Vail 2012 - Day 6

McIver started the day off with a little homework.  Nothing like a little Geronimo Stilton adventure to get your day going!

After saying our good-byes to Nanoo and Pop who had to head back to Macon on Thursday, we headed for the bus stop.  

McIver let us all borrow his mustaches (a gift from his Christmas stocking) to wear on the slopes that day.  We were all very well-received by our fellow skiers!  The children actually rode a chair lift a few chairs ahead of us.  By the time we got to the lift, we had kind of forgotten that the mustaches were there.  The lifties saw us and immediately knew who we belonged to  and called us the 'mustache moms.'

We signed the children up for the Nastar race course.  They were each given a number and raced against the clock to beat their own best times.  Times and medals were announced at the end of each run.  Olivia managed a bronze medal.

McIver pumped his arm every.single.time he reached the last set of gates.  We finally convinced him to stay hunched over and save the fist pump until he had gone under the finish line.  

We crack ourselves up!

This cracks me up, too!  McIver won for keeping his mustache on the longest of all of us.  He was the least 'into' wearing it, but kept it on until lunch.  I almost fell out when we sat down to eat and he realized he was the only one still wearing it.  Look how serious he is!

David had to leave a few days early.  We hate that he missed the Nastar day because it really was super fun.  Only problem was that we only had 6 mustaches, so that would have put us in a bit of a bind!

Olivia saved her mustache and rocked it again at the bus stop.

Another obligatory photo opp in front of the mountain ranger.

Vail 2012 - Day 5 - More Snowmobile

Mac trying to get his snowmobile started.  That's Andrew in the background.

The Pumpellys in front of Turquoise Lake.

Olivia would love to have taken off on the snowmobile.

Will and Mac

The Merritts with Turquoise Lake in the background.

More proof of these boys being buddies!

Vail 2012 - Day 5

SNOWMOBILING DAY!!!

We piled in the rental car (all nine of us!) to head to Copper Mountain for breakfast before going to the snow mobile tour.  We had a great breakfast at Jacks - it was cafeteria-style so everyone could get whatever they wanted, and every left happy.  We stopped by the giant red chair for some quick pictures.

More pics in front of Endo's Andrenaline Cafe where we ate the last time we went snowmobiling.

David found these hilarious sunglasses in the 'extras' bin at the house.  Olivia and Andrew had a good time being silly with them.

Mac rode on the back of Will's snow mobile.

Nanoo and I rode together.  She didn't want anything to do with driving that thing.  We had a good time ... even if she tried to be a back-seat driver, I couldn't have heard her over the engine. :) 

We stopped at a giant field so people could drive on the 'track' and go a little faster.  

This was also where the children had a chance to drive mini-snowmobiles.  We were a little disappointed that their 'track' wasn't bigger but they seemed to enjoy themselves.

Will and David

Vail 2012 - Day 4

Photographic evidence that Andrew and McIver got along pretty well during this trip.  Once they were all dressed and ready to go skiing, they could play on the computer.  I caught them together after breakfast Wednesday morning.

The obligatory photo opp in the chairs made out of skis.  

Andrew joins the shot.

After a full day of skiing, we met Pop down at the gondola so we could head up to Eagles Nest for Tubing Tuesday.  Nanoo chickened out and stayed home reading The Hunger Games.  I'm pretty sure she decided not to go the second she heard one of the children mention getting the guys to spin the tubes on the way down the hill.  Anyway, Pop went with us and we had a blast!

So glad everyone's tall enough to tube!

Hopping on the snow mobile for a picture.  We might have to try out the snow mobiling at Eagles Nest next year.

Olivia was all smiles until we started bugging her about how pink/red her little cheeks were getting.  We think she got a touch of frost bite because they were just so pink even though she said they weren't bothering her.  

More hot tub fun ... they put together some kind of 'potion' using snow, lemonade and whatever else they could find.

VAIL 2012 - Day 3

We woke up to snow on Monday morning!  Will took McIver to his second day of ski school while the rest of us got ready.  Andrew and Olivia were looking forward to skiing together and with the grown-ups.  We spent most of the day together, then Big Pa took Andrew and Olivia to the little general store (read: candy!) in Vail Village on their way home.

Dawn and I vowed to get our picture made every time we saw an EpicMix photographer!

Olivia and Andrew in front of the polar bear ice sculpture.

Lunch break at Two Elk Lodge (best salad bar ever!).

