The School Rock🤪

🤪This is how I feel about the school rock!  We love seeing all the fun, creative ways it’s painted to celebrated birthdays.  Now I’m thinking someone could make a mint if they started a rock painting business!  I would have happily paid someone to paint it this go-round.  We arrived home from Canada at 5:30, and I was madly gathering supplies and rushing out the door by 6 to paint the rock before dark....all for the enjoyment of my sweet birthday boys.  I went with a ski theme—here is the result:

Double black diamond EX (expert/extreme terrain) is the hardest marked run on the ski hill:-)

Spring Break in Canada — Day 8 & 9

Day 8

It was a bittersweet goodbye!  We definitely ended the trip on a high point.  I loved Lake Louise.  It felt like a bit of luxury dropped in a mountain wilderness. And the relative slow pace of winter’s low season kept it from feeling crowded. 

We slept in, gorged ourself on the delicious breakfast buffet, and then packed up.  

I can’t say enough about Lake Louise and the Fairmont Hotel. It’s a beautiful hotel set on the most picturesque and serene mountain lake.  There was so much to do on site—hiking, snow shoeing, hockey, curling, ice skating, cross country skiing, horse drawn sleigh rides,  supervised play times for the kids, pool, yoga, board games, movie nights, etc.  Within 15 minutes is skiing, snowmobiling, and dog sledding. We need more time here!!!  Room 504 was appeared to be the only one with the elevated nook overlooking the lake.  It wasn’t considered a lake view room, so this was a pleasant surprise!

We pointed the Chevy south and drove for the border.  I was much more relaxed this time about my expired passport.  Surely they would be waiting with bells on to welcome me back to my homeland?  The boys anxiously awaited a shopping spree at the Duty Free after I shot down the purchase of a 6” Canadian flag pillow from a gas station.  We gave them all the Canadian coins amassed on the trip, which added up to a decent sum considering the prominent use of Loonies and Twoonies ($1 & $2 coins).  The 15 minutes in the duty free was excruciating!  Kenny was sullen about dropping and losing some of his money in the car.  Jacob had awakened from sleeping through our picnic lunch in the car and was hangry.  We made some executive decisions and walked out with an array of postcards, two maple leaf pens, a magnet, two keychains, a maple fidget spinner and a big bag of Darin’s favorite Canadian caramels.  Everyone seemed satisfied and we’d spent most of our Canadian coins:-)

The border crossing was uneventful.  The grouchy border agent was more concerned about where we had purchased our car (we still had temp plates) than anything else.  He didn’t say a word about my expired passport.  We drove away wondering if the border agents are trained to be unfriendly??  

We were happy to be back in the States and driving at high speeds.  We made great time to Great Falls and decided to have an early dinner since there weren’t any towns until Billings, our stop for the night.  It was prom night, so we squeezed into a bar booth since there was a 40-minute wait at 4:45!  The meal was fine, but service was slow and John’s meal turned into drama—they brought him a grilled cheese when he had ordered a burger.  We sent it back and waited for the burger.  He ate half, the restaurant comp’d it, and we made a mad dash for the car.  

An hour into the 3.5 hour drive from Great Falls to Billings, John started complaining his stomach hurt. Not much later he was writhing and crying.  Darin pressed the accelerator down a little harder and I started gathering supplies for battle—we had 1.5 hours to go and a new car to protect.  The poor guy went through two ziplock bags and still managed to miss one time.  It was all contained on him and his car seat, so he sat for the last 30 minutes with his hands extended in the air, not wanting to touch anything.  On the very dim bright side, it turned out the burger at dinner must have been the culprit.  After emptying his stomach, John was just fine.  I wished we would have made him eat the grilled cheese!

We were so thankful to pull into the hotel at 9pm.  I was on cleanup duty and made laps between the hotel laundry and the room prepping beds and pjs for the night.  Darin took the boys for a swim.  Considering we spent the day sitting in the car, it sure felt good to fall into bed!

Day 9

The next morning was a quick breakfast-swim-get on the road routine.  I was a little on the pushy side, anxious to get home and tackle the task of painting the school rock for the J’s Birthday.  (What was I thinking adding this stress to my life?  But the thought of their excitement returning to school after a Spring Break birthday drive me to make irrational choices🤪).

