Cross Country Skiing

This is my little family, skiing through the woods. Don't they look lovely?

Today was a very full day. So very very full of activities, emotions, all of it. Here's a little list

-We got up (early - 4 kids in bunk beds do not sleep in) and right after breakfast headed out to the trails. Miss E was on cross country skis for the 2nd time ever, Peter and I snowshoed and Mr. T walked and rode in a sled pulled by Peter. The day was gorgeous - clear, sunny, perfect snow, perfect trail. My mom skiied with us as did my sister and her family

-Miss E was awesome on the skis for about 45 minutes but then, oh my. Then we had the mother of all 6 year old meltdowns. 1/2 mile from the lodge. The sucky thing was, looking back, I knew it was coming. She was getting annoyed. We were all telling her repeatedly how good she was doing on the skis. She hates that. Peter was taking lots of video tape and I was taking lots of pictures. She hates both of those things too. Her hands were getting cold and she was hungry and had to pee.  And then it all fell apart. She was flinging off her clothes, wanted her shoes off, yelling, crying. I sent the family on ahead thinking things would go better if we had less of an audience and started picking up her stuff, calmly talking to her and walking back. Silently I was panicking a bit wondering what the heck I was going to do if she actually got her shoes off. She's too big for me to carry that far and we were in the SNOW, she couldn't exactly walk in her socks. All I can say is thank god for double knots. It took a bit, but she came along and after about 20 minutes of walking we were able to talk about what happened and why it wasn't OK and what was safe and unsafe and how to deal with needing help and being angry. Blah blah blah blah. She even put her gloves back on. Sigh. It felt a bit like a rookie parenting move not to head this off and Miss E is a varsity level kid. However, after a time out, warm up, and snack in my parents cabin she was feeling better, as was I.

- We watched football in the lodge. That's right. Football. On our vacation but hey, it's the playoffs right?  At the lodge Miss E met a girl. Not just any girl but a girl who was also in Kindergarten.  Little known fact about kindergarten girls? They are like magnets. Unescapable attracted to each other. Miss E spent the rest of the afternoon playing with her new BFF Emma. The played games in the lodge, they rode sleds, they looked in each other's cabins. It was all girls all the time.

- You know who didn't watch football? Mr. T. Mild mannered, always wants to be inside Mr. T spent all afternoon, and I'm talking about 5 hours straight, outside building a snow fort. I credit Peter with getting this started but then while they were watching the game in the lodge I stood up by the cabin with Mr. T drinking my tea and helping him move snowballs around. His cheeks were bright red, his face was a mess of hot chocolate and snot and he was so happy. Really really happy. I'll try to get a picture of the fort tomorrow.

-My mom and I went snowshoeing by ourselves for a bit. It was nice to be able to have some uninterrupted time with her.

- Tonight we put the kids to bed and Peter, Jason, and I went back to the lodge to watch the end of the Jets game then played games with Honore in the cabin. It was a lovely way to end a very long day.

-Also, I am going to Spain and Disneyland this year. Both these trips have developed completely unexpectedly in the last few weeks and it feels like an embarrassment of riches for me. I am so so so excited for both of them and will be writing more about Spain soon.