Steamboat Springs or bust!

Spring break for us was the last full week in March. Yes, this post is late. But, better late than never! We decided to take a break from Arizona and try our hand at skiing.

For me, it had been seven years and two children since the last time I skied. Honestly, I was pretty nervous about taking the little ones up. Below are several of my freak outs and anxieties -

Freak out 1: I'm older and a stay-at-home mama. Being injured will really mess up our normal life.

Answer: No injuries! I may be older but apparently my legs are a lot stronger than they used to be. Griff still skies faster than me but I can keep up and actually even ski better than I remembered.

Ski date.

Freak out 2: Will my gear which hasn't been used for seven years fall apart?

Answer: No.

Freak out 3: Skiing can be exhausting and requires a lot of gear. Are the little ones really ready? Am I ready for them to be ready?

Answer: The kids were totally ready. Steamboat is known to have one of the top rated learn to ski programs and we were not disappointed at all. Madelyn and Sawyer had a blast both days. And, while Sawyer wrapped up day number two in tears of exhaustion, they're ready to go again.

Sawyer riding up the magic carpet.

He looks so tiny!

Madelyn riding up the magic carpet.

Yesterday, we signed Madelyn up for the Epic School Kids Colorado Pack so we have an excuse to get a few days in next year, too.

Practicing turns.

After lessons on day two, Madelyn, Griff, and I rode up on the real lift and came down a real run...TWICE. She did great! That girl is so brave and so determined. Once again, I found myself wanting to be more like her and embody her spirit. Way to go, Madelyn!

Future Olympians.

You saw them here first.

Freak out 4: It is going to stink if it's cold. I've skied too many cold, windy days in January and February. It's tough on an adult let alone on little kiddos. So this one really freaked me out. 

Answer: Fortunately, the weather cooperated for late March and we definitely had Spring conditions. Mornings were cool but not cold and the afternoons were warm and slushy. Sawyer even skied one afternoon without his coat because the kid was HOT.

From our balcony.

There's a lot of brown but still plenty of white.

Lunch with a view.

In spite of it being Spring break, and maybe this is the beauty of Steamboat, it really didn't seem that crowded. Which was nice.

We stayed at the Sheraton Steamboat right at the base. Grammy and Grandad went with us but did not ski. We had separate rooms that were connected by a living room with kitchenette. The set up could not have been better. All we had to do in the morning was take the elevator down, pick up our skis at the ski valet in the hotel, and walk right out the door to the lifts. It was awesome.

It turns out that freak outs were unnecessary. Next time we'll stay longer and ski an extra day or two. What a trip!

Hoppy Easter to you.

I hope Easter treated you well. We had a great weekend.

Madelyn and Sawyer are at such a fun age. Sure, there are times when the never ending competition that exists between siblings rears its ugly head. BUT, most of the time they are so sweet...especially with each other.

Ready to dig in to those eggs and see what goodies they hold.

Clowning around.

On Saturday we had a triple header featuring two soccer events plus a birthday party egg hunt for one of Madelyn's school friends.

On Sunday we slept in and enjoyed playing with the goodies the Easter bunny delivered. We went to late service (1100A) at Honey and Poppie's church - Our Father Lutheran Church. It was the non-traditional service with a band. Normally, those aren't my thing but I really enjoyed this one. Madelyn LOVED singing along with the songs. It was fun to point out some of the parts of the Easter story to her as the service went along. Bringing it full circle is what I'm doing.

After church, we joined Grammy and Grandad at Honey and Poppie's for brunch. We had an egg hunt, delicious food, and lots of good conversation.

Doting grandparents.

Hunting.

And, more hunting.

There were also plenty of sweet treats and goodies to go around.

The rest of the day was spent quietly at home. All in all, pretty good.

Pardon the sour puss face. Someone is finally WORN OUT.

Ode to Mom

You've loved us, laughed with us, and supported us through it all. Sally and Linda, here's to you.

Prom. Enough said.

University of Arizona graduation.

Witte-Gilbert wedding.

Rocky Mountain National Park.

Posing for a pic on a Carnival Cruise.

Exercising Lily (the cat) at a rest stop.

   

Chicago Marathon cheerleader for my sister Kate (in between banana phone calls).

Mother and son on our wedding day.

Mother and daughter on our wedding day.

Two foxy ladies cutting a rug.

"We laugh, we cry, we make time fly...we are the best of friends, my mom and I." - Unknown quote.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

The things they learn.

