We took Elanor skiing last week at Park City. They have a free magic carpet skiing area, which is perfect for kids. She had a lot of fun, but did get a bit bored since it was not very steep and the snow was rather slow. Elanor loves to go fast!
Elanor getting on the magic carpet by herself.
Elanor was also able to go skiing this past weekend with my dad as well! And yes, we are up in Portland again. I am doing the choreography for my mom's play and Elanor has a part in it as well, so we will be up here a lot in the next two months.
Also, there should have been a Weekly Photo posted Monday, the 27th. Here is that photo:
Elanor and Tyler going out on a Daddy-daughter date!
So, I have two photos this week. I really want one of the skiing photos as that is the biggest and best thing we did last week, but you all have already seen those pictures! So, you get to see this one again, since I will want it in my photo book that I do at the end of this year. I also wish I got a photo of her skiing, as I only got videos of her in action. Oh, well. Next time, I guess.
The weather turned very warm at the end of last week, especially on Sunday. It got up to 60 degrees! It feels like Spring is in the air, though I suspect we will have another snow storm. The sun was so glorious, so it had to be included in this week's Weekly Photo.
Last year, we took Elanor skiing a few times and she loved it. She loved going fast and did not want to have to ski alone because she just wanted to go fast! We took her up to Park City Resort this past Monday, where they have a magic carpet (conveyor belt type thing) and it is all free! It is a great place to take kids, for anyone in the Utah area.
Look at that face, all ready to ski! My camera was accidentally zoomed in, but it is still a cute picture.
Elanor rocked it this time around. The first few times down she wanted us to hold on to her, but once she felt confident she wanted to go straight down as fast as she could. We had to keep reminding her to turn or we would end up having to catch her as she bolted down the mountain. We skied for an hour and a half, took a lunch break and then skied for another hour. She was super exhausted by the end, but had a great time! I think some of the key things to know when taking young kids skiing are:
Getting ready to go!
1. Go on a nice day, you don't want your kids to remember only that it was wet, cold, windy, etc. You want to make the experience enjoyable.
2. Don't push them. Again you want them to like skiing, so if they are tired or just not feeling it, take a break, have a snack and try again. There was a dad there working with his 2 or 3 year old daughter and she was crying the whole way down as she skied. She was doing an ok job skiing, but if she is having a horrible time, the memory will just be a bad one.
Elanor was so excited to have her own hot chocolate.
3. Try and play little games with them. We played follow the leader and that worked really well and Elanor followed me as I skied down. Red light, green light is also a good one.
4. Ski with them so they have someone to watch and copy.
5. Don't take them on a rope tow. You will end up carrying them up it and that is not worth it and so tiring. Magic carpets are the best, so find a place that has a magic carpet.
Sorry, I was so late getting this out! I have had a busy couple of days.
I also do not have any really "good" photos from last week. I have some funny ones, cute--but blurry ones, etc. I really wanted to get a good Valentine's Day picture, and I tried, but failed.
This little miss is looking so proper and fancy in her lace dress on Valentine's Day.
It was a good day though. Tyler could not be there all day or night (poor guy), but still took the time to get Elanor and I each a bouquet and little treat, plus he made chocolate covered strawberries. We played with friends, had a tea party and spent some quality time with my favorite little girl. We did not see Tyler much on Saturday either, but I made a fancy Valentine's dinner and dessert for him before he went to work that night. On Sunday night, work was canceled and he did not have work/clincals on Monday, so we took full advantage of his day off and took Elanor skiing and then we went on a date that night. It was wonderful to actually see the guy. I miss him, but I know he is working hard and would really rather be home. Valentine's extended the whole weekend and into Monday, which was rather nice.
Skiing on Monday, more pictures and videos later this week!
We have not taken many trips as a family--just the three of us. Our funds are low so when we take a trip we go see our families. However, this past weekend we went on a mini trip for my birthday weekend. Driggs, ID is right on the border of Wyoming and thus is very close to Teton National Park and the Grand Targhee ski resort. It is also a pretty cheap place to stay and we got discount lift tickets online. So the whole trip did not end up costing too much. My brother is at BYU-I which is pretty close to Driggs, so he joined us for the weekend as well. We also have a friend from Oregon who is randomly working at Grand Targhee for the season, so we saw quite a bit of him too.