This was a great road trip.  46 driving hours over nearly 3000 miles.  It’s good to be home:-)

Spring Break in Canada — Day 7

Our last day of vacation in Canada was wonderful!  We awakened to snow, which gave Darin a slight case of powder panic (if you’re not familiar with this term, it’s an urgency to get to the mountain as quickly as possible to experience the bliss of skiing in fresh, untouched snow:-).  So we layered up, packed up, and headed out to Lake Louise Mountain.  We stepped off the gondola into pure bliss—sunshine and 5” of fresh snow.  It was at this point Darin realized he only had one pole.  So we skied one run before making our way back to the base.  Darin retrieved his pole from the car while the rest of us took a pit stop.  

Take 2–we were ready this time with all equipment accounted for!  And powder panic was in full effect.  We made our way to a steep tow rope, which would pull us to powder heaven—the top of an open bowl.  Tow ropes aren’t the most pleasant way to ascend a mountain.  You essentially put a disc the size of a salad plate between your legs.  The disc is connected to a spring loaded cable, which is connected to the main cable.  You stand the entire time, with skies sliding in well worn tracks while holding your poles and holding the cable.  As you can imagine, there’s a fair amount of anxiety that goes along with this process, especially for mothers and children😬.  I’m happy to report that all 5 Bolthouses made it to the top without incident!   

Let the fun begin!  We started down the bowl and quickly realized we entered the double black diamond area of steep chutes rather than the single black diamond wide-open bowl.  Oops!  Kenny thought about panicking, but the powder was so soft and sun so bright, he merely whimpered and then got on with skiing down.  It was the best run of the day!  

By this time, powder panic had progressed to a full craze in all of us.  Darin proposed a second trip up the tow rope and We all agreed.  Remember the movie Grease 2?  The tow rope sequel went about as well as that movie (not good in case you haven’t seen it). Jacob caught an edge of his ski and fell, hanging onto the disc for dear life and being dragged up the mountain.  Darin yelled at everyone to bail out. He and John let go and started skiing back down with Jacob to try again.  Kenny stayed on the rope, so I stayed on too.  He was 50 yards ahead of me, so it took awhile before noticing Kenny had removed the disc from between his legs and was holding onto it....and he was screaming!  Poor guy was too scared to let go, so he traveled that way to almost the top.  He finally let go, and I yelled to him to stay put as I was pulled by.  He was 20 yards from the peak, so I skied down to him and cheered him on as we side stepped up to the top of the mountain.  By the time we reached the top, Darin, Jacob & John arrived via tow rope.  Whew!  We continued to climb up higher to access a different part of the bowl.  All the trouble paid off with another incredible run through powder.  

It was 1:30 by this time and we were running on empty Even powder hounds have to stop for lunch:-). Darin broke off after lunch to make one more trip up the towrope while the boys and I did laps through Lake Louise’s awesome terrain parks.  After 3 laps, we took a cocoa/beer break.  Darin made it back down the mountain and relieved me on terrain park duty.  The boys made 3 more laps, catching the last chair of the day for the win!

With the ski day behind us, the race was on to make the most of the last night in our incredible hotel.  Darin and I applied our best critical path analysis skills to the problem. We made it back just in time for the kids play hour in the activity room.  While the boys were there, we got a table and ordered dinner, which was served while I was picking the boys up.  We ate and then hurried back up to the room to bundle up for hockey on the lake.  Darin and the boys headed to the equipment rental while I laid out swimming suits and pajamas to minimize future changeover times. We met out on the ice for operation tighten and tie hockey skates.  The boys did some warm up skating while Darin tied his skates.  Wouldn’t you know, it was during warmup that the one and only injury of the entire trip occurred?  Kenny bumped his mouth on the end of his stick and was gushing blood, and upon seeing the blood started to freak out!  I have no first aid skills, but my mother bear instincts kicked in.  I ordered him to close his mouth and swallow while I pulled my dirty skiing handkerchief from my ski jacket (I hear dirty handkerchiefs are awesome for boosting the immune system😜).  I held it over his mouth while calmly explaining that the mouth is the fastest healing part of the body (information passed down from my mother), and if he would remain calm and continue to swallow he would be just fine.  He bought it, and within 2 minutes was back in the game with blood smeared on his cheek—it made for a legit hockey look😂.  

The hockey game that ensued was hilarious!  The boys would approach the puck, take a back swing, lose their balance and fall in the process of trying to hit the puck.  Darin quickly discerned that all three boys would need to work together to stand a chance against him, so the game was 3 on 1.  Really 3-1/2 on 1 since I helped the boys out on defense:-). 