Two weekends ago, Madelyn and Sawyer spent an overnight weekend (two nights) with Grammy and Grandad. This isn't the first overnight they've had away from us but what they came home with after such a short time was remarkable.

1. Madelyn developed a southern accent and discovered she likes gum.
2. Grandad's special yogurt contains more chocolate, cookies, and brownies than yogurt.
3. Madelyn and Sawyer learned how to shoot spider webs out of their wrists a la Spiderman. In fact, an entire car ride in the days following their overnight was filled with wrist flinging, "tsss-ing", and giggles.
4. Someone informed Madelyn that the dog food truck is actually an ice cream truck.

I have so many fun memories of my own of special things that were grandparents-only like Shasta in every flavor imaginable and lots of lefse with butter and sugar. It makes me happy to know my children are having similar experiences with their grandparents.

Thanks, Grammy and Grandad and Aunt Shelley and Uncle Mike for the fun weekend!

Memorial Day 2011

Our family Memorial Day celebrations get more and more interesting each year.  One of the highlights of this year's Anderson-Gilbert get together included wheelbarrow racing.

Madelyn really wanted me to ride with her at one point but the general consensus was that wheelbarrow racing wasn't a good idea for someone in my condition.  Unless...

Petting zoo

Several weeks ago, Griff went to Mexico for Uncle Gabe's bachelor party.  Madelyn and I had our own fun-filled weekend.  Grammy, Madelyn, and I went to the petting zoo.

We saw a calf, sheep, goats, a pig, ducks, chickens, and a turkey.  Our favorites were the sheep and the ducks.  There was also a train for us to ride but we passed this time.  When we take Daddy back, we'll ride the train as well.

Staycation - Day 3

Well, we didn't make it to Tiny Town as originally planned.  That outing is postponed until a later date.  We did, however, conclude our staycation in good fashion.  We went for a  l o n g  walk and ate our picnic lunch by the pond in Central Park.  Post nap, we went over to Grammy and Grandad's for some BBQ and backyard fun.

Madelyn played a little badminton,

Ran the community pool while Grammy supervised (and refilled the water, as needed),

 

And, after a change into dry clothes enjoyed sharing some blueberry pie with Aunt Shelley and Mom.  We headed home exhausted from a great Memorial Day weekend staycation.

Pic-a-nic basket

We had no pic-a-nic basket but rather a few coolers. To my knowledge, no pictures were taken. However, this evening, we had a date with The Dukes at our local park, Central Park. And boy, did we have fun.

The delightful two-some explored the playground and played on all the features. Madelyn sat on the ground while we ate and played with our empty sandwich container. She's getting so grabby lately and wants to hold on to anything within arm's reach. Gran (The Dukes' Grammy) and Grandad helped her swing on the bucket swing, and, later, she enjoyed her very first picnic meal -- carrots and a bottle.

Henry and Ian are the cutest two-and-a-half year olds around. Their exploration and amazement of all the different toys was so fun to be a part of and watch. We were lucky, too, that Ian took the wheels off our BOB and inspected them for us before left. He gave us a clean report. And, he taught Madelyn how to give a high five as we said good-bye for the walk home.

It's too bad they live in Lawrence and we only get to see them every so often. We like our friends from the east and look forward to seeing them again.

Big-girl chair

We caved last weekend and bought Madelyn a high chair.

After realizing that sitting in her bouncy chair near the table during dinner was no longer sufficient -- she wanted to be up at table level with us -- we got the old Anderson chair down from the garage. To a little girl without good sitting muscles, the wooden chair wasn't very comfortable.

Her very own high chair is a hit. Even though she looks tiny in it, she sits nicely during dinner. More importantly, she'll be all set to start solid foods in a few more weeks! And, the Anderson chair will go back to Grammy's house so Madelyn has a seat at the table for dinners at Grammy's.

Memories of Memorial Day weekend

Two of my favorite memories of our Memorial Day weekend trip to Grand Lake. Other notable memories include:

• Madelyn playing tirelessly with her crinkle-book in the backseat on the way to Grand Lake
• Pulling into a parking lot to turn around because we were lost only to realize the parking lot we were in was that of our destination
• Accidentally deflating 2 of 3 stroller tires but then triumphantly filling them up at the gas station in town after summoning the owner lady for help
• Enjoying grizzly-burgers at The Bear Den
• Watching with Madelyn as the horses from Sombrero Stables walk up the road past our house
• Griff and my nice afternoon walk being cut short by a torrential downpour of rain and small hail
• Spending the weekend in a rental house with Madelyn's Grammy and Grandad and half of her aunts and uncles