So sad that the back bowls weren't open.

Another stop in the transportation center.  This time Nanoo and Pop joined us after their day of exploring Beaver Creek.

The boys.

We got a sitter for Monday night so the grown-ups could go to dinner at Mirabelle in Beaver Creek.  It was DELICIOUS!!  

Vail 2012 - Day 2

We met Nanoo and Pop at the airport in Eagle for our first day in Vail.  Thankfully, we arrived soon after them and had a rental car so that we could all ride into Vail together.  After unloading and unpacking, we went into Lionshead Village to get fitted for ski boots (for Will and me) and getting boots, poles, skis for the children.  We ordered pizza to eat at the house while we waited for the Pumpellys to arrive.  We were pretty exhausted from our early wake-up time (3am) on Saturday morning, though, so we stayed up just long enough to say hello and goodnight in the same breath when they walked in the door.

Will took the kids to ski school on Sunday morning then we headed to the bus stop to hit the slopes.  Of course, waiting at the bus stop involves lots of checking emails/texts and weather reports on our smart phones.

Will, Dawn, David, Andrew and I skied together all morning and had lunch at one of our favorite spots ... Wildwood ... they have the best chicken and wild rice soup ever!  I was determined to get at least a few pictures of our family and Will and I together during this trip.  Dawn was kind enough to help me out...

David and Will took off with Andrew while Dawn and I stopped at Eagles Nest.  I ran into Olivia who was thrilled to leave her ski instructor and ski down to the village with us.

We sort of missed the intown bus because Will and I had to get our new boots checked out.  (We didn't actually miss the bus, but only half of the Merritts were there when it came and I'm not sure even half of us could have fit on it because it was so crowded.) Soooo, we caught the next bus and stopped for margaritas and chips at La Cantina in the transportation center.  It had to be done!

McIver loved his first day of ski school.  He really liked Adam, his instructor, and didn't take long to get back his ski legs.  He also shared a few jokes he picked up from Adam.  ("What did the green grape say to the purple grape? ... Breathe man, breathe!")

Olivia and Will were all smiles!

The Carabettas came to have dinner with us.

Charlie, their 2 year old little boy, borrowed Dawn's 'pone' and entertained himself all night long!  He kept taking the 'pone' to Pop.  Jen and Matt said that Hop on Pop is one of his favorite books so maybe he thought Pop looks like Pop - they DO both have a beard, after all.

Peggy Pa whipped up chocolate fondue for the kids ... they dipped apples, bananas, fruit snacks (yuck!) and pound cake.  BIG hit, HUGE!!

Pillow attack on Pig Pa!

Scooter Ride

Olivia and McIver have been asking for an electric scooter for at least a year.  They finally decided to combine their own funds and purchase one last week.  We took it up to the lake over the weekend and they had a blast riding up and down the road.

I know they would love to have a scooter for each of them rather than having to share one, but they made it work.  We took Olivia's scooter, too, so they could still ride together.  I was so proud that they made it work ... there wasn't a cross word between them the whole time we were there.  Proof that they can work it out themselves!

What a Year It's Been!

Just had to share this reflection that McIver finished at school this week...

What a Year It's Been!

A little about me:
Name:  McIver
Age:  8
Favorite Color:  Red
Favorite Food:  Pizza
Favorite Activity:  Science
Favorite Book:  Geronimo Stilton

Highlights from 2011:
Greatest Lesson Learned: Ocean
Hardest thing of the year: Sobtrachan (subtraction - which he's actually pretty good at)
What I loved most about 2011:  Christmas brace (break) is over

Looking forward to 2012:
I want to learn:  about volcanoes
I want to improve:  Sobtrachan
My biggest goal for 2012:  read a lot more

2nd Annual New Years Day Party

For the second year in a row, we invited some friends over on New Years Day for barbecue, black-eyed peas and collard greens ... not to mention football.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous!  The children ran from our backyard to the neighbors' new trampoline in their backyard.  

Just some of the girls on the trampoline.

Waiting their turn.

And ... that's it for my pictures... I was too busy visiting and enjoying myself along with everyone else.

Happy New Year!!!

Will and I went to dinner last night to celebrate a friend's birthday.  When we got home, the children and I stayed up just long enough to watch the ball drop in Times Square, then run outside to listen to a few fireworks and snap a quick picture.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Now, everybody go get in bed because we've got a houseful of people coming tomorrow to celebrate with barbecue, collard greens and black-eyed peas!