Best House Guests Ever

 The kids and I don't get President's Day off.  We don't get the week after President's Day off either.  But when the Davidson's asked if they could come up for a ski visit, we were thrilled.  They are the easiest house guests ever.  They showed up with a cooler full of food, groceries, and good cheer.

We skied together in the sunshine at Smuggs on Saturday.  Cross country skied, skated, and swam on Sunday, and the kids took the day off to ski with the gals on Monday.

They brought their dog Koa up and Hazey is in love.

The kids have so much fun together:

Even though I had to work and grade and all that not-so-fun stuff, they made everything easy and fun for us.  They don't ask what needs to be done for a meal, they just start cooking.  They are always game for adventure and laughs.  I'm so glad they live so much closer than Montana right now.

February Fun

Aside from Hazey turning 7, Julius, Tom and Cara's grandson turned 2.  We went to hang out with him to celebrate his special day. 

Meanwhile, John and I went to see the Wailers (of Bob Marley) at the Stowe Performing Arts Center with the Mangos.  It was an amazing show.  I had no idea how much fun it would be to see reggae in the middle of winter.  It was so uplifting and fun!

Every Monday, my friend Lindsay has offered to watch our kids.  The kids take the bus to her house, eat a snack and then do something fun outdoors.  They quite like the new "go cart".

Every Tuesday the kids go to Poker Hill Arts.  They've been having so much fun building towers out of Keva blocks!

 And, of course, we are still skiing as much as we can.  The kids are becoming quite the little rippers, thanks to their lessons with the ski club:

Seven!

I can't believe Hazey is 7!  What a wild trip it's been.  He came into this world so gentle and chill.  He's turned in to such a firey, loving, kind, funny, enthusiastic guy.  I could never have imaged the kind of person he would become.......... But I'm so, so glad he is a part of our family.  He makes everyday more interesting.   He is goofy and wild, but so thoughtful and caring.  He is a juxtaposition unto himself.  

For his classroom celebration, he asked me to make blondies.  I was thrilled with his easy request. I went ahead and souped up the recipe with M & M's and put them into bake. However, I put them into a pan that was much too deep and small.  I ended up with hot dough that wasn't going to cook through.  So, I thought quickly and put the half baked dough into muffin tins.  But when I took them out, they looked like unicorn poops.  I couldn't serve that up for my special dudes birthday.  He assured me that they'd taste great I didn't need to fix them.  But, I wanted to show him that if you are going to do something for someone, you should do it right........

So, I went to the store, bought more ingredients and did it right the second time:

Hazey got lots of presents!

 We celebrated his special night by going to dinner at JCAT and having dessert at home.  Thanks to a delicious cake by Cara.

 More handsome clothes were aquirred for his birthday:

This guy is one of the brightest light in my life.  He shows perseverance and grit in almost everything he does.  He knows what he wants and he goes for it.  He drops love bombs that melt our hearts.  He has amazing energy, which when targeting in the right direction will do amazing things in the world.

Nordic and Downhill?

This year, we hemmed and hawed about what sort of ski program(s) to sign the kids up for.  Nordic skiing was a no brainer, the Mansfield Nordic Club uses a facility just miles from our house.  John and I were never nordic skiers, but we saw this as a great way to be outside in the winter and get the kids doing a sport that challenged them.  Hazey was still a year too young to do the program both days of the week, but Cally was looking forward to having something she did, without her little brother tagging along.  This, of course, meant that we had to get nordic gear-- both skate and classic skis and poles.  I scrambled to find these at a ski sale, but was clueless about sizing.  But, we figured it out and the kids have been loving it.  They even insisted on doing a race.  They had both learned the skate technique a week prior to the skate race, but they were excited to do it. 

Hazen did great on the 1 km race.  He didn't get last place and he had a ball.

  Cally was in a field of third and fourth grade girls.  She had to do a 2 km race.  It was hard, but she finished strong and  wasn't at all bummed about coming in last place.

Last year, Cal took lessons with one of John's students.  At the end of the season, she said she wanted to learn to ski like the kids in the Smugglers Notch Ski Club.  We had heard mixed reviews about the club, but it did seem like a great way for the kids to learn to ski (without being told to lean forward and "poke the polar bear" by their parents).  It felt like a big commitment, but the kids assured us they would love it.

