O Canada!

Skiing at Whistler was amazing!  This was our second time going there and it did not disappoint.  Even if you aren't a skier, staying in a condo surrounded by beautiful snowy mountains is the greatest.  Taking a family of six skiing is also a logistical nightmare so it's a good thing Randy loves to ski so all the work is worth the effort or this would never happen. 
We pulled the kids out of school early and headed up to Canada for five days.  On our way there, we met up with our good friend's son, Dallin, who is serving a mission in Vancouver, B.C.  He also ran the Ragnar with us so we're pretty tight.  We took him out to dinner while I took tons of video and pics to send to his mom.  It was great to see a Rhode Island friend!

The Canadian border is 2 hours away, and only 15 minutes from one of Randy's dental clinics

Waiting for dinner with Dallin

We love Dallin! 

The next couple days were filled with skiing.  Whistler is huge!  Seriously!  There are two huge resorts, Blackcomb and Whistler, which are connected by a tram that takes you from one peak to the next.  It's so beautiful that half the people on the tram are tourists who pay just to ride up to the top of the mountain and then take the tram to the other side, eat lunch at the restaurant on the peak, then ride back.  It's a lot of fun, but it takes a lot of time away from skiing.  If you don't plan your runs right you spend too much time on the lifts and not enough time skiing.  One morning Randy and I got up early and skied for a couple hours while the kids stayed at the hotel.  It was our first ski date!  Randy spent most of his time skiing with Marcus and Ethan, going down steep expert runs while I hung out with Landon and Parker and alternated watching my kids and our friend's kids so the wives could ski.  Landon begged to go to ski school and we finally forked over the big bucks so he could do it after we finally admitted this boy will never love to ski if we're the ones teaching him.  He's just funny that way.  As soon as he's with an instructor he's fearless but if we try to tell him anything he completely melts down.  After a full day of ski school, {which by the way, is super fancy with photos, GPS trackers, lunch, hot chocolate/snacks, and a report card} all Landon could talk about was his grilled cheese sandwich he had for lunch.  {Insert forehead smack here}
Don't worry, Thanksgiving itself was still great.  You know I love to cook so skipping a big feast for skiing no matter how amazing it is would not sit well with me, but luckily we can do both.  Our friends did the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing, and I did the rolls, sides, and pies.  It was great to stuff ourselves after a long day of skiing.
Our last night there we gathered all 11 kids into our hotel room for popcorn and a movie while the adults went out to dinner in the village.  Yes, that means Randy and I scored another date while at Whistler!  Randy ordered poutine, a Canadian dish consisting of French fries, cheese curds, and gravy.  I wonder how many plates of poutine Randy could eat without gaining a pound?
While we're on the topic of food, the other highlight of the trip was taking the boys to the candy shop.  We told them they could each pick one thing while Randy loaded up a bucket of candy for himself.  He has a serious addiction to candy which is so ironic being a dentist and if you think I'm exaggerating, we spent $60 on candy.  Holy sugar rush!

riding up in the tram all warm and cozy

This is the tram and the mountain is so huge you can actually ride it back down rather than ski the whole way back

The whole family on the magic carpet and the only run we all did together

Landon skied the bunny hill while Parker and I played in the snow

Landon on top of the world

Taking the Peak-to-Peak tram, the highest/longest free-hanging tram in the world.

The views are gorgeous.  Landon said loudly, "Mommy, I hope this thing doesn't fall off the rope and we all die!"  That made the other 18 people in there chuckle nervously.

The ride back down the mountain takes awhile.  This is how they were as we started.

This is how they ended, right before Parker fell asleep so I had to carry him off the mountain and to the parking lot.  My arms will never be the same.

Parker napping and the sign of a good vacation

I love us

Marcus and Ethan are amazing skiers!  Bean is fearless and so fun to watch!

I skied down that.  It was so so steep but I only crashed once and am quite proud of myself

The boys skied down that huge steep cliff full of mougles.  They amaze me!

They started at the very top of the mountain.  This is an expert run with flashing lights warning only experts can go down.  My boys are fearless!

Date #1

Date #2

Randy and his poutine

The only pic of Thanksgiving dinner

Our hotel

Swimming in the pool surrounded by pine trees and snow is the perfect way to end a ski day

Swimming in our friend's indoor/outdoor hotel pool.  We kind of took over the place with all our kids.  Kinda not feeling too bad about that either.

Dinner of soup and rolls is the perfect way to end a ski day

Whistler has a ton of Christmas lights everywhere.  It's fun just to drive around and look at the lights.

Whistler Village and the Olympic Plaza

The Glass Elevator Candy Shop.  These boys were soooo excited!

Loading up on chocolate covered gummy bears and lots of other sweets as well

So long Whistler!  We will come again!