The game lasted an hour, and the boys were victorious!  Kenny declared he wanted to play hockey and asked us to sign him up🙄.  

The race was on to change out skates and sticks for swimming suits and robes!  We enjoyed the warm pool and steam room after skiing and hockey.  I was shocked by the unwavering energy level of the boys. A full day of skiing, playing in the activity center, a game of hockey and their bodies and imaginations were still going strong.  We swam until 9:30, and then showered and pj’d.  They looked at us expectantly and asked, “What’s next?”   Oh my—we’ve created monsters!!   We informed them sleep was next on the agenda of Bolthouse family fun and to make it extra special and memorable—we bedded them all down in the nook area overlooking the lake.  (In hindsight, this might not have been the best plan as John rolled off the cushioned seat onto Jacob and Kenny in the middle of the night.  They figured it out on their own and we didn’t hear about this excitement until morning:-)

Spring Break in Canada —Day 6

It was BiRtHdAy time I’m Canada!  Jacob and John turned 7, which utterly blows my mind.  I swear they were just born, and now we’re staring second grade squarely in the eye.  John crawled in bed and cuddled with us, then Kenny hopped in.  I was worried we were going to have to turn Jacob away, but he slept in. 

We had a lazy morning watching the second half of a Star Wars movie we started the night before and drinking lots of coffee.  The sweet B& B Kid’s made cards for the Js and delivered them at 8am (I’m sure their Mim was holding them back until that acceptable hour.  Darin needed to work for a couple of hours so I packed up while the boys played with the B&B kids outside.  We started the drive from Revelstoke to Lake Louise around 10:30.  It was cloudy, which was a big disappointment since we wouldn’t get to enjoy the scenery.  So we read books, played the Simon game, and listened to audio books.  

We arrived at the Fairmont Hotel of Lake Louise around 3:30.  What a place!  We had the perfect room for our family—steps went up from the bedroom area into a nook with seating and a huge picture window overlooking the lake.  Darin took the boys swimming while I attended the historical talk on the hotel.  There’s nothing I love more than learning the history of a place—I could stop and read every point of interest sign along the highway.  There’s nothing Darin hates more—so this was the rare opportunity for a win-win!   And because I can’t keep these riveting stories to myself....Lake Louise was named for Queen Victoria’s 4th daughter, Princess Louise.  It became a tourist destination after Canada built a transcontinental railroad in the late 1800’s (a promise they made to Bristish Columbia to lure them to become part of Canada.)  The railroad cost a fortune and the government decided tourism would be a great way to recoup the cost.  Hotels were built throughout the Canadian Rockies along the rail line to house tourists who flooded in from Europe and the U.S.   are your eyes glazed over yet?  I better stop there🤓.  

The boys were thrilled the pool had kid-sized robes!

After swimming and needing out on history, we checked the boys into the complimentary kids room for an hour—I’m telling you—this place is brilliant!  All parties enjoyed their time.  The boys played Monopoly, hoola hooped, and scaled a climbing wall.  Darin and I sipped a Moscow mule while gazing out at the wonder of frozen Lake Louise.  We reconvened as a family for dinner at the Swiss restaurant in the hotel, dining on delicious cheese fondue, steak, and chocolate fondue for dessert.  

The only candle we had was the one warming the chocolate fondue, so we made do and sang “Happy Birthday” while Jacob and John held their fondue forks and then blew out the fondue candle.  They didn’t seem to mind this birthday improvisation—thank goodness they’re not high maintenance:-)

Happy birthday to these sweet boys—fondue style:-)

By the time dinner was done, we were itching for an adventure.  So we bundled up in our snow gear and set out for a walk across the lake.  There were lit hockey and ice skating areas close to the hotel, but it wasn’t long before we had broken free from civilization and were braving dark and wilderness terrain (we were the only fools to go out on the lake at 8:30pm).  We had fun walking to the far side of the lake—Darin, John and Kenny would run ahead and lay down to hide, them jump up and attack with snowballs as Jacob and I approached.  Jacob was slightly concerned about wolves, but I told him it was bears he should worry about, especially considering the chocolate fondue he had on his face 😂.  We reached the far shore and turned around to find we would be walking into the snow the entire way back to the hotel.  The J’s started to get cold and tired so we broke into song singing patriotic songs from their recent 1st grade program:  Yankee Doodle, America the Beautiful, The National Anthem, and This Land Is Your Land.  We ran out of songs with about 10 minutes left to walk.  The fun was over, but they managed to avoid a total meltdown.  