The first few weeks were slow and cold.  The coaches were giving a lot of instruction and the kids were standing around a lot and it was really cold.  But, the stuck it out and liked it.  Neither kid signed up with a friend, but they quickly made some friends.  Their lessons began at 9 and went to 3.  It wasn't easy to rally on Saturday mornings, but John and I did everything we could to make it really easy for them (including breakfast sandwiches on the road).

When the kids asked to do the nordic race on Saturday am, I reminded them that they'd still have to go to Ski club in the afternoon.  After the race, Cally complained a ton.  She didn't want to go to club.  I reminded her of her commitment and she begged not to go.  John and I carried on and had the kids go at noon.  We sent them on their way and I spent the rest of the afternoon worrying about pushing my kids too much and being a bad parent.

When we went to pick them up at 3pm, they told us they didn't want to leave because they were having too much fun with their friends.

That night, Hazen insisted we watch the movie "Born in China".  Both kids were exhausted.  Cally claimed she hated movies like that and wouldn't watch it.  But, it was Hazen's night to pick a movie.  We watched the movie as a family and loved it.  The next day, Cally ran into my friend and said, "You know, there were two things I totally didn't want to do this weekend, but my mom made me do them both and I loved them".  She was referring to going to ski lesson and watching the movie Hazen had chosen.  

It's hard to be a parent.  It's tricky to know when to push and when to lay off the pressure.  This weekend, it all worked out.  We had tired kids who were challenged in a good way.  

Connecticut

Nana's birthday is reason to celebrate!  We planned to celebrate her 75th trip around the sun the weekend after new years.  The plan was to leave work early and get to Hartford by early evening for a fun evening planned by Lynnie.  

We awoke to a snow day....... a bluster cold snow day, at that.  John was insistent that we head to the mountain for at least a morning of skiing "because we are Abbott's and that is what we do".  Cally wasn't interested, so we arranged for her to play at a neighbors house.  Meanwhile, it was so cold that John and Hazen's skis were frozen in John's Thule box on the top of his car.  He was outside with a blow drier, trying to open the box.  Eventually, he had to surrender, because the key was bent and no longer functional.

Fortunately, Hazey and John both have extra skis.  So we made it to the mountain, only to find super cold, wind packed conditions.  We were "one and done"!  Nothing ventures, nothing gained......

The drive to Farmington was easy, even though there had been a lot of snow where we live.  Ten minutes before arriving to Nana and Grandpa's, Hazen announced that his belly hurt.  Twenty minutes after arrival, he had vomited.  This meant Hazen and I had to stay home and watch Olympic qualifiers while the rest of the family celebrated Peg :o(

But, by morning he was back in action, ready to celebrate Christmas with his grandparents.

 Nana made two gorgeous new sweaters for the kids:

And since we were in CT, we decided to visit with our my dear friends, Grey and Deb who had moved back to the area from Bozeman.

Cal and Lucy are kindred spirits!  We had a ball sledding and visiting with them in Lakeville.

New Years Eve in Windham

I try not to have very high expectations for New Years.  I figure we have a memorable and amazing New Years every five years or so.  Most of the time its just a whole lot of hype.  This year, our friends, the Wilcox's invited us to Windham, VT-- about two hours south of Jericho.  They had invited us down to their family house in the fall and we weren't able to come, so we jumped at the opportunity to join them. 

It was cold and we didn't come very prepared, but that didn't stop us from having fun!  They have a rope tow for sledding, a pond for skating (and about 20 pair of skates in almost every size), and lots of trails for skiing (and Whiskey boxes along the way).

The kids all slept in a fabulous bunk room and the adults went out for a full moon ski before midnight (temps were well below zero).  It was the perfect New Years.  We stayed up until after midnight, got in our New Years kisses. Everyone had a ball!

As we drove down to Windham, we jotted down our top ten list for 2017.  Here's what made the list:

1.  Peru
2.  Hiking in the Pemigewasset Wilderness
3.  Chabegue Island
4.  Pisgah/North Carolina
5.  Mont Tremblant
6.  Fresh grass with the Davidsons
7.  Meeting up with John at Arnold Lake
8.  Skiing as a family- SNSC
9.  Great teachers at JES
10.  Bates Burning Man camping in NH/Maine