Avalanches, rescue heroes and milk bubbles...

Yup, that sums it up.

We are loving our time in the mountains.
Mama went skiing yesterday
and is walking well...
apparently skiing is a bit like riding a bike,
you don't forget how.

Today we headed out for a little adventure mid morning
and got more than we bargained for.

The plan:
visit the pub at the bottom of the hill for lunch,
jump on the gondola for a site seeing tour,
go sledding and mini mountain climbing,
hot chocolate,
a bath...

The reality:
visit the pub at the bottom of the hill for lunch,
learn to blow bubbles in white milk,

notice half way through lunch that the crowd is blossoming,
overhear talk that there has been an "inbounds" avalanche
(as in, inside the boundary of the actual resort)
for the second time this week
and all the lifts are closed,
hike over to the mountain school
to 'discuss' the quality of Ben's private lesson yesterday
(which was lacking)
and happen upon real life rescue heroes
carrying a head injured teen girl on a spinal board
(unrelated to the avalanche)
ski patrol, ambulance, police.
(no pictures for obvious reasons)
We left quickly to give the heroes room
only to spend the next 30 minutes or an hour
watching a series of rescue helicopters

landing, taking off, heading up the mountain,
landing, taking off, heading up the mountain,
apparently no sign of buried people in the avalanche debris field...

Then we spent some time climbing around the snowbanks
and enjoying the view

Followed up with a viewing of "The Avengers"
with Uncle Stinky and Dillon

and a bit of "rock star"
while decked out in ski gear

And Artzooka time with Auntie QuackQuack

Dude was loving it.

No gondola site seeing, obviously.
We will add that to tomorrow's plan.

Having fun!
Staying safe.

ski school fun in the snow-picture update

Dynamite...

At the crack of dawn
mama awoke to the sounds of snow bombing...
a 7am process of setting off dynamite up in the mountain
to eliminate avalanche potential.

You know,
the mountain 50 m from the house.

A special kind of mountain alarm clock.

Shortly thereafter the ipod went into timeout for the day.
First major fit of the holidays.

So out we went for a dawn walk
and enjoyed 10 or 15cm of new snow...

and half an hour later for a dog walk/toboggan run.

There is great joy
when you are zooming right at mama
at high speed
and then she almost falls over...

In just a few minutes we are heading for
a bit of Japanese for lunch at the lodge...
then a tubing adventure...
and booking tomorrow's skiing fun.
I'm thinking a group lesson for mama
at the same time as a private lesson for Ben.
Then lunch together and an afternoon of daycare for Ben
while mama further destroys her out of shape body on the hill.

Yikes! Where is the time going???

Well, we are reading,
both Ben and I got new books from Santa.
Ben's books have all the pages
where the one I was getting into
is missing 27 pages of chapter 3.
Sucks.

We are also watching
Jake and the Neverland pirates
on the computer,
discovering new apps on the ipod,
frolicking in the snow,
walking the dogs,
eating too much,
enjoying the unbelievable scenery...

Ben was at ski-care yesterday for 3 hours.
This translated into a whole lot of average babysitting
and about 3 minutes of skiing
so
Dude took a 2 hour private ski lesson today-
the next item on the list?
Teaching him speed control.
He loves going fast.
And skiing tires the little manh out.

Mama on the other hand
heard a strange popping noise in the knee area
on day one...
may ski tomorrow
or Wednesday.

Also on the agenda?
Hmm...
not much.
Doing nothing is underrated.
We will watch for a clear-ish day
to travel up the Gondola for Lunch
at the Eagle's Eye. 

What we are not doing...
taking pictures.
Uncle Stinky and Auntie Quack Quack
got a few very cute photos of today's lesson...
I'll update this with those later.

Christmas Day update (aka was 5 am really nearly 9 hours ago???)

 Santa enjoyed his snack of red treats and

gift opening started about 7:30,

Ben waited well considering his 5 am wake up.

 A little breakfast and a whole lot of lego lovin going on.

 Uncle Stinky showing his form on the snowbank...

 And a wee walking tour for mama and Ben 

down the hill to the resort

a peek into the ski centre headquarters

(where Ben is visiting tomorrow and Tuesday)

We are having so much fun in the snow.

Loving every minute.

In fact Ben is having chocolate pirate coins for lunch

while mama eats licorice goodies.

Live is good.

Very very good.

5 am on christmas day...damn mountain standard time zone

Wonder how long I can keep him entertained
with the ipod
an avengers movie
and 13 episodes of rescue heros?

Guess I should have gone to bed
before 1am???

Our Christmas Journey...Part One

New headphones,

a delayed take-off,

a long but mostly happy flight with napping thrown in.

An ipod and a lolipop...one happy boy

(with pink I'm getting sick cheeks...)

 Our lovely view on the trans canada

 Really really tired...

Really really snotty...

Really really talkative...

Really really not planning to sleep for even one second of the drive.

 Ummm, this net protects me from what exactly???

 Santa apparently needed only red snacks...

Cranberry juice, 

an apple, 

some red pepper slices 

and a red wrapped chocolate.

Tomorrow we will really get into the outdoors.

Can't wait!

Hope you all find joy and happiness with loved ones this Christmas Season!

Imaginary entertainment...at Foodland

Leaning dramatically on the cart,
head bowed and resting against his hands
(at the cash)
"Mama, today was a sad day.
Uncle Moo died.
He was part of our real family
not part of imaginary daddy's family
our real one
and now he is dead.
It's so sad."