It was straight to bed after this late night adventure.  The boys were out by 10.  Darin and I weren’t far behind.  Our “break day” from skiing turned out to be pretty exhausting after all!

Spring Break in Canada —Day 5

It’s hump day!  And for reasons you’ll soon discover, I’ve affectionately termed the day “Wee Wee Wednesday”🙄.

Everyone slept like rocks but awakened early thanks to the plentiful windows in our B&B.  We sipped French press coffee and munched on a selection of meat, cheese, homemade bread and yogurt.  Darin had the brilliant idea of getting each of the boys their own smoothie, and a quart of chocolate milk.  Many more liquids than normal were consumed at breakfast (this becomes a critical detail later in the story.). Cards were played.  Pilates was practiced.  It was spring skiing conditions, which meant there was no hurry to get out on the mountain. 

The clock read 10:50 as we started our first descent down Revelstoke.  We were expecting spring skiing conditions (icy), saw unexpected fresh powder from the lift (queue excitement), and were ultimately disappointed when the powder was simply disguising ice below.  We took an early break after one hour to empty bladders, thaw toes, snack, and drink a Bloody Mary (if you were the sole female in the group😜).  John admitted to wetting his pants (remember the overconsumption of liquds at breakfast?)  I should have made that Bloody Mary a double😳.  Darin purchased two large Vitamin Waters for the boys  (this becomes a critical detail later in the story.). We dried as best we could and moved on. 

After one run, Jacob and John both had to use the bathroom (Vitamin Waters are SO GOOD!).  So they skied to the edge of trees on the run directly under the lift and took care of business.  Jacob was able to do this in a discreet manner.  John proceeded to remove his gloves, coat, pull down his overall style ski pants, pull down his base layer and underwear.  He has the cutest little behind, which EVERYONE riding the lift was subject to seeing.  Oh my....

Darin broke off to hike and ski a bowl, which turned out to be amazing, so we joined him for the second round.  It was amazing and fun and our best run of the day!  

The start of our hike up to the bowl.

After the hike up, with skies on and ready to eat up the bowl!

Near the bottom of the bowl—the best snow of  he entire week!

The upper lifts were starting to close, so we worked our way back to the terrain park for two last runs before the end of the day.  And then I heard John yell, “Mom!  I need to go to the bathroom!  This time it went down my right leg.”😳😳😳  Seriously?  Disgusting.  Gross. What is wrong with this child...and his father who flooded his system with various liquids?   I said as much to him (feel free to send funds for his future counseling needs).  At this point, Kenny felt nature call and skied to the edge of the trees to relieve himself.  (Did I mention the delicious and hydrating nature of Vitamin Waters?)

It was cloudy most of the day, but cleared a little toward the end.  

We skied in slushy snow to the gondola midpoint, convincing Jacob to wait and use the bathroom in the lodge by the gondola.  (No—I am not even kidding about that!!)   It was a relief to be headed downhill on the gondola and within range of modern plumbing!  

Just before loading the gondola, I noticed two parasailers in skies.  I was amazed/horrified as I watched them land.  They had skied off the mountain thousands of feet above and glided down—AMAZING!  How did they learn to do this?  And what do their mother’s think?—HORRIFYING.  I couldn’t decide if I should point them out to the boys and risk this amazing/horrifying sport becoming part of their future.  (Feel free to send money for my future counseling needs).  I threw caution to the wind and pointed out the parasailers.  The boys were underwhelmed—I think they had to use the bathroom.  

We hurried home to wash up the one covered in urine ( yay for Wee Wee Wednesday).  Jacob and Kenny played outside with the neighbor kids.  John, without coat and snow pants, was relegated to the indoors where he relentlessly pestered his parents to play card games.  I redirected the card games to Darin—who was the liquid enthusiast and the root cause of the Wee Wee Wednesday drama!  Our wonderful and gracious hostess offered us use of her washing machine.  

