Skiing 2018-2019

This was a great season for skiing! We got so much snow that China Peak actually had to shut down for several days in order to dig everything out! I don't even know how many days we went up, but it was probably more than we have any other year. Dada and Fafa went even more than the rest of us! All except one of the days I went, we took the kids. Clara spent very little time on the bunny hill this year which was nice. She usually went up with Dada and Fafa while I stayed back with Emmett. She uses her poles now and does a great job. Her problem is that she does not like to listen and does whatever she wants which usually means snow plowing as fast as she can down the mountain. Sometimes we were able to get her to practice her turns, but she generally refused.

He insisted on wearing Clara's old Roxy
pinkish orange pants and her pink glasses!

I had only ever snowboarded and decided to try my hand at skiing this year. I borrowed Chelsea's skis and did great on the bunny hill. Dada decided that meant I should go up the lift with Clara. I was a little skeptical but went anyway...terrible idea! I did great until I fell where Academy gets steep. Then it was all over. I'm sure it was comical to anyone watching as a tiny little Clara gave me advice on how to ski. She finally told me that I needed to stop falling and take a lesson because she couldn't help me anymore! I finally made it down but it was miserable!

Man is he smart!

After that Tia and I took a ski lesson and once I actually learned how to ski, it all made sense! It is so much easier than snowboarding and made me wonder why I hadn't done it years ago! Getting off the lift is a cinch and I could actually help the kids. I liked it so much that Dada bought me skis and I don't think I snowboarded again for the year. 

About to fly out of control!

Helping her baby brother out!

This is what happens after skiing

We finally let Emmett go on the lift the last couple of times we skied. He was so excited and did great getting on and off! However, he just wanted to go fast down the hill and apparently forgot how to turn. He held Kevin's hand most of the time and if he let go, he zoomed off. Once he went the totally wrong way and Clara and I were both screaming because we thought he was going to kill himself. The last time we went we finally used a harness and that seemed to help some. 

Skiing with Fafa

There was so much snow that we ended up skiing through April! We went with Natalie, Lyla, and Cooper the last day of Spring Break, and although it was hotter than I would have liked, we all had a blast. Billy was an avid skier, taught lessons, and was involved in the adaptive sports program. He always took the kids skiing and Natalie wants to keep it up. Both kids did so well that I'm sure Billy was giving them fist pumps from heaven! Poor Cooper's bindings were messed up, but he was a champion. Lyla liked it so much that she asked me to go on another run with her (which I of course said yes to)! The kids had fun together and I envision more trips in our future next year. 

In the spring, Dada skies in shorts

Bailey started skiing this year too. We didn't go up much with her because she usually borrowed Clara's skis, but I think next year we'll get all the kids up as much as possible and soon our lives will be much easier! As difficult as it is teaching little kids to ski, I can already see the silver lining as Clara can legitimately ski and I'm hoping Emmett will be able to next year as well. I'm sure it's easier teaching 3-year-olds to ski than 12-year-olds!

They're really in it for the food

So much snow!

Clara's Sixth Birthday Festivities

As always I tried to make Clarita's birthday a super fun day about her. We hung a couple banners before she woke up and for breakfast she chose Lucky Charms that the leprechaun had brought to her classroom. She was super excited because I would never buy such sugary cereal. We never get them presents since they get so many from other people, and instead put money in their accounts. However, I always have Emmett get her a present and this year I failed and forgot to order it until the day before her birthday. Luckily Tio saved the day and showed up with a present for her that she got to open after breakfast!

Birthday twins!

I took cookies and juice that Clara picked out to her class and they sang happy birthday to her. She was so excited about celebrating her birthday at school and told Emmett how sad it was that he would never be able to do that since his birthday is in the summer.

After school I took Clara to get her nails done for the first time. She had been looking forward to this for years and was beyond excited. She loved picking out her own polish and getting a manicure. The guy doing her nails got extra excited and even painted flowers on her nails! Unfortunately I had a work emergency and spent half of the time of my phone. Clara didn't seem to mind too much.

Tia always lets the birthday person choose dinner on the family dinner night closest to their birthday. Clara chose hot dogs. Tia got an ice cream cake to celebrate Clara's and Tio's birthday, there were presents, and we enjoyed a nice night. I had to leave early for a church council meeting but I still made it home in time to tuck Clara in. I'd say she had a fabulous birthday!

The Saturday following her birthday we threw a troll party for Clara. As usual, she chose the theme and food. I tried to convince her that we should go to Legoland instead of having a party, but I knew she wouldn't go for it. Dada and I went to see the Wicked the night before which I realized too late was a terrible idea because it left me no time to get ready. I kept it pretty simple, but made troll hair headbands for all the kids. Unfortunately, it rained the day of the party so we moved to the garage. The bounce house leaked but the kids did not seem to mind getting wet. Clara invited several friends from school and none of them were able to make it so she was a little bummed. But only for a minute and then she ran off to play with her other friends. The only debacle happened when Teagan took Clara's special troll headband that I had made with every color and refused to give it back. There were a lot of tears, but it was funny and sweet to hear her friends vowing to get it back for her. All in all it was a great day celebrating our favorite gal!

After the party we headed to the cabin at Clara's request. Abuelos and los Ramirez also went and we had a fun time playing in the snow! The kids got pretty good at sledding by themselves and Clara can even put all of her snow clothes on solo now! We snow-shoed all around with Fafa and took turns sledding down hills on our stomachs! We enjoyed great food and great company and it was a perfect end to the birthday celebration.

Just walking on cabin roofs

The snow is so deep we're taller than the street signs

It's never too young to work