Grandparents' Day

GranGran was able to come up from the beach to spend last Friday at Grandparents' Day at school. The kids sang and showed her their classrooms. Olivia was even able to get GranGran together with a friend from college who now works in the Intermediate/Middle School office. I met the three of them or lunch at Fridays where we were able to get a quick picture before GranGran had to head back to the beach.

Duck Dynasty

We looooove Duck Dynasty! The countdown to the new season started about a month ago. I was so excited when I found this t-shirt for Will at Academy Sports. It was supposed to be his Valentines gift, but I totally forgot about it in our rush to get packed up for winter break in Bug Canoe. Anyway, McIver wax proud to show it off for premiere night!

Vail

Quick pic of my guy on the lift heading to our ski school.

Cacoo got her ski legs back pretty quickly thanks to two days of lessons.

Went to dinner at the Red Lion and almost had the place to ourselves.  McIver thought the mannequin's pose was pretty funny.

A 'selfie' with Dawn and Olivia

We love a pic with the mountain skier.

Vail - Mustache Day

We always have so much fun wearing our mustaches on the slopes.  People are hilarious asking why we wear them ... someone asked if we were doing a fund-raiser.  We told them we just don't take ourselves too seriously!

Hot chocolate break at Wildwood.

Vail - Breckinridge

We decided to head to Breckinridge one day for skiing and roller-coastering.  This was our first time there and we ended up with very mixed reviews.  The slopes weren't as well-marked as we would have liked.  The fact that the lifts were longer was a mixed blessing ... it was a terribly long, bitterly cold ride to the top of the runs, but the runs were long and pretty fun.  Catherine and I ended up skiing together while everyone else went ahead without us.  It was nice to have someone who was more my speed.

We couldn't resist the Ski Girls Rock sign!

The roller coaster was AWESOME!!!  The kids (and Will) definitely got their (our) money's worth.  Nanoo decided it was worth a try, too.  We could hear her giggling and squealing half-way down the track!

Olivia said it's way more fun to ride with an adult because you go WAY faster.

Nanoo and Pop met us for lunch.  We sat right next to the outdoor grill and put a hurtin' on a bucket of beer.

Olivia and I decided to take a run on our own at the end of the day.  We went the wrong way (remember how the runs aren't as clearly marked!) and ended up at the VERY bottom of the slopes.  We skied past some really cool condos that were definitely 

'ski in-ski out.'  But, we had to traipse across three parking lots to meet everyone else at the bottom of the gondola.  She was a trooper!

Vail - Wicked Wednesday

Dawn texted this sweet picture of Andrew and Olivia on the lift while Catherine, McIver and I were in a lesson one day.

Mac taking a little break.  He'd much rather be headed downhill than waiting for someone to make a potty-stop.

It was so fun to have Catherine skiing with us this year.

Cacoo at the bottom of her first blue run.

We met Nanoo and Pop for lunch at Garfinkel's.  The weather could not have been more gorgeous.  McIver scarfed down TWO orders of calamari and wouldn't share a single bite with anyone.

The other side of the table.  Garfinkel's is one of the best places for apres-ski because you can sit on the deck and watch the skiers coming in from the last run of the day.

"Tubing Tuesday" (the day we have gone tubing in the past) became "Wicked Wednesday" this year.  The runs were SUPER fast and SUPER fun this time...until the guys started putting down mats to slow down the tubes.  We all went so fast during the first few runs that we ran into the cushions at the bottom of the track.  SO MUCH FUN!!!  

McIver and I got a lesson in a new tubing method ... starfish, then tuck.

Vail

I figured it's about time I got around to posting pictures from our trip to Vail last month.  Oops!

After two lay-overs and three planes (and a few hours in the Continental Club in Chicago and Denver - free snacks and drinks, the kids loved it!), we were glad to finally make it to Vail.

It didn't take long for the kids to hit the hot tub once Dawn and Andrew arrived.

Valentine poem, by McIver

Love comes from the heart. Love always makes you feel happy. Love is what God wants. You feel love for that someone special. You can't get enough love!