We headed downtown for dinner.  Quartermaster Eatery was a cool and hip restaurant with wonderful service and delicious food.  The chef seemed to be especially fond of bacon.  All the coaxing in the world wouldn’t convince Darin to try the dessert featuring bacon!?  We played cards, Biscuit (a dice game) and relived highlights from the day.  The boys drank record amounts of water.  It was a great meal.  We drove 5 minutes back to the B&B, and John declared as we pulled in, “I need to go to the bathroom!”🤪

Spring Break in Canada — Day 4

Well the honeymoon is over!  Day 4 brought a case of the grouchies for just about everyone.  There was no relaxing today as we packed up for the drive to Revelstoke in British Columbia.  We stopped in Lake Louise on the way to ski.  The boys threw a fit over their new base layer pants.  The J’s ended up wearing some sports pants instead to keep the peace.  No one raved about my killer breakfast (cinnamon rolls, Canadian bacon, and cheesy eggs!).  

We drove about 45 minutes to Lake Louise and rehearsed our routine of ski boots-neck warmer-hand warmers-mittens-helmet-goggle assembly line.  We rode up the gondola with a friendly local who gave us the lay of the land.  Darin had a grand plan for tackling the mountain, but a mutiny may have occurred due to cold and icy conditions.  However, conditions in and around the terrain park were lovely so we proceeded to do 3 laps, broke for lunch, and made 4 more terrain park runs.  I was amused by a fellow mom standing at the top of a particularly alarming section of jumps.  She said to her son in a lovely British accent, “I’m not sure this is necessary!”   Maternal worry sounds so much better with a British accent😂.

I got my chance two runs later when Jacob fell on back-to-back jumps.  He was trying to do a “butt scratcher”, didn’t get enough air, came down skip tips first and then face planted in the snow.  That was followed by John catching an edge and doing a face plant to which I declared in my best British accent, “I think that’s enough for today!”   Darin declared we couldn’t end the day on a run like that, so we did a redemption run and called it a day.  

Our 3 little champions🎿❤️🇨🇦

Revelstoke was another 2-hr drive through the mountains, which left the boys recharged and full of energy.  Why can’t they ever be tired like the rest of us??

We arrived in Revelstoke to find this is NOT a sweet little ski town.  Revelstoke is known for heli skiing and only installed lifts 10 years ago.  It’s a well established, blue-collar town with angry drivers and dive bars.  Our arrival at the B&B was met by a panicked proprietor who had mixed up the date of our arrival.  We graciously told her we’d play in the 10’ of snow in her front yard and then explore the downtown.  Snowplay quickly turned perilous when 2 of 3 boys lost a boot in the snow.  Darin and I nearly had to scale the embankment to help dig, but our “encouraging words” seemed to help them get the job done.  

“Work together!  Dig!  You can do it!!”

All boys and boots accounted for:-)

We found our way downtown and stumbled into The Last Drop via a shady hotel lobby.  I’m not quite sure how to describe this establishment as I’ve been working on my tendency to judge others.  So I’ll just say they had a pool table so we decided to order an appetizer while the boys played and we madly searched for a dinner venue that would not make me think “last supper”.   Ha ha ha!  

After some a fried plate of appetizers and a second game of pool, we checked into a bed and breakfast that would be our home base in Revelstoke.  The owners had kids our age, which quickly turned into a friendship over sliding down the snow pile outside.  We dragged the wet boys in for dry clothes and dinner at a local Japanese restaurant ((Kawakubo).  The boys were thrilled when we were seated in a private room and had to remove our shoes before entering.  (I was not thrilled envisioning the FOREVER it would take to get their shoes back on at the end of the meal!).

For the third night in a row, the Js fell asleep on the car ride home.  Cheers to another day filled with adventure❤️

Spring Break Adventure in Canada — Day 3

We awakened to this view and decided we needed at least two hours to sip coffee and cocoa and enjoy it!  (It is Spring Break after all!). Darin coaxed a fire in the fireplace, which as a pyromaniac is his favorite job.  After a slow start, we headed to Sunshine Mountain in the sunshine.  

The mountain behind us was the coolest formation—it looked like a ship from the game Battleship.

We felt like pros navigating around the mountain today.  Heated chair lift, moguls, heated chairlift, moguls, terrain park, terrain park, and REPEAT.  The boys have embraced playing outside in the snow after they’ve refueled at break time, and Darin and I enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet.  

We skied a couple more hours, hitting the wall when the boys skied into the trees without us.  Jacob fell into a tree well.  John, leading the way through a Dilly Dally Alley type of run, reached a point that dropped 20 feet into a canyon or climbed 4 feet into the main trail.  After some strong encouraging words that others would have characterized as YELLING, we were all back on the main trail.  (This process entailed removing skies, climbing down to get a fallen pole, climbing up and putting skies back on).  A redo run was in order.  We spotted a terrain park from the lift, which lifted everyone’s spirits😂.  