We left on Friday and went skiing on Saturday. We took Elanor skiing of course! She skied for half the day and then some more at the end. She loved it! In the morning, we all skied with her in the kid/beginner area (by the way, Grand Targhee has an awesome kid area!). We took her on the chair lift because she wanted to and she was free anyways. She loved it. Crazy girl. On the bigger hill she skied with us like this:
Tyler and Elanor
My brother, Ian, with Elanor.
Elanor loves going fast. Ian also worked with her later in the afternoon and she skied a little bit by herself.
On the chairlift--our friend, Kenny, in the background.
Family picture!
After lunch, I stayed with Elanor at the lodge and we colored, read books and rested, so that Elanor could have some down time. The boys all went skiing and then came back so I could have some ski time as well. Ian watched Elanor while I went skiing with Tyler and Kenny. Ian took Elanor skiing for a little bit and he taught her how to ski by herself!
Coloring.
My brother, Ian, and I. He can never make a normal face in a picture...
Later that night, we celebrated my birthday with a delicious dinner (lasagna, steamed artichokes and garlic bread), chocolate mousse cheesecake and presents. I got some great stuff! Thanks family and Tyler! Oh, and I know the picture of the cheesecake is awful, but the cheesecake, however, was not.
We drove home on Sunday. It was a nice, quick car ride.
Ian drove with us part of the way, until we dropped him off in Rexburg. It would have been so nice to have him in the car the whole way... He keeps Elanor so well entertained.
Elanor said, "Take a picture of me laughing Mommy!"
Goodness. I did not realize that I did not blog at all last week (except for the photo). Sorry about that. We had a pretty busy week and went on a little trip Friday-Sunday for my birthday weekend. We went up to Driggs,. ID (same place where we went for Thanksgiving), rented a little condo, my brother, Ian, came too (since he is at BYU-I) and went skiing at Grand Targhee. It was a ton of fun, but more on that tomorrow, since today is The Weekly Photo day.
And yes, we are on a chairlift, Elanor included. More on that later!
I took a rather long break from posting mostly to get ready for and enjoy Thanksgiving. We drove up to Driggs, Idaho (near the Tetons) where my family had rented a cabin. I have not had Thanksgiving with my family since my freshman year of college! So, it was wonderful for all of us to have Thanksgiving together, especially since Jess and Ricky will not be there for Christmas.
We drove up to Driggs on Thanksgiving Day because my sister and her husband flew into SLC and drove up with us. We made it in plenty of time and were even able to help with some of the dinner preparations. I also brought up two pies and forgot quite a bit of stuff as well... I was supposed to bring sweet potatoes and they were made and ready to go but I spaced it and did not get them out of the fridge! What is wrong with me?
It was a delicious and wonderful meal. I did not take a single picture because I was enjoying my turkey far too much. Sorry about that, but I am sure you can imagine what it looked like with nine of us crowded around a wood table covered in a leafy tablecloth in a cozy cabin, with the table groaning under the weight of the roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, rolls, gravy, stuffing, sparkling cider (yes...I forgot to bring the sweet potatoes....grrrr). A pleasant picture, yes?
However, here are some pictures from every other time, but Thanksgiving dinner:
The Cabin
The view of Teton peak from the cabin.
From the outside
Elanor with her Uncle Erik
We went skiing on the Friday after Thanksgiving at Grand Targhee. It was a beautiful day!
Elanor came up at lunch and we took her skiing! My parents got her a pair of toddler skis for her birthday and she absolutely loved skiing. She really enjoyed going fast and did not want to stop.
Here is the video of Elanor skiing down the bunny hill with her Uncle Ian:
Going up on the little kids moving ramp thing with Grandpa.
Elanor with her Nan.
Hot tubbing after skiing!
We celebrated Elanor's birthday on Saturday with my family, since they will not be able to be there for her birthday on the 10th.
She loved blowing out the candles!
Elanor also opened up some presents (she had already opened up the skis) including two "pretty dresses", a Pride and Prejudice board book, an apron and her favorite: a Merida doll from Disney Pixar's new movie Brave.She carries this doll around with her everywhere. Merida has already been very useful in many ways such as, "You can't play with Merida until you go potty" or "Merida wants you to sit in your carseat" or "Merida is so sleepy right now, so let's get ready for bed".
Elanor was so excited about her Merida doll!
We tried to take some family pictures and these are my favorites:
Elanor face is hilarious in this one!
It was a lovely trip. We played many games, laughed a lot, talked about everything, ate good food and overall enjoyed being a family. I sure love them.
