Where Else?

Where else can you have beautiful ski lessons on Friday mornings and then warm weather soccer the very next day? Just Utah in the Spring!! Ahh, I love it. Andrew and Ashley are in the middle of a new session of ski lessons at Brighton with other Holladay preschool kiddos (and some of their older siblings too). And, Andrew is a few games into spring soccer, with both kids starting T-Ball on Monday too, these are fun times.

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Skiing with my two buddies couldn't be better (well, it'd be better if Hailey could come too). I volunteered to be a helper parent each week so I ride up the lift with kids and mainly ski along in the back, and I love every minute of watching up close. Andrew has learned so much that this session he was put in the highest class with 2 8-year olds, the ski school director's 5-year old son (who practically lives there) and a 4-year old girl. They are awesome and their teacher, Sugar, is an incredible skier; he takes them down everything. Last week we went down a run I'd have rather skipped but, the kids all did great at making me look/feel old. Andrew is enthusiastic, crazy and competitive (he just has to be fastest). Watching him makes me beam. 

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This is Ashley's very first session. She has improved by great leaps and bounds each week. Her attitude is cheerful, excited and adventurous. Her class is made up of 3 or 4 first-timers and she is the very youngest by at least a year. Today's blizzard was so nutty that lots of families didn't make it up the canyon, and her frozen 5-year old classmate begged his dad to take him home after just 4 runs, so she had a private lesson with me watching for fun. She went down the bunny hill alone about a dozen times! By the end she was so tired but, went once more so her favorite person, Daddy, could watch her. (He came today too!) Her teacher is Aldo, and he's perfect. I am proud of her always and amazed by her determination and toughness. 

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 Last week, about 10 minutes before their classes were over, Sugar got a call at the top of the mountain to send me down because Ashley had fallen asleep. I came down to find her zonked out on Aldo's shoulder! She never complained but, on the last run her eyes were heavy and at the bottom Aldo picked her up and she just succumbed to the exhaustion! I haven't taken pictures from this session yet, maybe next week, except the one below of her completely out!

 My kids are tacklers. They love it. They are also crazy about being on the trampoline. Even little Hailey has learned that tackling is best, and tackling on the trampoline can't be beat. 

 Everybody loves their kids and thinks they are best, especially me :) Andrew and I are in a great groove right now. He has always been a best friend and I'm grateful for him everyday. I can't imagine a bigger blessing than having this cute buddy for my first baby! 

 Ashley has so much personality crammed into a little, tiny body. I'm amazed she doesn't explode! She knows what she wants; everything and every adventure! She loves, loves, loves just about everything and everybody, most especially animals! She still doesn't have volume control, she is either on (loudly) or off. She is very sure of herself and enters most situations like she owns it. 

 After a full week of unexplained but, constant grumpiness, Hailey has come back around and is the delightful, smiley, dimple-baby we love. She shares Ashley's obsession of animals but, unlike her big sister she is occasionally playing with a baby doll. She loves to put on bracelets, necklaces, shoes, bows and socks on her hands. She is still attached to her precious blanket and left thumb, and I'm not sure if I'll ever have the guts to take away her bottle of milk at meal-time. She drinks great from a sippy, if it isn't full of milk but, I'm just not too concerned yet. She is starting to pick up a few more words and animal sounds too. She loves to climb and is happiest up on a counter or table, or laying right on top of Andrew or Ashley.

 I made the mistake of first) not planning a trip for spring break and second) going to the zoo on the warmest day of spring break, along with every single other family that didn't go out of town. It was way too crowded and way too hot. Luckily, those things only bother moms and the kids had another fun day.