Barreling down the hall in this right outside of our door-did it wake up Will?? Not so much...
Will and Allie Grace
Eating icicles
Will and Allie going over the ramp that Cade and Blake had made. I told Will a hundred times to make sure he was holding on-three year olds listen so well!
Okay, this made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe and there's no way to tell it to where anyone can understand how funny and NOT scary this was, but Maggie decided to take this little sled out for a spin one afternoon, and trust me when I tell you we had sledded in much faster sleds down this same hill a thousand times this week and each and every sled followed a certain path that did not include running off the edge and into the trees fifty yards away...until Maggie. Joel was at the bottom of the hill "catching" people, Eric was on his way back up, and I was at the top when I gave Maggie a light push and off she went. Within ten yards, I could see her veering off the path and I shouted for Eric to grab her-so off he turns from the path to run and get her because at this time it was a little nervewracking to see our 2 year old in a sled heading for a forest. One step off the path and "Where is Eric???" He had fallen waste deep into the snow as he ran but his momentum carried him into a faceplant. Never fear, Maggie glided ever so slowly into a snowbank near this tree and waited patiently for someone to come get her.
On the chairlift
Having a snack on the way down from skiing-that'll wear ya out!
Allie took this picture in the hallway one afternoon-how do kids always get other kids to smile for pictures?
Mondo and Eric out skiing
Eric, Will, Blake, Cade and Joel
Will and Eric getting on the chair lift for the first time
Waiting in the LONG line to get to the lift
Will, Allie, Cade, Maggie, and Blake at my new favorite place to get pizza!
I think this was when we were sledding the first day-yes, I know Will's hat is on backwards!
Check out Will's face as he prepares to launch one at an unsuspecting Joel
Wendy, me, and Anyssa-friends since birth!
Will and Maggie chilling on the sled that was quickly losing air!
Maggie and Maddie in the back of our truck eating popcorn-these girls do nothing but eat and they're both teeny tiny!
Eric and Will at the sand dunes
Maggie finally agreed to get down for a quick picture. We were almost back to the truck, and after this picture she decided she wanted to stay and play!
Will, me, Wendy, and Ethan having fun at the sled hill
Will's first time on skis!
Will and Ethan testing out the sled
Eric and Will running (flying-notice the arms out?) down the sand dunesWe were doubly blessed this spring break in being able to take two fantastic vacations! The first was to Monarch, Colorado with a large group from our Church. We left early on Saturday morning, still a bit "hungover" from Maggie's birthday week. I'm going to describe it in much more detail than anyone will want to read, so for those not related to us, skip on down to the pictures!
We took two days making the trip, traveling with Mondo, Wendy, and their kids. We only had a few hours remaining on Sunday, so our family took a little detour and played on some sand dunes somewhere in Colorado. Maggie was tired and ready for a nap, so Will and Eric had most of the fun that afternoon! Everyone from our group arrived at various times on Sunday to get settled in and ready to ski Monday. Sunday evening, we went to the best little pizza place with the Garcias and of course, a Walmart run to stock up on snacks! Monday morning, we got all dressed and ready, got our skis, and a resounding "NO" from the kids about putting them on. I didn't want to push on the first day, so Eric took off to get his "ski legs" under him and ended up helping several of the newbies learn how to ski. Meanwhile, the kids and I rounded up all the other mommies and toddlers and trekked across the parking lot to sled. After a few tiring hours, the daddies made their way back and we drove to the Old Monarch Pass for sledding. This was quite a hit, and the kids were definitely ready for naps. During nap time, I stayed back with the kids at the lodge and Eric was able to ski with Mondo on all the runs I don't even want to think about!!! Every evening, we all had dinner together and a devo, and then it was time to PASS OUT from a busy day!
Tuesday we were able to convince Will and Ethan to try skiing. Eric had found a wonderful hill to teach them on just past where we were sledding. It involved lots of walking and carrying gear, but it was the perfect place to teach Will, Maggie and Ethan. I think Maggie tried it first (she's the fastest to accept skittle bribes) and seemed to really enjoy it. Next came Will, and while he started out crying and telling us he was NOT going to ski, by the end of the hill he was begging for more. We quickly realized that he would be fine on the bunny slopes at the mountain and left for the chair lifts. Will and Eric went up (Maggie had decided she wasn't into this whole thing by this point) with Mondo and Ethan and they all did great! No falls, no scares, and Will was ready for more! I'm pretty sure this was the evening that he fell asleep on our way home from sledding with the group around 4, slept through an insane amount of noise as Maggie and the Garcia and Malec kids ran up and down the hallway, slept straight through dinner, and around 8 o'clock, I woke him up to go to Devo and he laid on my shoulder through the whole thing. I guess he was pretty wiped. After devo, some of the kids played soccer for awhile, then we all moved to Mondo and Wendy's for a game night-SOME people got pretty competetive and weren't happy when they lost, but it was a lot of fun!