Winter is... (By McIver)

Tasty, lovely snow dropping in my mouth.
Beautiful, swirling northern lights waving over the snow.
Big, puffy snow hats zooming past my eyes.
Moonlight Snow White snowflakes falling on my tongue.
Fast or slow tubes sliding down the paths.

Ready for Vail

On our way to Vail

The kids thought the United Club in the Denver airport was pretty cool... Free snacks and wifi.

Yorktown Adventure

I'll get McIver's take on these pictures when I can...until then, I wanted to go ahead and post them. It's clear he had a ball!

Yorktown Camping

Will is still helping to lead McIver's Boy Scout den. This weekend was the tour/campout on the Yorktown. The fun was set to start early Saturday morning. So, Will picked McIver up from school on Friday and they headed to Charleston to spend Friday night with the Suddeths. Little Jeddie is in third grade, too, so Mac was excited for a sleepover with someone his age. Will only managed one picture for me.

Much later in the day, Will texted me this picture with the message that he would be sleeping on that bottom bunk. Looks like a germ-factory to me.

I can't wait to hear McIver's version of the weekend!

2012 - What a Year It's Been

A Little About Me

Name:  Olivia

Age:  11

Favorite Color:  blue

Favorite Food:  chicken pie

Favorite Activity:  SOCCER (her emphasis)

Favorite Book:  Because of Mr. Terupt

Highlights from 2012

Greatest Lesson Learned:  Getting ready for middle school

Hardest Thing of the Year:  Learning how to water ski

What I Loved Most About 2012:  Create-A-Country (a 4th grade project at school)

Looking Forward to 2013

I Want to Learn to:  Know how to ski a black diamond without being scared

I Want to Get Better at:  History

Biggest Goal:  Get at least one or two goals in soccer every game

A Little About Me

Name:  McIver
Age:  9
Favorite Color:  red
Favorite Food:  Baconator (a GIANT Wendy's burger)
Favorite Activity:  soccer
Favorite Book:  anything from the Geronimo Stilton series

Highlights from 2012

Greatest Lesson Learned:  Legos
Hardest Thing of the Year:  Learning how to knee board
What I Loved Most About 2012:  Having grilled cheese at school

Looking Forward to 2013

I Want to Learn to:  Cursive
I Want to Get Better at:  Math
Biggest Goal:  Get all the Ninjago and Harry Potter LEgo sets ever

New Years Eve

We had a fun New Years Eve with the Draffins, Davises and Thompsons. It certainly helped that Clemson beat LSU in the ChicFilA bowl. It was a nail-biter until the very end, but a great way to ring in the new year.

We had activities for the kids to keep them entertained while we watched the game. I found lots of ideas on Pinterest.  The mustaches were a hit with grown-ups and kids!

The Elephant March - We put a tennis ball in the leg of a pair of panty hose and had to swing the ball back and forth to knock over cups that were lined up across the front porch.

The kids kept busy with the Elephant March for a good little while!

Movin' On Up - Two kids started out with a stack of gold cups with a red cup on the bottom.  The first person to move the red cup all the way through the stack was the winner.

Stack Attack - Two kids each had 36 cups.  The first to build a triangle-shaped tower was the winner.  Anna was the first winner!

That's Will and Katherine prepping our delicious dinner in the background.

Bon Hommes

Bon Hommes invited Catherine (and 20+ other girls her age in Macon) to make her debut.  Parties started last spring end ended with the Yule Ball the Friday night before Christmas.  Nanoo and Pop hosted a cocktail buffet at their house the evening of the ball.  The YaYas all came to Macon for the festivities.

 We couldn't resist taking a picture that we had taken 20 years ago in this very same spot on our way to the Junior League Holiday Market party.  

It was great to have a table right on the dance floor so we could see the stage easily.  Grandma Janet was more than happy to pose for a picture with Olivia, McIver and me.

We raced downstairs after the Father-Daughter Dance to get some group shots.  Since the photographer wasn't there yet, we took advantage of the opportunity to use his backdrop...

... and so did David and Mark!