With the ski day behind us, we headed back for a dip in the hot tub and taco dinner at the condo.  The grocery stop for taco fixins turned into an unexpected math lesson.  Does anyone know how many pounds are in a kilogram?  What happened to the U.S. switching to the metric system?  Since that never happened, my brain had erased what it had deemed superfluous data, which left me looking like an idiot in the meat aisle.  I grabbed what looked and felt like at least a pound of ground beef and am happy to report there was no shortage of taco meat at dinner:-)

The big outing for the night was the not-so-lux Lux movie theater in Banff.  Is this where the famed film festival is held?  It was like stepping back into the theaters of my youth with stationary seats with upright seat backs and very little padding.  What the seats lacked, the movie made up for.  We all loved Black Panther.  The characters and story were so rich and thought provoking.  It was rated PG, but on the scary side.  John spent most of the movie on my lap, which only amplified the uncomfortable seats.  How did we survive moviegoing before reclining seats?? 

Spring Break Adventure In Canada — Day 2

Let me start by wishing my loving husband a happy anniversary!  I thought celebrating our 10-year in Hawaii was memorable, but nothing says 12 years of marital bliss like an anniversary in Alberta—-ha ha ha!  

We all slept like rocks thanks to Hampton Inn’s dedication to quality mattresses and our particular hotel having a waterslide in the pool area.  We feasted on hotel breakfast—another area where Hampton Inn excels.  The boys were in their swim trunks at 7:40AM, anxiously awaiting the 8AM pool opening and strategizing how to get the maximum number of runs down the waterslide in the 30 minutes we were allotting them. Their energy level was so high that Darin had them run on the treadmills in the fitness room until 8AM when we discovered the pool had a chemical imbalance problem and wouldn’t be opening at the time specified on the sign.  The two 1st graders melted down like Chernobyl.  Darin and I used the opportunity to discuss flexibility, how things don’t always go how we think they will, and the importance of NEVER swimming in a chemically imbalanced pool (can you guess which parent preached which point!😂).  

It’s spring break and our anniversary, so we threw caution to the wind and turned a movie on as soon as we got into the car.  And because I’m striving to be labeled “fun mom”, I popped the complimentary bag of microwave popcorn in our hotel room and grabbed 3 coffee cups for serving.  Our kids are totally going to laugh at the kids who went to Disney for spring break! After hearing about a ride on Splash Mountain, they’re likely to rattle off a fun fact about Canada they read in one of the books I checked out from the library.  (Because everyone knows that fun moms check out books from the library related to the trip.  They do, right??)

The 3-hour drive through Calgary to Banff and Sunshine Mountain was uneventful.  Darin lamented the slow Canadian speed limits and and “interstates” that routed through small towns.  Kenny lamented the ski bag that kept falling on him.  I passed out popcorn with stern warnings to eat one kernel at a time so popcorn wouldn’t end up all over the car (am I not as fun as I thought?) and enjoyed multiple barns sporting smiley faces for the enjoyment of passersby—these Canadians really are a nice bunch!  

In addition to the popcorn, the boys consumed muffins, peanut butter jelly sandwiches, cheese sticks, apple slices, carrots and gum.  They begged for dried mango, but I put my foot down (What do they think I am, a fun mom?).  This is a 3 HOUR CAR RIDE PEOPLE!   And I wouldn’t give them food for the first hour on the principle that our car is not a moving buffet and they should have eaten more protein at breakfast!  But their ribs stick out so I can’t deny them food for too long for fear of social services making an inquiry.  I’m so thankful our snack food wasn’t confiscated at the border (another deep seeded fear from Port Huron border crossing days).  

We arrived in Banff where I used a public restroom on the corner. (I had been holding my morning coffee for 2 hours and wasn’t sure I would make it through the check-in process.).  Darin was so anxious to get to the mountain that we spent a whopping 30 minutes in the condo before hitting the slopes.  Sunshine Mountain had all sorts of new adventures for us!  The first lift had starting gates that opened for approximately 5 seconds and let you onto a magic carpet where an alarmingly fast moving chair swept us off our feet.  We weren’t fans.  Sunshine redeemed itself with a lift that had heated seats!  Yes please—and thank you:-).  