Thursday Will was begging to go skiing. We also convinced Maggie to try it, but while we were waiting in the chair lift lines, she started throwing a serious fit! Everyone was looking at me like I was the meanest mom ever, but I knew once she got on the lift she would be fine! Thankfully, I was right. I skiied with her while Eric and Will stayed together, and somehow we all made it down with no falls. I tried crisscrossing the hill to keep my speed down, but Maggie would scream at me to go faster and faster! After a few runs of the bunny slope and long lines at the lift, we decided to go to the top. The chair lift ride was a little intimidating because it was LONG ride and it went directly over all the black diamond runs. Maggie almost fell asleep, but we managed to make it to the top! The kids loved the hills and they really loved when we would see people from our group skiing on the same hills where they were! My back started hurting on the way down, so Eric and I switched (Maggie needed a little mroe help than Will at this point) and they got ahead of us a little bit. By the time we caught up, Maggie was fast asleep on Eric's shoulder and he had to ski the rest of the way holding her-I'm so mad at myself for not getting a picture! By the time we got to the bottom, my back and thighs were killing me and Will was begging to go back to the top!
We had a great dinner out that night and left early the next morning for the trip home. This time we caravanned with the Garcia family and their trusty GPS "Gina." All in all it was a fantastic trip and we are so thankful there were no major injuries!
We took two days making the trip, traveling with Mondo, Wendy, and their kids. We only had a few hours remaining on Sunday, so our family took a little detour and played on some sand dunes somewhere in Colorado. Maggie was tired and ready for a nap, so Will and Eric had most of the fun that afternoon! Everyone from our group arrived at various times on Sunday to get settled in and ready to ski Monday. Sunday evening, we went to the best little pizza place with the Garcias and of course, a Walmart run to stock up on snacks! Monday morning, we got all dressed and ready, got our skis, and a resounding "NO" from the kids about putting them on. I didn't want to push on the first day, so Eric took off to get his "ski legs" under him and ended up helping several of the newbies learn how to ski. Meanwhile, the kids and I rounded up all the other mommies and toddlers and trekked across the parking lot to sled. After a few tiring hours, the daddies made their way back and we drove to the Old Monarch Pass for sledding. This was quite a hit, and the kids were definitely ready for naps. During nap time, I stayed back with the kids at the lodge and Eric was able to ski with Mondo on all the runs I don't even want to think about!!! Every evening, we all had dinner together and a devo, and then it was time to PASS OUT from a busy day!
Tuesday we were able to convince Will and Ethan to try skiing. Eric had found a wonderful hill to teach them on just past where we were sledding. It involved lots of walking and carrying gear, but it was the perfect place to teach Will, Maggie and Ethan. I think Maggie tried it first (she's the fastest to accept skittle bribes) and seemed to really enjoy it. Next came Will, and while he started out crying and telling us he was NOT going to ski, by the end of the hill he was begging for more. We quickly realized that he would be fine on the bunny slopes at the mountain and left for the chair lifts. Will and Eric went up (Maggie had decided she wasn't into this whole thing by this point) with Mondo and Ethan and they all did great! No falls, no scares, and Will was ready for more! I'm pretty sure this was the evening that he fell asleep on our way home from sledding with the group around 4, slept through an insane amount of noise as Maggie and the Garcia and Malec kids ran up and down the hallway, slept straight through dinner, and around 8 o'clock, I woke him up to go to Devo and he laid on my shoulder through the whole thing. I guess he was pretty wiped. After devo, some of the kids played soccer for awhile, then we all moved to Mondo and Wendy's for a game night-SOME people got pretty competetive and weren't happy when they lost, but it was a lot of fun!
Thursday Will was begging to go skiing. We also convinced Maggie to try it, but while we were waiting in the chair lift lines, she started throwing a serious fit! Everyone was looking at me like I was the meanest mom ever, but I knew once she got on the lift she would be fine! Thankfully, I was right. I skiied with her while Eric and Will stayed together, and somehow we all made it down with no falls. I tried crisscrossing the hill to keep my speed down, but Maggie would scream at me to go faster and faster! After a few runs of the bunny slope and long lines at the lift, we decided to go to the top. The chair lift ride was a little intimidating because it was LONG ride and it went directly over all the black diamond runs. Maggie almost fell asleep, but we managed to make it to the top! The kids loved the hills and they really loved when we would see people from our group skiing on the same hills where they were! My back started hurting on the way down, so Eric and I switched (Maggie needed a little mroe help than Will at this point) and they got ahead of us a little bit. By the time we caught up, Maggie was fast asleep on Eric's shoulder and he had to ski the rest of the way holding her-I'm so mad at myself for not getting a picture! By the time we got to the bottom, my back and thighs were killing me and Will was begging to go back to the top!
We had a great dinner out that night and left early the next morning for the trip home. This time we caravanned with the Garcia family and their trusty GPS "Gina." All in all it was a fantastic trip and we are so thankful there were no major injuries!
