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. 

Whistler, Canada

We finished off our spring break vacation with a ski trip to Whistler.  It was amazing to me how warm and sunny it was at the base of the mountain, but by the time you reached the summit there was a ton of snow and it was even snowing sometimes.
Randy and the boys did a ton of skiing.  I spent more time riding the gondola up and down the mountain with Parker.  It's going to be a great day when he learns to ski but for now we are ski lodge buddies.  A couple other families joined us up there so meeting up at the lodge for lunch each day was fun and loud.

Here we are putting on our gear and wondering why we need skis at all.  There is no snow!

Brother love as we ride up to the summit for the first run

Ethan was relieved to see more snow

Landon looking for bears down below

Parker and Randy have matching ski coats.

Lunch with our friends.  We pretty much took over the whole eating area.  As soon as the kids finished eating they'd run over to the kid area to play on the free video game stations they have

A future Olympian with his "weapon" commonly known as a ski pole

Parker and I spent A LOT of time riding up and down the gondola

We found the castle hidden in the woods.  The slides are long and fast!

Landon skiing through the forest

I spent one morning with the little guys swimming in the pool.  By the way, my boys absolutely love hotels.  They love having a TV in their bedroom and a pool to swim in.  If we hadn't skied I'm sure they wouldn't have cared.  It's all about the hotel for them.  

Our hotel was slope side so the boys could ski in and ski out so while we were swimming Marcus and Ethan rode past on the lift, hootin' and hollering at us.  After our morning dip in the pool, we went to Whistler Village which meant a trip to our favorite candy store and a chance to play on the awesome playground.   My skiing boys love to have candy in their pockets to snack on as they ride the lifts and Marcus and Ethan were not happy when I texted them a picture of their brothers at the candy store without them.

If you look carefully you can see the ski lift in the trees

Landon agreed to this picture after making sure Parker posed as the girl

Playing outside the candy shop on the sweet playground

Landon doesn't remember the roller slides in Japan so he thought this one was pretty neat

We spent a lot of time on this fun swing.  Notice the mountain in the background with lots of clouds concealing the peaks.  Randy and the boys were up there somewhere

In the evenings we got together for dinner and dessert.  The kids played night games outside while the adults talked.

Parker fell asleep with my phone in his hands (which I took away so I could get a picture).  This boy still needs his naps!

My favorite part of this trip was going running around Whistler.  It's such a beautiful place and the temps were perfect for running.  I discovered a paved path that led me to Lost Lake and some awesome running trails.  The scenery was beautiful, with birds chirping and the smell of spring was in the air.  I was in heaven!  Next time I'm making trail running a priority while Randy and the boys ski.

Running through the shady woods was dreamy!

I took this picture to show my sister so she'd be jealous

On the last day there, Randy took the boys to the waffle hut on the top of the mountain that you can only get to by skiing to it.  They loved it!  Too bad I had to stay in the lodge with Parker. 

We came home to our yard in the last stages of spring.  Most of the leaves have lost their blossoms leaving a lush, green canopy of trees.

This is one of my favorite parts of the yard

Happy Spring!

Skiing in Washington

We spent New Years Day on the slopes.  We've never skiied in Washington before but thanks to the huge snow storms in the canyon, it did not disappoint.  We drove up the same canyon I was stuck in for hours trying to get to Utah but this time the roads were clear and Randy was driving.  The beauty of the snowy canyon was unlike anything I've seen before.  The piles of snow were still enormous and it seemed like half the population of Seattle had decided to check out the amazing snow because there were cars parked anywhere they could fit with people sledding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing along the sides of the road as we approached the resort.

I took these pics through the van window so pretend the snow is white

Walls of snow as tall as a bus

Check out the people walking along next to and above us.  Crazy!

I took this shot to get the sunlight behind the trees but that RV gives you a good perspective of how deep the snow is

We've found a family to be ski buddies with which makes our ski trips so much better.  Randy and I swap out skiing with our older boys while one of us hangs out in the lodge or on the bunny hill with the younger two.  Having the Walker family there meant I had someone to talk to when I wasn't skiing which sure made the time fly by.  Plus I got to snuggle their new baby girl which is better than skiing in my opinion.

Ethan and his ski buddy

Not that I would know, but I imagine if I had a daughter she would look like this.

We sat up camp at one of the tables in the lodge and pretty much had the place to ourselves.  People tended to take one glance at all the kids (anywhere from 5-10 kids at any given time) and all our ski stuff strewn everywhere and they were quick to find another place to sit.  Despite our late night partying the night before, we stayed on the mountain until almost 9pm which meant it was the second night of the boys collapsing into bed without any of the typical bedtime drama/chaos.  I loved it!

Like I said, it's no surprise we had the place to ourselves

The boys playing in the snow under the lights of the lodge

I loved this sign advertising the nearest hospital.  The "last run" is always a bad idea.