A Winter's Break

paperwhites all abloom she really wanted to grab those big leaves little skier toughing it out in the rain mid mountain view testing out the high chair pantry in afternoon light tubby time collections snowy drive such a big boy these days yay we're in!

I've been daydreaming of a mini vacation for a few weeks, but for me any overnight away from home with two small kids is often more draining than restorative. Sleep and rest are in such high demand that we'd decided to stick around this past week-end and catch up... then we changed plans on a whim and headed to my mom's. It's really the perfect place to relax; only a few hours away, cribs and highchairs already in place, separate rooms to permit actual sleep, and a beautiful landscape and fun town. Add a free babysitter in my mother (for us, the only babysitter my neurosis will currently permit!) and a ski slope a stone's throw away, and we were one happy family.

We've been determined to get Little Smith comfortable on skis this year, and he's been doing so great. He's nervous and whiny each time to put on all his gear and get going, but then he loves the speed and wants to go 'all by himself' and 'faster'. At this point he would just careen down the hill in a straight line if we left him unchecked. It's a little scary, but he's generally so cautious that I'm actually enjoying seeing this side of him. He even wanted to keep going when it started to rain. I don't think I've ever seen a prouder papa than James watching that kid slide down those slopes, his dream come true.

We also squeezed in a date night out, plus I got to sleep late on Sunday and then get a few runs in on my snowboard all alone (the best feeling!) before James headed off on his own boy's ski trip up in Vermont with some friends. I won't recap the rest since things headed a bit south from there (baby who kept me up all night, snow filled drive, discovering we were locked out of our house... I guess that is a recap). We'll just say that overall, it was a much needed break and well worth the minor hassles.

* here's little smith last year on his baby skis! also, these pictures are all from my iphone. i have been insanely lazy taking 'real' pictures lately, must. get. better.