank you for loving on our kids in such a fun way. You two are priceless.