Thanksgiving and Whistler

We had a great Thanksgiving!  And a much needed little vacation to Whistler.  I made a mini-feast which we ate for lunch as soon as the boys returned from their Turkey Bowl football games.  I tried out a recipe using a boneless turkey breast which was small and delicious and only required one hour in the oven.  I made some homemade rolls, a couple of pies, and threw together a Costco salad and Costco mashed potatoes (by the way, Costco mashed potatoes are delicious and just as good as anything homemade but without all the fuss so a total win in my opinion) and that was it.  But it fit the bill, especially since my boys would all prefer feasting at McDonald's instead. 

My homemade rolls or pillows of heaven as Randy likes to call them, and the two turkey breasts wrapped in bacon.  The smell was heavenly!

After our feast, we packed up the van and car-top carrier with clothes, food, and skis for a family of 7 so we were bursting at the seams, and headed to Whistler.  We thought we'd get there in no time by traveling on Thanksgiving Day but we still hit a lot of traffic which made our cramped van feel even smaller, especially with fussing Henry.  But Henry likes Elmo so we watched a lot of Elmo episodes.  It was painful but necessary.

We arrived in Whistler with no snow to be seen.  If the ski passes had been refundable I would've asked for a refund but we were forced to make the best of it.  The tops of the mountains had snow and a few runs open so skiing was doable, just not amazing like it usually is.  Randy took the boys skiing while I stayed at the hotel with Henry which was no sacrifice on my part.  I found it quite relaxing. 

Parker super excited to hit the slopes

Marcus was a great helper, usually skiing down backwards as he coached Parker down

Ethan has become an amazing skier with such great form

Landon has learned to cautiously go down anything so he can ski with the big boys

Our hotel had the best outdoor pool ever with a 60 foot water slide.  No life guard and no rules meant it was fun enough that even I played on it, after I went to the only store in the Village that sold swimsuits because of course while packing for 7 people I forgot to pack my own swimsuit.  By the way, swimsuit shopping the day after Thanksgiving is horrific.  But it gave me the motivation I need to be more diligent about upping my exercise routine to new levels.  Anyway, back to the pool.....
So the pool was so fun that we invited our friends over to swim one evening.  They have 6 kids so with all our kids in the pool having the time of their lives going down every way possible, making trains, and chasing each other to the bottom, it wasn't long before we had the whole place to ourselves.  I bet that pool has never seen so much action and I honestly can't believe we didn't get kicked out for being to loud and too crazy.  Even Henry got in on the action!  Randy or I would take him down over and over until he started to shiver and get blue lips, then we'd warm him up in the hot tub until he was ready for more.  It was hilarious!  And now I really, really want a water slide with a small pool in my backyard.  Like it's going on my list of big dreams for when we win the lottery.  It was that fun. 

Henry coming down with Marcus

Here's Landon sprinting up the stairs to go down the slide.  It was so cold that if you didn't run you'd start to freeze and have to warm up in the hot tub

Our hotel was nice but in some serious need of updates.

Henry spent much of his time moving things around in the fridge.  It was so funny to watch but also worries me that he some serious organizational issues.

Not trip to Whistler would be complete without a trip to the Candy Store.  I told the boys that could get 2 things, trying to keep costs to a minimum.  Well, they outsmarted me and filled bags of bulk candy to the brim.  We spent $80!!  Randy probably got more candy than anyone though. 

I love strolling through Whistler Village.  The Christmas lights are my favorite.  Clearly Marcus doesn't feel the same way.

The boys were happy to relax and be total slobs in between swimming and skiing

And here are our traditional turkeys.  We've been doing these for years and you'll notice Marcus never made one.  In true teenager form he wasn't home or was home doing homework so he didn't participate.