Whistler 2024

I’m always playing catch-up on the blog!  In my defense, we've been on two big family vacations in the last month.  We spent February break at Whistler for a few days and we spent a week in Mexico in March.  I had piles of ski gear and piles of snorkel stuff cluttering my floor at the same time.  It was crazy!  

Whistler was great!  We stayed at the same lodge as we did at Thanksgiving but this time there was enough snow we could actually ski out from our place to get down to the lifts.  This has been a terrible year for snow all across the country so we were pleasantly surprised how good the snow was at the top of the mountain.  The lower part (where I spent most of my time with Henry) wasn't great but I don't care.  Turns out I really don't love skiing.  I'm good with a few runs in the morning and that's enough for me!

We had three ski days and Randy and I spent the first day teaching the most stubborn six-year-old on the planet how to ski.  Unlike his brothers, Henry is a cautious skier and doesn't like to go fast. We put him in ski school the second day and he came back to us able to ski down any green run, get on the left by himself, and take his skis on and off by himself.  The expensive lessons were worth every single penny! 

The third day we were all a little tired.  Henry tried to revert back to his old ways of not being able to ski so I had to be extra patient and insist that he still knew how to ski even if he wasn't with Astrid, his favorite ski instructor.  We met up with the rest of the family for lunch and then I decided Henry and I would ski a little more before calling it a day.  Parker joined us for what will be an unforgettable adventure. 

One Last Run in the skiing world is an ominous phrase.  It's always the last run when something goes wrong or someone gets hurt.  It's plain old bad luck.  I had explained this to Henry and he was intrigued and terrified by the idea and whispered the question, "Is this our last run?"  It was hilarious.  I reassured him that there always has to be a last run but that we would quit before we were too tired to make a bad choice.  Boy, was I wrong! We were most definitely doing our first run after lunch and One Last Run.

I made a wrong turn thinking I'd bypass a big flat area that I didn't want to drag Henry across and in doing so, put us in an area with only blue runs.  Lots of blue runs.  Henry panicked and refused to ski so finally I let him ski between my legs which isn't easy on a steep hill, plus I'm barely tall enough for this to work for us.  But we were doing fine until Parker cut me off and we almost crashed.  I lost it on Parker and angrily told him to ski down and wait for us at the bottom.  He did.  And missed the most epic crash by me and Henry.  I don't know how it happened but suddenly I was flat on my back with Henry on top of me and we were sliding down the steep run and we weren't stopping.  All I could think was to lock my knees so I didn't bend anything at an awkward angle and break something as we continued sliding.  Everything happened so fast but I remember thinking We aren't stopping!  We aren't stopping!

Suddenly, as fast as we started falling, we came to a stop.  We were covered in powder and I couldn't see anything.  Luckily Henry was absolutely fine since my body was completely under him, cushioning the fall.  I just laid there, trying to decide how injured I was.  My skis were still on which is crazy and so dangerous.  We untangled ourselves as some old guy came over to ask if we were ok.  We were.  Just shaken up.  Not ten seconds later another lady came over and asked the same question.  I'm sure we were a sight to behold based on the look on her face.  I don't know how my legs weren't bent at odd angles but I stood up and brushed the snow off.  My leg hurt but was fine.  My coat was filled with snow and must have slid up because my back was scratched up from sliding on the snow.  Hooray for miracles.  It took us forty-five more minutes to slowly work our way down a series of short blue runs until we connected with green runs.  Henry had to keep stopping literally every ten seconds to rest, or take a bathroom break, or talk about how much he hated skiing.  Finally we met back up with Parker who I figured would be back at our hotel by then.  But he waited.  For forever.  I asked him if he had been worried and prayed for us.  He didn't, the little stinker.  He was just annoyed we took so long. Anyway, our last run was one for the books.  It ended up taking so long that we arrived back at our hotel at the same as Randy and I had only planned to ski one run before quitting, which is why we split up in the first place.  

In a nutshell, we spent our days skiing, swimming in the pool/hot tub in the evening, followed by game nights with our friends who were staying down the hall.  I even managed to escape for some exercise and alone time.  Randy loved this trip because he discovered a ski rental shop at the top of mountain that lets you try out as many skis as you want for $20.  He found the perfect pair for him and bought them for a great price due to the Canadian exchange rate.  He was in heaven!  We also discovered a delicious ice cream shop and pizza place in the Village.  This was the first Whistler trip that we didn't stop at the candy store.  I'm still happily wondering how we managed that since we always buy too much and it's the most expensive candy, so that's a nice win.  

Ethan

The Castle was finally open!  Henry and I made a few stops here on our runs together.

Always on screens :(

Parker helped me pick up our skis from the valet.  Even with our big Expedition and roof top carrier, it's a tight fit getting everyone and their gear packed.

