I am trying to catch up with the blogging! We had a lot going on last week with Spring Program’s, Easter Parties and a couple of egg hunts! Here is some video of Christian’s Spring Program at school! However, there is not to much video of him singing! He was out of school for two weeks and his first day back was the program! Needless to say, he was not prepared! The 3’s classes sang a bunch of nursery rhymes for all of us and it was very cute! However, I think in the beginning Christian was a little shy because he had his hand over his mouth and kept pulling his shirt up? They were all so cute! Check out the little boy in the black turtle neck, so cute how he was singing his heart out! Another little boy, Ian would tip his hat after every song and say, “Thank you, Thank you!” This age is adorable and here is a little bit of footage of the few parts Christian actually participated! I watched this video and Christian was cut out a lot on the side. Make sure to right click on the video and choose watch on youtube or show all! This is the only way that you will be able to see him in the video! The blog has made changes and the only way for me to upload video is by doing it through youtube! Oh well!
Brian has always been an avid skier and started at a young age. I on the other hand have always been a beach person. My mother being from California grew up skiing all her life and in fact my parents even have a time share in Beaver Creek, Colorado! I do not know why we did not learn to ski as children, but opted for the beach every summer instead. Growing up so close to the beach it was a no brainer for my sister and I when asked every year where we should vacation? I really did not know much about the west coast or snow for that matter. I was raised in the south my entire life and never really came into contact with the cold, white stuff ! :)
Brian and I have always discussed having an annual ski trip with our family. We want the kids to start early so they will never encounter the issues that an old, beginner like myself have. I have skied before, but by no means would I or do I have any desire to ski blacks!! I am perfectly content to stay on the greens and blues and leisurely take my time down the mountain! There is no dare devil flowing through my veins! However, I am sure there is a heart attack in my future as I watch our children become older and more advance in their skiing abilities! Two years ago we started this tradition when Christian was about to turn two years old. I was pregnant with Henley and terribly sick! We ended up canceling our trip to Colorado due to my misery! Brian was of course disappointed, but I think it was better in the long run for Christian. I think that 3 years old is the perfect age to start the learning process and getting him use to everything. The clothes, boots and weather are all new to little southern boys! However, Christian was a trouper and ABSOLUTELY loved every second of this trip!
Since last year was out, we decided that this was the year to start our tradition! We made plans to go to Utah since I had only skied in Colorado. I was so excited because I had heard how beautiful it is in Park City! We decided to leave Henley with my parents because it is pointless to pay for her to sit in daycare all day long. We knew that she would be much happier in Birmingham with her Grandma and Boppa. We missed her terribly, but it was nice to have one on one time with Christian. I feel that he gets neglected sometimes when I am busy dealing with his sister and we enjoyed giving him 100% of our attention!
We had been talking about our trip to Christian for awhile and getting him ready for what he was about to learn out on the mountains. We watched ski videos on YouTube and he really got excited watching all the skiing on the Olympics! He could not wait to get out on his ski’s and kept telling everybody that he was going skiing!
The first day we got to Park City around 1:00 and immediately got fitted for our ski’s and boots. We got Christian signed up for ski school and picked up our lift tickets. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria in the Canyons and it was a ski in ski out. Perfect for those with kids and a lot of stuff to haul around! I could not imagine having to pack up all our gear and put Christian in a car seat and drive somewhere to ski! We walked out the front door and there was the Gondola to take us up the mountain! Christian loved the Gondola and was always telling everyone riding with us that he was going skiing! There is nothing cuter than a small child packed in snow clothes and boots! They look like little fluffy, puffy michelin men! I could not help but, laugh every time I looked at him in all his gear! He could barely move! It made me think of the little boy in the Christmas story who could barely walk because his mother has so much clothing on him when he left the house! That was Christian!:)
We were there for five days, but we wanted to do more adventurous things to entertain Christian. We chose a horse and carriage ride with dinner the first night. It was very cold and it was snowing. The scenery was picture perfect and once the snow stopped it was much more enjoyable! The guide was great and even offered Christian the chance to ride up front, but he was being shy. It did not help that he had been up since 5:30am and they were an hour behind central time! We went home afterwards and got some shut eye because the next day was a big one! Christian’s first time on ski’s and we could not wait to see what would happen!
Christian had to report to ski school at 8:30, so we were up early and on the mountain by 8:00am! I joined a group lesson to get a refresher course since it had been awhile for me! Brian met some friends that were in town and everybody did their own thing for the morning. We were meeting back at 11:30 to eat with Christian and check in with him! Christian was doing well with skiing and having fun, but unfortunately he was done with his lesson and wanted to be with mommy and daddy! We decided to take him out of class and keep him with us for the rest of the day. I am sure everyone has seen those parents and their children with the harnesses attached to them? Well, Brian skied with Christian and I the rest of the day. Brian would just hold onto him and keep him between his ski’s going down the mountain! That should tell you how skilled my hubby is on ski’s because I would of killed both us if I had even attempted something like that! Christian loved this and of course wanted to ski with Brian and I every day! However, Brian would never get to go down the crazy blacks if he did that, so Christian and I had a few semi-private lessons together! We learned a lot, had a fabulous time and came back home all in one piece! Here is some video of Brian and Christian skiing down the mountain!
