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As I stepped out the shower the other day, and bent over to dry off, Zachary looked at me and said, "You know, Mom, your hoobs are getting kind of wrinkly."  Nothing like a big confidence boost to start my day!

PS - "Hoobs" is one of the words that Zach has said wrong for years.  He picked it up after he gave up referring to them as my "drinker fings".  I never correct him, because I think his version is hilarious!  Others that I don't correct are "glubs" for "gloves" and "samwich" for "sandwich".  And Ahren and I still refer to the Rockettes as the "Raw Cats".  They only say these cute things for such a short time...

Math Whiz!

At dinner the other night, I made a comment about the fact that I had been skiing at Sugarbush for 30 years.  Lexi said, "Mom, I thought you said you started skiing when you were 8?"  I agreed that I had and she said, "Well then you've only been skiing for 29 years."  Ahren replied, "No, she's 36, so she's only been skiing for 28 years."  Then Poppy said, "No, she started when she was 8, so you have to count that year.  So yes, she has been skiing for 29 years."  Then there was a strange silence as we realized that Lexi outsmarted us again...

A SKItastic Weekend!!

Ahren and I love skiing.  When a young, fit, ski loving couple has children they pretty much have two choices - 1. Teach the children how to ski so that you can all ski together as a family.  or 2. Give up skiing.  Neither are the easy choice...

Two years ago when Lexi was 5 and Zach was 2, Ahren and I decided it was time to get them on skis.  Being young-ish and poor-ish, we decided that we could teach them ourselves, and set out for the magic carpet, children attached to us by a harness and reigns.  The first few times that we did this it was exhausting but fun.  The kids enjoyed it, and we always had extra adults on hand to lend a hand with the kids, and allow us to get a couple of adult runs in as well.  But this year when we went up in January we decided that we could no longer take on this task alone.  It was time to bite the very expensive bullet and put the kids in lessons.  The kids, and most specifically Lexi, did not agree that this was a good idea.  It took us three months to finally convince Lexi that this would be fun.  (With Lexi, you must have her blessing in advance, or there is no chance she'll go quietly.  Zach is much easier to push into a lesson and just walk away).  The evening she agreed she told me initially that taking a skiing lesson (or skiing without me and Daddy) was outside of her comfort zone.  I said to her, "Lexi, you know what?  Outside of your comfort zone is where all the fun is.  Your comfort zone is your bed, your house, in your Mommy's arms...nice, warm, comfy.  Outside of your comfort zone is the monkey bars on the playground, the deep end of the swimming pool, and skiing.  If you never leave your comfort zone, you'll never have any fun."  I saw her attitude change then, and she was convinced.

The sunset as we made our way up to VT

So, even though we had Lexi on board, Ahren and I were still pretty nervous about how the lesson would go.  I woke up Saturday morning, and immediately became the cheerleader.  "YAY!!  THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!!  LET'S GO!!!"  I was exhausted by 10am when it was time to meet their teacher, Emily.  They were both happy to meet her.  She handed them their skis, and off they went.

Emily assesses the situation...

Ahren, Gigi, Poppy and I all just stood there staring for awhile.  Just a little bit in shock that it had gone that well...so far.  After watching for a second we all skied off quickly, knowing that if the kids saw us, it might not go well. 

Mom and Dad on top of the mountain!

Two hours later we returned to this:

 

WHAT???  She hadn't been able to do that that before!  Unfortunately, we missed Zach skiing.  He tuckered out about 20 minutes before the lesson ended, and waited happily at the bottom of the hill.

Lexi carves some turns!

Zach was done skiing for the day, but VERY happy.

After lunch, Zach was happy to go back to the condo with Gigi, but Lexi was not done.  She wanted to practice what she had learned that morning.  So up the bunny chair we went to work on it some more!

Zach loved the cider and PB&Js at Sugarbush!

Mom and Lexi, ready to head back out on the slopes!