We skied 2 hours before giving in to the call of apres ski.  We shared an order of fish and chips at Tappers Tavern served up by Austrailians.  I’m not sure if it was their accent or the food, but it was amazing!  We felt so good that we skied the long green down to the base rather than take the gondola.  It felt strange to be skiing at 5PM—it’s light out so much later here, they run the lifts an hour longer than the typical Colorado resorts!  

Jacob with a Mountie Moose.  I’m not sure who is cuter❤️

The late afternoon snack allowed us to swim before an anniversary dinner at a greek restaurant in Banff (Kenny was so thrilled with the meal, he declared he loved Canada, loved greek food, and asked when we could come back:-).  We had a small wait so did a bit of shopping while we waited.  Lest you feel jealous, envision the wonders of the Canadian Gem and Rock Market.  The boys tried to convince Darin to buy me a gemstone pendant for our anniversary (I must be doing something right—you’re welcome future wives!!).  Kenny purchased a slice of geode, which fueled lively dinner conversation.  Could it be obsidian?  Only his book of rocks and a flashlight could unveil this mystery.  We’re all anxious to get home and find out!😂

Two of the three boys fell asleep on the 5 minute care ride to the condo.  Darin and I weren’t far behind.  We’re exhausted in the best way.  Cheers to kicking off our 13th year of marriage in the most adventurous way!!

Spring Break Adventure in Canada- Day 1

The adventure has begun!  While others packed flip flops, sunscreen and headed south, we packed ski boots, base layers and headed north, determined to make the most of our Mountain Collective ski pass. Our day started at 1AM when Darin rolled out of bed.  We were in the car by 1:30, doing a groggy roll call on the most critical items:  3 boys—CHECK!  Darin’s wallet—CHECK!  Passports and birth certificates—EXPIRED!  I’m not sure what this says about my life (actually, I know what it says, but I’d rather not reflect on it:-). In all the chaos of motherhood, I hadn’t used or thought to check my passport in quite some time.  There were Dr. Seuss hats to be constructed and Leprechaun traps to be dreamt up (1st grade with twins is intense y’all).   Darin reacted to news of my expired passport in the same way he reacted to finding out we were having twins—utter disbelief and laughing nervously thinking I was trying to pull one over on him.  (I always have considered myself rather funny!).

I dashed into the house, dug through the file cabinet and breathed a sigh of exhausted relief when I located my birth certificate and our marriage certificate.  Surely the great and merciful country of Canada wouldn’t turn me away with this array of compelling evidence?   (My stomach might have hurt a little all the way to the border!?😬)

So after the passport incident, we finally got on the road.  It was 1:45AM and we were headed north faster than Santa in the wee hours of Christmas morn.  We stopped in the northern Wyoming town of Sheridan for breakfast.  The Cowboy Cafe was filled with locals looking to relax on their Saturday morning.  The boys read their recent book fair purchases in a quiet daze. A retired couple stop to tell us what adorable, we’ll-mannered boys we had.  I basked in this comment like a pious parenting prodigy (they didn’t need to know about the shenanigans that usually ensue during mealtime:-).  

(Kenny is back there somewhere—we hope!?)

We continued north and reached Great Falls, MT by 1PM.  This was our original overnight stop to break up the drive.  We ate lunch at the renowned Roadhouse Diner.  You probably haven’t heard of it (we hadn’t either) but Trip Advisor, Food Network, and Guy Fieri all raved about it.  And now we do too.  They grind their own locally raised beef daily, cut their own fries locally grow potatoes into fries, and have the sweetest staff and atmosphere.  It wasn’t healthy but we gobbled it up like it was the Last Supper.  

Snow was in the forecast and we all felt like a million bucks (??) so we decided to push on into Canada.  I was sweating and praying like Jesus in Gathsemene as we approached the Canadian border.  Countless trips through the Port Huron border crossing with valid credentials during my career days had left me jaded towards Canadian border patrol.  Would I be sent to the Canadian Guantanamo Bay for trying to enter their country on an expired passport?  Should I play the funny card about the trials of mothering contributing to my passport oversight?  Or keep a straight face?   I was relieved when the border agent, in a very serious manner, asked his questions and seemed more concerned about potential firearms, anything dangerous or alcohol being transported in our vehicle.  I played it cool and bit my tongue rather than blurt out, “Do our 3 boys count as something dangerous?”  I’m not sure he would have related to my humor!?  We sailed into Canada with a sigh of relief (and a passing thought of whether the U.S. would let me back in!).