I do not want to make this blog forever long, so here are some of the other fun things we did while we were there. The pool was heated to 120 degrees and of course the saunas were a must for our sore muscles! Christian was not sore and enjoyed hopping back forth between the two of them!
We took a dog sledding trip which was so much fun! Brian and I got to ride on the back of the sled for a different prospective and Christian got to yell, “Hike”! This is what made the dogs take off running! He loved it and in fact told many people that this was his favorite activity!
We went snowmobiling, had snow ball fights, made snow angels and Christian’s personal favorite eating snow! Yep, you read that right...eating snow. Christian loved eating snow every chance he got! We had to keep telling him to eat the white snow! I kept waiting for him to get his tongue stuck to a pole or something because every time you would turn around he would be licking the snow! Yuck! I know, but what can you do? He would say, “ I love eating snow, it taste like ice cream!” Well if that is all it takes to make you happy, I will shave you some ice every day! :) That is healthier than ice cream and if he does not know the difference it should not matter! Right?
We had a wonderful time and we can not wait to go back next year...if there is not a brand new addition to our family... :)
Being the Irish girl that I am...I could never let this day go uncelebrated! Here is a little history for those that do not know. In Ireland Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland as he was the one who brought Christianity to the Irish.
According to the legend, St. Patrick used a shamrock to explain God. The shamrock, which looks like a clover, has three leaves on each stem. Saint Patrick told the people that the shamrock was like the idea of the Trinity_ that in the one God there are three divine beings: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The shamrock was sacred to the Druids, so Saint Patrick’s use of it in explaining the trinity was very wise! No wonder it is such great luck to come across one of these! :)
Although it began in Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in countries around the world. People with Irish heritage remind themselves of the beautiful green countryside of Ireland be wearing green and taking part in the festivities! What festivities will you take part in today to celebrate?
I am around 3/4 Irish so obviously our children have a good bit of Irish in them too! I want to teach them some fun ways to celebrate this day so here are some things we did this morning.
We made some apple cinnamon muffins and made them green! Henley loved taking part in this because she loves to help cook and eat too!
Well...if you know our house and you know our son than you can only guess what I am about to tell you. Christian, the little clever fellow that he is learned at an early age that if mommy would not let him go outside, well he would just follow the dogs out their door! :) We use to have to lock the dogs in or out according to what he was trying to do. Christian loves to be outdoors and if given the chance would live outside in his play set! How fortunate we are that our second child, Henley has turned out to be the same exact way, but to a worse extent! I have never seen a child throw a tantrum as Henley does every time she wants to be outdoors playing! Lately it has been a little cold. Due to the fact that we are going skiing at the end of the week I have been being cautious about letting the kids play outside for long! I would hate for Christian to get sick and not be able to ski! Anyway, to make a long story short I took the garbage out and got the mail this afternoon. A little girl followed me out the door and begin to immediately play with whatever she could find. Once I finished what I was doing I grabbed her up and headed inside! Henley does not go easily when being forced to do the opposite of what she wants to do! Kicking and screaming with tears and all I took her into the house. She stood at the door crying for a few minutes and then seemed distracted by something or maybe it was mommy? One minute I was reviewing our mail and the next...no Henley? Where did she go? I swear she was standing right here! Then out of the corner of my eye I see it...little legs running around the back porch! The little stinker finally figured it out! Henley was free, loose, gone and able to play outside! She went out through the doggie door in the kitchen! I believe she had a smile ear to ear until mommy opened the door and ruined all her fun! She tried to run, but she is no match for mommy! Now, I have to go and dig out the lock for the door! I hate doing this to the dogs, but she loves Christian's swing set and climbs the ladder constantly to go down the slide! This is not exactly the safest thing for her to do unsupervised! She will be at my parents while we are out of town and here is to hoping she forgets!!!
After the great escape I put their jackets on and took them out to play! I figured if she wanted to be outside that bad I would oblige her and do just that! The weather was not that bad with a coat on them!
This year I am the room mom for Henley’s class, but there is not a lot you can do party wise for one year olds. I took them some eggs filled with candy to hide for the class and some cookies. I was not able to see Henley hunt for eggs because if she saw me, it would be all over! However, her teacher told me she was a pro at it. In fact, Henley was the only one who knew to hunt the eggs or pick them up in their case. Miss Wanda told me she just put them out in the middle of the room and let them go get them. Most of the children chose to go play on the slide or with other toys, but not Henley! Henley went straight for the eggs! She has never hunted easter eggs so I laughed and told her teacher that she must have smelled the chocolate! :) I LOVE chocolate and both our children have inherited that from their momma! I think Henley would eat anything sweet for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I believe she is the worst out of all of us in this family! I am supposed to get some pictures and I will post them if I do!
