A Shaver Snow Weekend

This past weekend we headed to the Sweet's cabin for the weekend to celebrate Dada's friend Eric's birthday. Between the three couples there were eight kids ranging from eight to six months! It was definitely loud, but it was fun watching the kids play together. Clarita was the littlest of the non babies and she was a little timid at first, especially with all those boys! She warmed up quickly and had fun playing with all of the kids! We headed up Friday after work and arrived in time for a yummy dinner of pizza, pie, and pizookies. The kids treated us to a dance party before bed which was awesome! After we put the kids to bed the adults hung out playing games and catching up. It was a fun night and we went to bed much later than most of us are accustomed to!

Purple sweat pants, why not?

Brooke's dueling thumbs!

After a disastrous night of both Clara and Emmett waking up numerous times Dada headed up to China Peak to ski with Fafa and I reluctantly got up to take care of the kids. The older boys had basketball so Brian and Eric took them down while Katie, Brooke, and I hung out with the little kids. Without the big boys Clara was back to her normal talkative self bossing Maddie and Hudson around even though they are both older than her. Emmett slept off and on and I relaxed with the ladies.

Matches!

Learning how to start fires with Katie

Reading to Emmett

Maddie and Hudson

The guys with Fafa

Brian had to take a nap

The guys got back for lunch and then the kids went down for naps. Clara actually went down early but only slept a little over an hour before waking up crying. We spent the afternoon watching it snow and playing games. Clarita discovered Sorry and was obsessed. Her favorite part was hitting the pieces off when a Sorry card was drawn (sometimes she yelled sorry and knocked a piece off when it wasn't time). Hunter was so patient with Clara and helped her learn the rules. We took a walk with some of the kids in the evening and it really started snowing while we were out. Clara loved it and Emmett was mesmerized (even though he was probably freezing because I didn't dress either of us warmly enough since I didn't think it was going to snow more)! After helping a car get unstuck we headed back to make dinner. After dinner the kids watched the movie, Hotel Transylvania, while we cleaned up. It was the first movie Clara had watched and she was enthralled! She had a running commentary going the entire time ("Look there's a murcielago [bat]!" "It eats us." "They're not real people, but they're talking like real people.") and the next morning told me that we should watch the murcielago movie at home. We all were exhausted and went to bed earlier Saturday. Thankfully the kids slept much better and Dada took Clarita up around 7:00 when she woke up. Emmett and I slept until 8:30 (well, with a couple feedings in there) and it was amazing! I actually felt like a real person again!

It's snowing!

Running around in their undies in the snow

Dance party!

Maddie's got moves!

The only time they were all still...watching a movie

Brian and Tyler

Sunday, after breakfast, the girls and babies went for a walk while the guys and kids sledded. When we got back Clara and I went for a couple of runs then she requested to go inside. Dada had a great run where his sled stopped but he didn't! We ate lunch and started packing up while Dada and the kids played sorry again. Clara cried when it was time to go and immediately fell asleep and slept the whole way home. Emmett did too, so it was a quiet ride for once! We had a fabulous time hanging out with good friends and watching all the kids play! The snow was beautiful and it was a great weekend!

Breaking his arm a month ago didn't phase him!

This looks like a good idea...

All the kids liked the Bumbo!

Sorry

Skiing

We decided to take Clarita up to China Peak Ski Resort for some official skiing on January 17, 2016. She had been really excited about skiing, but that morning she was tired (she hates being woken up) and jealous that Emmett got to go to los Tios and she didn't get to (she was really concerned that Bayleaf and Emmett would take a bath without her). She was also sad that she didn't get to spend the day with Emmett (we thought she would be excited to spend the day with us solo) and kept saying she missed him (melt my heart).