As we drove the last hour to Lethbridge, I enjoyed feelings of being a road tripping warrior, and I couldn’t help but compare our family to one that might be found in a wagon on the Oregon Trail 150 years earlier.  But then the Jacob said his iPad’s battery was dead, the navigation system chimed our next turn, and I adjusted the temperature of my heated seat for my perfect comfort.  On second thought, I’m not sure we’d have done so well on the Oregon Trail😂

Leprechaun Traps!

Because Dr. Seuss’s birthday hats didn’t stretch our creativity enough...we made some leprechaun traps (1st grade is INTENSE!).  Jacob used a spinach container, popsicle stick, Easter grass and yellow skittles as bait.  Jacob’s favorite part of the project was using the hot glue gun!

John used a Kleenex box with yellow Mike and Ike’s hanging above the hole.  

Snowmass

We celebrated my birthday weekend in Snowmass—a Rocky Mountain High (John Denver loved & skied in this area:-)

Our biggest adventure was hiking up about 100 yards to gain access to additional runs.  

The boys taking a break after the hike!

The terrain parks were enormous!  Snowmass and Aspen host the X Games.  We got to see a Rail Jam in one of the terrain parks and picked up sunglasses as swag!

Perfect picture in the village.  

We drove into Aspen (15 minutes) for my birthday dinner at this amazing French bistro.  The atmosphere and food were amazing!

Snowmass is my new favorite!  3.5 hours west of Denver.  The terrain was AMAZING, and the ski village was great!  We loved staying at the Westin—overlooking the main lift.  It had great outdoor pool/hot tubs and was right in the center of the action.  

Jacob & John’s Celebration of Learning

It’s amazing to see how education has changed since I was a kid (that makes me sound and feel old:-).  1st graders do an in-depth project with grand friends.  They interview the Grandfriend to find out about a meaningful event in their life. The kids write multiple drafts of the Grandfriend’ life event and a personal life event.  They presented their findings in one-on-one presentations in the classroom.  Both boys did great!!
John wrote about skiing down a double black diamond.  He wants to be an Olympic skier!!

Jacob wrote about losing his front tooth!

Crates Butte

Crested Butte has one of the most gorgeous views!  We skied with the Camaglia clan again.  The skiing was fast and terrain parks fun!  

Kenny is quite the skier and leaves us in the dust in the moguls!
Day 2 picture on the peak—the mommies made it in this time:-)

Dr. Seuss’s Birthday!

1st grade is a big year with lots of projects!  Dr. Seuss’s birthday provides the perfect project—make a hat based on a Dr. Seuss book.  These twinsies are getting older, so I had to take one last opportunity for Thing 1 & Thing 2.  I begged just a little and they went for it:-).  The J’s cut it the strips and I curled and stapled.  It was a labor of love, but man did it turn out cute!!

Taos, NM

Taos was a sweet little mountain—and just 3.5 hour drive south of Denver.  The skiing conditions were terrible due to lack of snow, but we managed to get a few runs in on the back side of the mountain.  We had dinner at the Stray Dog Cantina (it had a stray dog with a frisbee sitting outside:-).  And we had lunch at the Bavarian.  The food and atmosphere was amazing! We had schnitzel and sat at a long table with locals. We lost Jacob on the mountain during this trip.  He stayed calm and asked the lift operator to call his dad—and proceeded to rattle off Darin’s cell phone number (setting the iPad password to his phone number = parenting win:-)

Jackson Hole Skiing

Jackson’s famous town square features antler arches at each corner.

It was fun walking around town with these cuties!

Kenny’s favorite statue—George Washington

Sarah’s favorite statue—Mark Twain

These crazy boys have endless energy—especially after and 8.5 hour car ride!  The hotel gym was a great place to burn it off.

Snake River Brewery was a great spot to eat, play, and watch some Olympics.

Waiting in the LONG line for the tram to the top of the mountain. It took 45 minutes of waiting....

....and a 10 minutes ride to the top of the mountain. It was crazy windy, but we snapped a quick pictur before starting the descent.  Skiing the bowl at the top had Kenny in tears.  Losing John on the mountain at the end of the day had Mommy in tears!  We survived this extreme mountain.  It may be a few years before I’m ready to go back!