Lexi and Poppy at the top of the bunny hill

Lexi and I took about three more runs down the bunny slope.  She was able to put together two, or maybe three turns, and would fall to stop.  It was tremendous improvement over skiing with the backpack, but she was getting tired and I was starting to see her confidence wane.  Sharing the rule Poppy taught me - always stop before you get so tired that you become dangerous - I suggested we go in for a drink.  By the time we go to the bottom, Daddy had arrived to take his turn, and Poppy was waiting for me to do some runs with him.  UGH!!  I was so tired at that point I wasn't sure I could muster it, but how could I say no??  So off we went.  Poppy and I had some awesome runs in the beautiful and warm weather!  And Daddy and Lexi had a quick sip of water and went back for more themselves!!  That girl was on fire.  By the end of the day, we were all completely and utterly exhausted...except for Zach who got a nap!!

Poppy, looking fine at the top of the mountain!

Dad and Lexi practice skiing on the bunny hill

Fast and Fearless indeed!!

Zach feeling cool after his lesson!

Brownies - earned.  They were promised brownies for a lesson with no tears. 

I was so pleased with our day, and felt very happy about the progress that Lexi and Zach had made on their skis.  I was ready to get a good night sleep, and head home in the morning.  But when the sun came up on Sunday, Lexi declared that she would like to take another ski lesson.  Jaw.dropped.  After quickly checking the finances, Ahren and I agreed.  We quickly got the kids dressed and ran them over to the mountain for another day with the Fabulous Emily!!

Mom on top of the mountain!

Mom got to ski some bumps!

Gigi and I were the only adults who wanted to ski and we had a BLAST!!!  It was another beautiful day in Vermont and we soaked it all in.  When we arrived back at the magic carpet, I was truly blown away.  Zach, again, had tuckered out a bit early (expected), but Lexi had suddenly become a skier!!!

Holy moly!!  I was shocked, stunned and amazed!!  Emily was so happy with her progress!  She told me that Zachary had had another great morning, but being 4, it's hard to ski for two hours.  He was happy, and that's all that we cared about.

Even Emily was proud of her!

Lexi and Zach pose with Emily after their lessons.

 It was time to go, but I had to go up the carpet a couple of times to enjoy getting in a few runs with my daughter.  What a pleasure!!

The last time we skied I had to hold her going up the carpet.  Now look how cool she is!

When we got back to the condo, Lexi ran through the door and declared, "Poppy, I NAILED it!!"  She sure did!  We were all so thrilled for Lexi.  She had made such great progress, and now she loves skiing lessons.  She told me this morning that she wishes she never had to leave the mountain.  I am so, so proud of her.  We are all looking forward to skiing a whole lot more next season!  :)

Sweetheart Dance

Last weekend, after a busy and fun filled day hanging out with Grammy, Grampy, Auntie Kae, Uncle Devan, Auntie Jen, and of course, Eva, Ahren and Lexi got all gussied up to go to the Sweetheart Dance.  This is the Father/Daughter Dance for kids in Kindergarten and 1st grade in North Andover.  They went last year as well, and had a great  time so Lexi was very excited to go again.  Lexi's friend Maddie and her Dad came along as well, and the moms and brothers (and Maddie's Aunt) stayed behind to play (the boys) and solve the world's problems over a bottle of wine (the girls). 

The dance came as a bit of a last minute surprise.  We were so busy with school vacation and winter fun that I kept forgetting to ask Lexi and Ahren if they wanted to go.  One night, earlier in the week, I said to Ahren, "Well, I guess you and Lexi aren't going to go to the dance this year..."  He replied, "Well, does Lexi want to go??  Because if she wants to go then I want to take her!"  Lexi is so lucky that her dad doesn't just take her because he feels as though he should, but because he truly enjoys that special time that only he gets to have with her.  This will be the last Sweetheart Dance for Lexi and Ahren.  Next year they will go to the 2nd and 3rd grade dance. 

Lexi with her main man.

Daddy and Lexi with their friends Maddie and her Dad, Aaron

The girls.

It appears as though I never posted the pictures of the dance from last year!  So...a year later, here they are!

Daddy got Lexi a corsage

They adore each other

Ready to go!

She loved the corsage!

The group - Ahren and Lexi, DJ and Kaya, Chris and Carly, and Aaron and Maddie

Love for her Daddy.

As a "Daddy's Little Girl" myself, there are few things I adore more than seeing the special bond between Lexi and her Daddy.  She is such a lucky little girl to have a Daddy who loves her so much.