Clara was reading on the way up and all of a sudden she gave me her book and didn't look so hot. She said that she didn't feel good and wanted her chuponcito. Next thing I knew she had thrown up all down her shirt. She was very upset that she was dirty and kept saying that she spit up. We pulled over and got her cleaned up (it was mainly just banana that she had just eaten). Clarita got to eat chips the rest of the way up and was pretty excited about that. This is the first time she has ever been car sick despite numerous times in the mountains so not sure what happened. I think it may have had something to do with reading so we will not do that next time!

We got to China Peak later than we had hoped and Fafa and Dada headed up the mountain to ski while Clara and I got ready (this takes a lot of time with a little one). She then put her skis on and "skied" all over at the bottom of the hill. Clarita did great and was able to ski on her own, especially when on slight inclines. She kept saying, "I'm actually skiing!" She was not so great about staying up when I pulled her, but thought it was pretty fun to fall over. We spent about an hour and a half skiing until Dada and Fafa returned and Fafa and I headed up. Clarita really wanted a hot dog and got her wish when Dada got back and they ate lunch. Unfortunately, she then decided that she hated her skis and snow clothes and threw a fit until Dada took her to the car and took them off. When I got back she was in her leggings, t-shirt, and socks sitting at a bench eating chips and brownies. I told her this was not ok and we headed to the car to put her warm clothes and boots back on. She didn't want to ski anymore and had been requesting to sleep in the car. We compromised with me carrying her in the carrier on my back and watching the kids take ski lessons. Clarita was pretty enthralled with this and got really excited when she saw "ninos littles." She declared that she wants to take a lesson and go on the moving carpet next time (too bad she needs to be three before she can take a lesson). Hopefully we will be able to go back soon and she'll get even more practice!

When we got back to the car, Clara asked me if we were going to pick up Baby Emmett because she missed him. She said, "I just love him!" I'm glad that she loves her brother so much! Clara slept for an hour and half on the way home and then woke up because she had to go potty. She was able to wait 15 minutes to get to McDonalds and use the bathroom. She then declared that she wanted french fries and asked me if I wanted a hamburguesa. We have never taken her to McDonald's (or any fast food aside from In N Out) before so I asked her how she knew there were french fries and hamburgers. She said that Tia took her before (I think they went to the Carl's Jr. drive thru)! Clara also saw a picture of smoothies and declared that she also wanted a Jamba Juice (she said that she called it Jamba Juice because it had bananas in it). I obliged her and she happily ate them/fed me on the rest of the drive home. She was very happy to be reunited with Baby Emmett!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

A couple of weeks ago we headed up to Wilsonia to spend the weekend at the cabin. We left Saturday morning and met Dada at Aba's house because he wanted to get in a long, hilly bike ride (we thought he was crazy). We got up to the cabin around lunch and ate and played in the snow. There was a ton of new snow (about three feet total) and it was difficult to walk, even in snow shoes! It took numerous attempts to make a sled path that we could actually slide on. Clarita wanted to make a snowman but the snow wasn't sticking enough so it didn't work too well.

Clara and Emmett took naps while we shoveled snow off the deck and relaxed (I even managed to get in a short nap!). We played in the snow some more, ate dinner, and Clara read to all of us. She was so obsessed with "reading" some of Emmett's books that she did not want to do anything else. The books consisted of pictures with words and she has them memorized and read them outloud over and over again. At first it was funny/cute, especially since she read in a mix of English and Spanish, but after 77,000 times it was kind of annoying. Even more annoying was Clarita waking up in the middle of the night crying because she just wanted to go downstairs and read. Emmett woke up numerous times as well and I was not a happy camper!

Sitting up like a big boy!

Reading to Emmett

Sunday we ate breakfast, played in the snow, and even went on a short snowshoe walk. Emmett fell asleep immediately and after 15 minutes of trying to carry kids through deep, soft snow we'd had it and decided to head back. We played inside, ate lunch, took naps, and headed back home in the evening. Minus sleep problems, it was a nice relaxing weekend and we had fun playing in the snow and enjoying the beautiful winter wonderland!

Bumbos are extremely versatile!