This and That

I haven't posted enough!  We always have lots going on and my infrequent blog posts aren't keeping pace with our lives so let's jump back to the night of the Superbowl.  What a great game ending in overtime!  We were yelling and screaming so loud for our Patriots we barely noticed all the snow falling outside.  The boys ran out to celebrate the win in the snow, staying up way past their bedtime but I knew school would be delayed, if not canceled so it was no big deal. 
The next morning we woke up to eight inches of beautiful snow and the sounds of branches and trees cracking and falling, penetrating the otherwise silence of freshly fallen snow.  The snow was beautiful and heavy so it was no surprise that the power went out around 3am and didn't come back on until late that night.  It made for a long day when we couldn't dry off our snow clothes after playing outside in them.  We lit fires in the fireplaces but the open floor plan of our home and the vaulted ceiling in the entryway prevented us from feeling of their warmth.  We hung a blanket over the living room entrance in a weak attempt to trap some of the heat, and camped out in the living room for most of the day with sleeping bags, pillows, games, and a few electronics.  We walked up the street to our neighbor's house to sled down their huge hill and the boys wasted no time building a jump.  Somehow no one got hurt going on it.  The snowstorm brought beauty but also a lot of damage.  Trees and branches were down everywhere!  I walked through our backyard and lost count of the many trees that had lost limbs or were bent in half.  Just yesterday I had an arborist come to give me a bid on the damage and it is extreme to the tune of $3500.  I weep!

 Our beautiful backyard with branches drooping to the ground

Luckily this lilac bush was saved and is currently being propped up by with a 2x4

 Our neighborhood transformed overnight into a winter wonderland

 Marcus decided sledding would probably lead to an injury and ruin his basketball season so he let the kids bury him in the snow instead.

 The death of our weeping willow tree!  It lost 2 of its 3 main limbs

 The hot tub stayed warm enough even without electricity for the boys to enjoy

Here we are camped out in the living room and of course I made the boys remove the weights on the blankets before they could fall on someone and knock them out.  Sometimes kids have the dumbest ideas!

 Randy chopped wood while the boys cheered him on from inside.  It's amazing what you find entertaining when there's no TV to watch.

While we are on the topic of snow, we also got away in the middle of March for a quick ski trip to Whistler in an attempt to use more of our ski passes before they expired.  It was fun to get away with just our family, although the boys weren't happy to miss 2 lacrosse games, 1 basketball game, and a birthday party.  There was a ton of snow so the skiing was awesome and we stayed at a hotel right at the base of the mountain so we could walk right out and get on the lift which was super convenient.  Parker has become quite the awesome little skier so I hung out with him and Landon while Randy took the big boys on as many black and double-black diamond runs as they could find.  We strolled through Whistler Village, window shopped, and bought $65 worth of candy at the candy shop {not even a record for this family who has a father with a major sweet tooth}. The boys were thrilled when they discovered an epic sledding hill in the middle of the Olympic Plaza.  It was all groomed and had 6 different luge type runs.  Miraculously we found a shop that was lending out sleds for free so the boys were in heaven while I at their candy we had just purchased. 

 Landon got sick of waiting for slow Parker so he'd ski down to the end of the run, sit down in the snow, and play on his Nintendo DS while he waited for us to arrive.  Without fail, a worker or concerned adult would ask him if he was ok and where were his parents.  Landon would point vaguely up the mountain and say, "Up there somewhere," and continue playing his game.

I spy my boys

These two make a pretty good team carrying those tiny skis

 The sledding luge complete with tunnels to go through

 

Their favorite part of the trip is always staying at a hotel and watching TV in bed.