Bitter temps

We were hit with a vicious cold spell.  The highs were -2 degrees, with the lows being close to -15 degrees. We had to bundle up whenever we went out.  The worst part was that there wasn't even new snow to enjoy with these bitter temps.  I did decide one morning to be brave and try running in -10 degrees.  It's true that there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear.  As long as I was completely bundled it wasn't that bad.  My eyelashes might disagree, but it was a pretty morning.  I also saw a fox hunting for his breakfast, so that was super cool.  

A week or so later the weather wasn't nearly as bitter, and this time we had enough snow that the school districts called a snow day.  I was a little bit surprised but very relieved when it was a real snow day for the kids; no remote learning or homework headaches for these kids today.  They put on their snow clothes and went out to play.  

McKenzie chose to bake while we were hanging out.  I approve of both activities! 

 I talked Heather into running in the six inches of fresh snow with me and the morning was so pretty.  We didn't go anywhere fast, but that doesn't matter when you're out with friends.  

More and more these easy no-stress days are calling to us.  Thank you winter storm for a quiet day.

Level 4 State

We were thrilled when we learned that McKenzie was going to be able to compete in one more meet this season, Level 4 State.  She set a goal to qualify for level 5 this year, but in order to do so she needed to score a 34 at one of her meets.  This was her last chance and she was nervous.  No one warned me that one of the hardest parts of being a sports parent, is watching your kid go for their dreams.  It is absolutely terrifying as I watch her compete and hope that things will go well for her.  We've had to watch all of her meets via Facebook Live or Zoom.  It means that a lot of the atmosphere is lost on me, but at least I get a front row seat to her routines.  

(warming up)

She did every routine without any problems.  Her beam routine was absolutely gorgeous. She really is a beam queen.  Unfortunately she didn't get the scores she wanted for her level 5 advancement, which was disappointing.  However she still came home with a 7th place all-around and a 3rd place on beam!  Her smile was awesome as I picked her up and she showed me her medal.  I was so proud of all the work she's put in during this very difficult season.

Pink hearts day

Valentines Day was super simple this year.  The kids made special Valentines for Grandma Great and the tree at the cabin.  

We celebrated our quiet morning by having crepes for breakfast and strawberry milk.  We love pink breakfasts!  Happy Valentines to my four little cuties.

Jeremy's birthday up in the mountains

Jeremy's birthday ended up being the same week that we had a trip up to Keystone planned.  This has been a great season for skiing for our kids: Daxton is officially off-leash and Cambrie has learned how to snow board!  Not needing to haul kids up and down the mountain has changed everything.  The first day while Cambrie and Daxton were refining their skills, we hung out on the bunny hill for the first part of the day while Jeremy took the more experienced kids on some harder hills.  By the end of the trip we had all four kids following us through the trees.  Being able to go on the same runs together as a family is a game changer.  McKenzie and Kelton still have the upper hand, but it won't take too long before that won't be the case.  

During one of the runs, Kelton really wanted to check out the terrain park.  Keystone has moved the kids park to be in the same area as the big terrain park.  It meant that my kids had to really commit to going off the jumps without fear of looking foolish in front of the big, bad teenagers.  Kelton and McKenzie flew off like it was nothing.  The other two skied around out of the way, but I'm sure the other skiers were wondering what on earth a five-year-old was doing at the terrain park!  I'm curious to see how Kelton grows into his skills.  He loves the park...I wonder how many trips to the ER we're going to have if he continues to love the park.  

Because of new restrictions we can't eat lunch in the lodge, which means that it is a sack lunch in the car kind of trip.  We've figured out most of the kinks by now and it's nice and cozy while we eat.  

We only spent one night up at the resort, but we used that night to open Jeremy's presents, eat some pie, and watch the old Jumanji together as a family.  We really love staying up at the resort, and it was just icing on the cake that it happened to be Jeremy's birthday celebration.  

Happy birthday to the best dad and husband ever!

January birthday visit

Bruce and Leesa are starting a new tradition with the kids.  Instead of simply sending them their birthday present in the mail, they are going to come out and spend the whole day with them going shopping, eating out, and having a great time.  The fact that I have two January birthdays and two July birthdays really simplifies things.  

For Daxton's day, he asked Kelton to come along for a lot of the festivities.  They went to Best Buy to pick up some new Legos, and then to Dollar Tree to get a new balloon.  

Daxton did go out to dinner with just the three of them while Kelton stayed home with the rest of us.  They went to Smashburger where Daxton got a hamburger and very delicious milk shake.  

Getting to unwrap his presents.

McKenzie chose to go to Lafayette where they found a great little kitchen supply store.  She has learned during quarantine that she loves baking.  So she picked up an apron just for her, a darling teapot, and a cute hedgehog tea spoon.  For dinner they went out to Olive Garden.  She ate until she was completely stuffed.  (This meant she brought her cheesecake home which the rest of us helped her eat).  

It was a fun week having visitors.  

Escape to Estes

Jeremy totally surprised me with a spontaneous overnight stay up at Estes Park.  We walked away from responsibilities and left Cambrie in charge while we were gone.  It was marvelous.  We stopped in Lyons at my favorite cherry shop and picked up some cherry pie filling, cherry juice, cherry honey, and cherry pie.  I couldn't wait to eat that cherry pie in front of the fireplace in our hotel room.  Our hotel smelled perfect.  I know that's a strange observation, but it smelled like pine and campfire.  We ate dinner in a very quiet town then walked the streets.  All of the shops were closed, but that meant that we were able to window shop with zero guilt.  Estes still has their Christmas lights up and it made a perfect strolling atmosphere.  

After a very stress free evening, where we really did eat the cherry pie in bed in front of the fireplace, we got to sleep in without worrying about getting the kids ready for school.  Cambrie on the other hand, did have to get everyone out the door.  Luckily the kids, mostly, cooperated for her.  

Jeremy and I packed our bikes in hopes that the weather and road conditions would allow us to go on a ride.  We couldn't have asked for better conditions in  February in a mountain town.  We layered up with every piece of cold-weather biking gear we had and made our way up to Rocky Mountain National Park.  The ranger let us pass through for free, which was really nice, and we settled in for a great ride.  We saw a lot of elk grazing.  

We also saw some amazing views.  There were barely any cars on the road, so we didn't have to worry about the small shoulder or tight turns.  The roads were remarkably smooth and clean too.  I was having such a great time just enjoying the scenery, that I was disappointed when it was time for us to turn back.  

We finished off our sneaky getaway with breakfast at a local breakfast joint and headed back to reality.  I'm so grateful Cambrie felt like she could handle the responsibility of watching the kids overnight.  I'm also very excited because I feel like nights away like this are becoming more of a reality since our kids our growing up.  I love it!