We returned home to sunny skies, temps in the mid-fifties and lacrosse practices.  It was a great week off from school!

Merry Christmas 2021

Merry Christmas! (and a Happy New Year!) We had a great Christmas and a Christmas Eve full of all our family traditions that make that night my favorite night of the whole year.  The big gift this Christmas was surprising the boys with a trip to Disneyland!  Yes, Disneyland.  That place we've never taken our kids to but decided it was now or never.  We left the day after Christmas (hence the reason I haven't updated the blog in a while) and had the best time.  Ever since we got back, I tuck Henry into bed and we talk all about our Disney adventures.  I'm hoping this will help seal the memories in his young brain forever so I don't have to take him again. Disneyland for a family of seven = big money.  I'd rather spend our vacation money on a trip to Mexico :)

I'll post more later, and yes, that's Marcus with a shaved head.

The Last of Mexico

I'm taking a break from my many motherly duties to post the last of the Mexico trip.  You probably don't want to hear anymore about it but I'm writing this for my kids.  Turns out this little blog has morphed into a family journal that my boys love to read!  Besides, I'm sick of thinking about Covid-19 and how it's ruining our lives and the economy.....

Thanks to Randy's mad Spanish-speaking skills, we went on an awesome snorkeling adventure in a boat just for our family.   Our guides drove us an hour down the coastline to a private beach where we could see sting rays and sea turtles swimming below us before we even put on our snorkel masks.  This was the one time where neither Randy or I wanted to stay back with Henry and miss the fun so I gave Henry my phone to play on and he was happy and entertained for the next hour while we snorkeled.  We saw such amazing things and I was so happy my boys got see it all too.  We all touched a sea turtle and swam around with sting rays swarming us.  When we got tired of the water, we played on the beach and soaked in the beauty of our surroundings before one last snorkel dive.

I have too many boys.  This looks like a scene from Lord of the Flies 

Can you believe the color of this water?!  No filter here, it was really that color.  We drove past some amazing looking resorts but they were all swarming with people so although I'm sure there are some better resorts to stay at, ours wasn't crowded which made it even better.

This was Landon's face on day three.  He got sunburned so bad!  Can you see the blister on the end of his nose?  Several more blisters appeared on his cheeks and above his lips.  Turns out as I was slathering all the boys with sunblock on day 1, that he ignored me and jumped in the pool.  His poor, fair skin that hasn't seen the sun in 9 months just fried.  

Here he is, ready to go out in the sun the next day all covered in zinc.  We were all pretty sunburned, even Marcus, but Landon's was so bad!

 Here's proof I went to the beach for a little while before heading back to the pool

Our resort had hammocks everywhere and we really liked these ones over some shallow water. 

I ate fresh salsa and guacamole every day (that was my goal), and Parker decided to try it out.  

Shrimp tacos for dinner three days in a row....yummy!  Randy and I loved that we could order the food while the boys swam in the pool.  When dinner was ready they came running.

 We went to the Coba ruins and climbed to the top of this huge temple.  It was so steep and I was so thankful Randy carried Henry on his back with minimal effort.

 You can see three of my boys somewhere in the middle and Ethan was in a white shirt almost at the top

 Randy is tough and Mexico is flat!

Going down was scary!   The rocks were polished slick from the number of people climbing up and down.  I was relieved and surprised that we made it up and down without any incident.

 Biking through the jungle on old bikes was so much fun.  I felt bad for all the people who chose to walk around instead because it was hot and dusty.

Parker loved biking around wearing his "farmer" hat.  Randy bought it to shade Landon's sunburned face but Landon was too cool for it.

This is the only picture I have of my favorite part of the trip....swimming in the cenotes!  It's freshwater underground caves and I thought it was absolutely amazing to snorkel in such clear, freshwater.  The water was so deep but we could see straight down to the bottom as if it were only a few feet deep.  There were lots of scuba divers going through the underwater caves and tunnels and their flashlights lit up the water so we could see all sorts of fish swimming around us.  Next time we go, we will definitely spend more time doing this.  There are cenotes everywhere there!

The water was too cold for Parker so he hung out while his brothers swam behind that fence in the background.  

Henry was done with the cenotes.  

We spent one day at an adventure park called Xplore, but I don't have any pictures of it.  We spent the day ziplining over the jungle, wandering around lost in what felt like miles of underground tunnels, swam in an underground river filled with stalactites and stalagmites, drove four wheelers through the jungle and in and out of caves, ate all-you-can-eat buffet several times, saw a monkey walking along the sidewalk, and basically had more fun than we thought possible.  

And now our trip is just a distant memory.  Henry makes me tell him the "airplane story" every night as I tuck him into bed.  It's so funny that the trip started and ended with 3 flights to get to our destination so when I tell him about Mexico, all he remembers is flying on airplanes.  And it's pretty cute that he gets the word 'recycle' and 'Mexico' confused.  I guess they sound kind of similar but I sure feel bad when I ask him to take something out to recycling and he thinks we're getting on a plane to Mexico.  

