Big Sky Spring Break, part 1

We started our spring break trip early friday morning (march 20th). Bill had flown to Rochester, MN for a boards review course so he was flying to Bozeman to meet us on Saturday. The drive went smoothly, but we were happy to arrive and play on the deck in the beautiful sunshine!

Uncle tom came and had fun showing the kids some fishing tips.

pumpkin was happy to rest in the sun.

After picking up Bill on Saturday morning we headed up to Big Sky to start the break – the Schmitt family was due to arrive the following night.

Bill’s birthday isn’t until april 18th, but I had a present that was ski gear so had to give it to him prior to skiing for a week! He was happy and wore them all week!

Saturday we woke up to Lone Peak like this.

Then due to the graciousness of Buz & Barb Weas (my parent’s friends) we had the privilege of skiing at the Yellowstone Club on Sunday! The YC is a private ski resort – think JT is a member, Bill Gates, Jennifer Garner, etc, etc, etc. Here we are enjoying the amazing breakfast buffet. If I only had the guts to photograph the whole thing!

just a fraction of what the room looks like. Most of the fixtures were brought in from castles in france!

The locker room – where we suited up. a major part of our ski day. I will say that this trip really proved we have transitioned into a new more fun phase of skiing – HOORAY!! Getting gear on is pretty normal and there isn’t much crying or sobbing. The kids are getting so good at it it is less and less work and we are sweating and swearing under our breath less and less.

the day turned into a PERFECT one!

our clan. Ellie was in pink.

With Uncle Tom, Nana & G pops!

we started the girls on harnesses to make sure they were going to listen to our instruction. that is the hardest thing is when they don’t want to listen and could get hurt or go down the wrong trail.

stopping at a sugar shack (little houses on the hill that are PACKED with any kind of candy, snacks, soup, drinks you can imagine)! Claire guzzling water in between sprees/chocolate/skittles.

Loving the sun and sugar.

Eleanore.

me and Ellie sharing sprees.

going off harness and doing a train!

I try my best to not freak out about someone hitting them (my biggest fear).

Enjoying a quick break before heading to the Rainbow Lodge for a post ski swim.

my kids love Uncle Tom!

not a bad scene at all.

grab a few snacks for the road.

my heaven – nuts of every kind.

even better – CANDY!!!

a little hot tubbin’.

the pool was heated too so the kids could go back and forth – me – not so much.

Bill was happy happy happy to have his bloody.

yep – they fell asleep just as we got to our dinner spot.

Another thing I didn’t document by pics is that I was able to score a new pair of skis at the YC for 40% off! I had demoed them in Whistler and really loved them. I had been skiing on my current skis for over 15 years and it was time! I am so thankful for them and glad I was able to use them all week! more coming up!

Personality thoughts on E&C

I always find this a hard post to do, but I LOVE reading about them later on. So I will attempt to put together a little synopsis of what kind of little goils E&C are growing into. For many of these traits they overlap or are very similar so these are some that stick out.

Eleanore:

• Is one determined little girl. If she sees something she wants to do she totally fixates on it and continues to try it even if it is dangerous (like trying to ride a really large bike down a hill). When we were celebrating her birthday on Monday she saw that Claire had to attempt to blow out her candle a few times before getting it so while we were singing to her she put on a straight face and starred straight at the candle until we finished and then made one puff and it was out. then she smiled.

• This goes with the above, but this girl is goal oriented. I think she will continue to git r done when she wants to. This past week while skiing she decided she was big enough to ski alone and the only place I would let her do this was the magic carpet. So she started doing laps on the magic carpet all by herself. I felt like I needed to be somewhat near her in case she fell so I could help her and when I got on the magic carpet WAY back from her she cried the entire way up. So I let her do some laps alone, but it took all my power to not get in line with her.  Spot her in the pink? She went all the way up and down back to me and was beyond proud! (me too!)

• Is her own individual. You will find her playing alone sometimes or heading off to do her own thing. She decides what she wants to do for herself and doesn’t look to Claire or Charlie to always be around.
• Is definitely not afraid to bend the truth to accomplish her goals – ie: she is a liar. we are working on this, but she will give you a totally straight face and lie to you when she thinks she can get away with it. We are hopeful with prayer and the right communication we can work through it.
• Is athletic and is still physically not that big. She probably weights around 30-32 lbs and is still very lean, but pretty tall.
• Is very self sufficient. After I wake her and Claire up in the morning (they are like teenagers – talk until too late and sleep until I wake them up). She gets dressed and will help me make her bed and keeps moving in the morning. very helpful!
• Is really funny!
• Is opinionated – I gave her a nice E heart necklace for her birthday (claire too) and she said – thanks, but I don’t want to wear it. ha! I kind of guessed she wouldn’t wear it, but I couldn’t buy one for Claire (who will wear it constantly) and not get one for Ellie.

not sure if Ellie intended this to be funny, but it was hysterical. At preschool – ms mary had the kids tell her why Ellie or Claire was their friend (for their birthdays). Ellie wrote for Claire that she is her friend because “She is so so pretty” – HA!

• Still prefers to write her name with the last E facing the other way and says “fine” defiantly when she does it the right way as if I am the mean one telling her that E’s go to the right. She prefers to add some flair on her letters versus writing the real thing. Let’s hope this continues to change as this next year comes around.
• Is very passionate and has a big heart. She gives the best hugs and will still come up and make sure all is good with me.
• She is a total layer girl. Sometimes she manages to get on more shirts/dresses/tanks/skirts than I thought possible. She also loves to pack 1 million things to bring with us places (see the photo below to show her boot choice and packing to pick up charlie from school)
• Still insists on wearing shoes on the wrong feet and loves to choose 2 totally different shoes to wear (ballet flat and winter snow boot. or 2 different winter boots). People out and about love to comment on that.
• We just LOVE her with all our hearts. The joy she brings our family is over the top and I will never tire of seeing her squinty smile.

