Valentine!

I love Valentine's Day.  I've had my ups and downs with this holiday and I know it's the second biggest "consumer" holiday, but I love what it ultimately all about.  To me, it means showing the people around me that I love them.  I grew up with a mom who made a big thing about Valentine's day.  We made cards for friends and family, got chocolate, and exchanged little gifts.  Being in the right relationship and having kids are the perfect excuse to embrace this holiday..... even if it means time consuming arts and craft projects, lots of questions about the spelling of names, and many "scrippy scraps".

The first year that John and I celebrated this holiday of love (2007), we were graced with an epic snowstorm that has gone down in the history books as one of the best ski days in VT.  Over 30 inches fell and we skied together at Mad River until our legs became jelly. We then found the only restaurant that was open and relished in new love and great skiing.

Every year since that storm, we've dreamed about a day like that.  This year, our dream came true.  A winter storm advisory came onto our radar on Monday and by Thursday night the school district had called our first snow day of the year even before a snow flake had fallen.  Seven years later, life is a little more complicated.  We've got two kids who have a school and day care provider who also close when there is a snow day, we don't have the ski legs that we had back then, but we do have the passion to ski fresh snow.

After much deliberation, we decided to bring the kids and park it at Mad River for the day.  We'd swap off skiing and hopefully get the kids out there for a little bit.

Mad River has such a great vibe when it's snowing.  The lines are horrible, but it doesn't get skied up very quickly.  And, it's a really family friendly place.

Yep, that's Hazey in the background there!

We lucked out.  The skiing was great.  We each got plenty of runs, the kids got some runs, friends and their kids let us take some runs together because they were willing to hang out with our kids, and we got to get out for another romantic dinner at that same restaurant.

We spent the rest of the weekend sharing love at a few birthday parties, a sledding party for Outing Club Leaders, and a tea with Cal's friends.

Here's to a lot more love and happy Valentine's Days in the years to come.  I am feeling full to the brim with it right now.