Randy took a good nap on our four hour layover in Denver.  We arrived home safe and sound to a house that was a cozy 48 degrees because I turned off the furnace while we were gone and forgot to call our neighbor to get the heat back on before we got home.  It was not a good way to return from such an incredible trip!

Mexico

Mexico happened and now we are home, wishing we could go back, and counting down the days until we can.  In a nutshell, this trip was so much fun for every person in our family.  With the wide age range of my boys, it's hard to find things they are all interested in but this trip fit the bill perfectly.  I had to admit, I often referred to Henry as "Dead Weight" since he's too little to remember this trip so why the heck did I pay hundreds of dollars in airfare and passport fees so he could come along?!  But I changed my attitude as I embraced the fact that being all together, instead of doing the divide-and-conquer routine that we've gotten so good at, was better than leaving Henry at home.
This trip happened because my good friend is a travel agent and I was asking her about Hawaii vs. Mexico and how the costs compared.  Before I knew it, she had our trip to Mexico planned and we were so okay with that!  We booked our trip fairly late so our flights were terribly timed but saved us so much money.  And that is why we found ourselves at a little airport 45 minutes away at 4:25am.  Unfortunately when I got to the ticket counter, the agent politely told me that we were too late for our 5:15am flight departure and she'd have to rebook us.  I couldn't believe it!  But I shouldn't be surprised.  We always seem to have travel adventures/nightmares.  I'm still skeptical as to why it was easier for her to find 7 seats on three connecting flights to Cancun than it was to just quickly check us in to our flight that was leaving in 50 minutes.  But she rebooked us and we left at 6am only to find ourselves sitting on the runway for the next hour and a half.  It was maddening!  Eventually we took off but not after half the people on the plane had to figure out how to rebook their next flights they were going to miss.  We are not fans of that airport to say the least.  Luckily we made our next flight by the skin of our teeth but had to beg strangers to switch seats to allow Henry and me to sit together since the travel agent couldn't secure 7 seats together on our flights.  Good thing my boys are good travelers and independent!
We arrived in Cancun several hours later than expected, and tired after a very long day.  The rental car place was terrible and took two hours to give us our van that we had already reserved.  We will never use Dollar Rental again!  We finally arrived at 11:30pm to our condo (2000 sq feet, 3 bedrooms/5 bathrooms/full kitchen) where Henry immediately begged to swim in the pool that we had been promising him all day long.  Well, the pool was closed so I made the best of the situation by filling up the big jacuzzi tub on the balcony and let the younger boys swim in it.  Things could only get better from there and luckily they did.  Sort of.
The next morning, Randy took off to Walmart to buy food and in typical Randy fashion, backed out of the parking stall way too fast and broke the mirror off the rental van and broke one of the parking garage lights in the process.  What a mess!  Thankfully he'd paid for the full coverage car insurance so once he got over the anxiety that came with that, it was nothing but awesome from then on out.

While Randy was shopping and wrecking the van, the boys and I were sleeping and woke up to beautiful sunny skies and the sounds of a tropical jungle outside.  We even saw parrots flying around in the trees and a couple little green canaries landed on our balcony.  The view from our balcony was breathtaking and instantly reminded me of Japan.  I wasted no time getting the younger boys out to explore our resort.  The pool was HUGE!  In fact, it was a quarter of a mile all the way around.  That's a lot of pool.  We had fun running across the bridges and splashing through the shallow areas, still dressed in our pajamas.  We saw lots of iguanas sunning themselves until we scared them away.  So cool!  And then we walked down to the beach.  Oh my word.  It was breathtaking.  The sand was so white and soft and the water was the brightest blue.  There were rows of lounge chairs and umbrellas and a club house with a little swimming pool so we could order food and eat right on the beach.  I wanted to run straight into the water and roll around in the sand, giddy with joy.  But I didn't.  Instead we went back to our condo to wake up the teenagers and start our day.  Once they saw the pool, the iguanas, and the beach, they were more than happy to be awake.

4:45am at the Everett Airport

The cutest traveler in all the land.  His backpack was filled with Lightening McQueen cars

Arriving in Mexico after going through customs which takes a looooong time for a family of seven

Henry finally got to swim!

Waking up in paradise

Walking past the hibiscus flowers on our way to the pool

The POOL!

Henry running past the cafe where we ate dinner each night while the boys swam in the pool

See the boys running with excitement? 

A fun playground next to the pool 

the beach!

Henry was clearly not dressed for the beach yet :)

Iguana sighting

Parker knows how to soak in the sunshine

Ethan wasted no time finding coconuts and breaking them open to drink from.  

Epic Spike Ball games were played for days

The Caribbean Sea