 

 

 

Claire:

• Is really imaginative. She can quickly pop into her own little world with the help of a my little pony or little doll. Ellie joins in for a lot of this, but Claire seems to do it more than Ellie.
• Loves to color and is really creative. You will often find her at the kitchen table surrounded by markers and colors.
• Is sweet. She is definitely our most kind child. She is sensitive and reactive and really is concerned for those around her.
• With her sweetness comes some drama. She wears her heart on her sleeve and busts into tears quickly or whining quickly and takes a bit to come out of it.
• Like Ellie she is very athletic and about the exact same size as Ellie.
• Is extremely fashionable and will only dress herself (sometimes you can coax Ellie into an outfit – Claire NEVER). She is going to wear in a perfect world her navy shirt with sparkles or navy shirt with pink hearts along with navy tights and a skirt.
• Continue to LOVE chocolate!
• Is also determined with certain things. When we were skiing this past week she wanted NO help getting her skis on and off and when Charlie was taking a break and she saw an opportunity to use his ski poles she would put her skis on and get over to his poles and take off. the first time watching her do this I was amazed. She doesn’t weigh enough to make the binding click in by pressing down with her leg so she put her foot in the right part of the ski, got it lined up (not an easy task) and then bent down and pulled up on the binding so it would click in. Charlie doesn’t do this without some encouragement. Here she is ready to take off.

• Is obsessed with her gold metallic old navy ballet flats. she wears them in any weather condition (rain, sleet, snow, sunshine – why not?) and for any activity – to ski hills, gymnastics class, biking and scooter riding. Because she wears them everywhere she has worn large holes in the toes and continues to wear them. we told her that she is going to start cutting her toes on the concrete when she bikes with them so she might want to wear a different pair and instead of taking them off she switched feet which is genius! so now she is wearing out the other sides of the shoes.

• Is such a ham and so funny!
• Is more concerned with pleasing others and wants to make sure other people are ok.
• She prefers to play with another person – whether it be Charlie or Ellie. Not all the time, but I can tell she would rather be playing together with them or coloring alone.
• If I am reading to the 3 kids – claire is always on my lap with Ellie and Claire to either side.
• She frequently catches herself for saying inappropriate things (ie: penis) and will either start her inappropriate sentence with I know this is inappropriate and I shouldn’t say it. Or say that after saying something. She loves to get people laughing with potty humor.
• Really likes to pray publicly and it is so sweet to hear her go through all the “lovely” things while praying before dinner, however, sometimes the list gets long and dinner gets cold and I get hangry. (ie: thank you Lord for this lovely dinner, for my lovely yard, for mom and dad and the lovely wine, etc, etc).
• She is surprisingly competitive on snow – all you need to tell her to get her moving is that ellie is coming up behind her and she pops up and takes off down the hill.
• I gave her a really nice silver C Heart necklace and she loves it and is wearing it!
• We LOVE LOVE LOVE you kindercare. You fill up our world with laughter and joy. Everyday we are thankful for you! 

Happy 4th Birthday Eleanore & Claire!

It is still a miracle to us that we have come from this…

March 2011…

to this March 2012… (Claire is on the left. Ellie the right – who still makes this face sometimes)

to this March 2013 (claire in purple)

claire in the pink jacket and Ellie in the purple with flowers.

to this March 2013… (claire on the left in both photos)

Claire’s nose crinkle still happens today.

to this March 2014… (Ellie is lightening mcqueen and wearing the peach colored dress below)

to this March 22, 2015… Claire & Ellie having a BLAST giggling together on the top bunk in Big Sky. Claire is in the light pink.

pure joy.

claire – our goofer. I love how ellie is looking at her here.

Claire

Eleanore.

almost 4 year olds!!

What a difference 4 years makes. We love you Claire! We love you Eleanore! Watching you two grow up these past 4 years has brought us such joy!

March 23, 2015

Eleanore. Claire.

Coeur d’Alene adventure

Last Saturday, March 7th - it was gorgeous (65-70 degrees!) and we decided to head to Coeur d’Alene to check it out.

The second we saw the public beach the kids took of and started running for the beach. They were instantly brought back to being in St Heliers and were constantly commenting on how much they missed the beach. We took off the girls’ tights and then started going in. The water must have been cold (we didn’t even touch it). Bill and I sat up on the bench and watch the kids play and play and play in the water and sand.

they would wade into the water and then come into the sand and roll around and cover themselves with the warm sand. I loved watching them and it filled me up.

it did make me long for a day or two in St Heliers though. what a dream that was to live by the sea.

happy kids!

I love this picture and these adventurous kids!

we then headed to an awesome restaurant in town for a midday lunch/dinner. What a fun day!

 

on a side note – this is just ellie off for an adventure at the park. I can’t believe she gathered ALL that stuff from aLL over the house. I had to be very patient with her when she left it all over the car.

Schweitzer ski day

Since Mt Spokane has been closed for a few weeks already (earliest ever from lack of snow! so sad!), Schweitzer Mountain offered people with passes there to ski free one day. We took them up on the offer and had a great day together as a family. Here we are walking into the village – claire wore ballet flats it was so warm and there wasn’t much snow on that part!

Claire skiing down!

the incredible views of lake Pend Oreille. My iphone doesn’t capture much of it.

Claire taking a quick snow eating break.

We ordered a bit too much pizza at dinner that night before driving home. We ate pizza for days.

I think we will be only skiing Schweitzer next year and we are super excited about that!!