The line is quiet,
the cashier has stopped processing the food...
I guess the beeping was drowning out the dramatic display.
The grandma behind us leans in for effect.

Me:
Uncle Moo?  Dead?  How could that be?

"Well mama, Uncle Moo is a palaeontologist you know.
He was at a dig.  He was digging up a T-rex.
Then the fossil came to life.
Uncle Moo shouted 'run for your life'
but it was too late.
The t-rex took a bite.
A big bite.
His teeth are 6 long (that's inches for those not in the know)"

Me:
poor Uncle Moo.  Eaten by a fossil.  That is terrible.

"It gets terrible-er mama.
T-rex said BLEH.
Spit Uncle Moo right out!
Uncle moo had hair!
T-rex only likes to eat creatures with no hair.
Like reptiles.
So he is dead but not eaten.
And t-rex turned back into a fossil.
Now Uncle Moo will turn into a fossil too!
I'm so sad about this mama.

Me:
So am I sweetie.  So am I.

Christmas came early...over and over again apparently.

Our swimming club party...
so.much.fun!

Though initially reserved

he even cuddled with the big S...

motivated in part (well, whole) by the gift.
Super hero chutes and ladders.

And Auntie Kristen visited.
We won't see her until the end of January.
I am a big believer in the giver of gifts
watching the recipient open the gift.
So not one completely awesone gift...
but two.
His little palaeontologist heart is bursting with joy!

We (meaning Uncle matt) uncovered the velociraptor this evening,
with VERY little help from Ben...

And Auntie Cathy.
oy!
This lady knows how to flip my boy's world right upside down.
Even though I repeatedly tell her to stop.
This gift could have waited
but then he would have opened it
and mama would have been putting him on an airplane without it.
So an early opening = 10 days of fun before we fly away for our holiday.

A gift that provides 2 full hours of silent engaged play
(well, he was silent, the gift wasn't)
is worth a whole lot to this mama.
Even if I had to relocate furniture.
Priceless.

Merry Early Christmas Everyone.

The day the dog was groomed...and other sensory issues

Boomer stunk.
Really stunk.
I still loved him
but really, I wondered if there was a skin infection.
I searched for hot spots.
Obsessively.
I urged him to lay on the tile and not the carpet.
So today Uncle Matt took him to town for the works...
a bath,
a trim of spots needing trimming
(think uneven burr removal hair repair
knots behind ears,
toe hair and nails....),
and a new very festive bandana.

Ben apparently didn't think he stunk.
Ben is not happy about bath day.
Ben, who is into smelling things lately,
like clean clothes to make sure they don't "smell like a girl"
and his hands to check for "gross food smell"
or "nasty pretty soap smell"
or "ick"
took one whiff of Boomer and declared
"He stinks!
It's completely ridiculous.
He smells exactly like an evil gaseous creature."

Um, yeah.

Supposed to be about Christmas...but isn't

yeah.
thought I might write about the tree.

or our cute matching
very warm long underwear.

or the awesome local farmer's parade

where Santa needed help off the combine.

But no.
I can't.
I can't get today's dentist appointment out of my mind.
So here goes.
Luckily
WITHOUT
pictures...

the little man fell asleep on the way home from school
deeply asleep for the 30minute car ride
carry him inside
cuddle on the couch in a winter coat
load him back into the car an hour later
drive to the dentist
unload him
finally wake him up in the waiting room
sort of deep sleep....
not normal in my no-napper.
worrisome even.
but no fever or anything so off we went to the magic chair...

dude was great
there is one soft spot
deep in a pit
needs filling
probably in March
but after that we can go every 6 months
rather than every 3
he is a champion cleaner apparently

but the oral aversion
and the teeny little dixie cup of foam fluoride
BAD match

dental hygienist won that one
by letting him have the sucking slurper thing-y
he could sick it in his mouth any time he needed to
keeping the vomit at bay

and a dino toothbrush
and an army guy toy

home we went
to dinner
white pasta
and milk to start
to match the foam he apparently wasn't slurping
but was rather swallowing
cause when I brought out the broccoli
one look
and the pasta
the milk
and the foam
(which had gained enormous volume-
from dixie cup to like a gallon)
came spewing like Mount St. Helene

over and over again
(completely missing his power ranger pj's
thank you very much)

at bedtime he couldn't drink his precious baba
put it in the fridge saying,
"Mama, I don't feel like puking
but i feel weak in my stomach."

Yeah
so do i buddy
hope we make it through the night

Brought to you by the letter B; for choosing your battles

From the backseat:
"B is for Ben
B is for boomer
B is for Bev
and you know what mama?
B is for family!"

The front seat responds:
"That's sweet baby!
We have lots of Bs in our family!
But the word family actually begins with an F!"

Front seat, with a sigh:
"I am sooooo disappointed in you mama.
And angry.
Just say it.
Say family begins with B
or I'm gong to get annoyed."

So of course the front seat agreed...sort of:
"My mistake sweetie,
you are right again,
OUR family DOES begin with B!"

For me it is about picking the battles...

The extraordinarily short life of a gingerbread house and other christmas joy...

"Though always dressed in spiderman clothing
the following gingerbread experience
occurred over 36 hours or so..."

Buy...(really, who bakes their own houses and has a 3 year old?)

Mix and lick...

Build...

and Build...

wait...

Decorate...

wait...

Eat and drop...

Scream like your life has ended...

Try to rebuild

Decide it is useless

and with Uncle Matt's urging

get a hammer...

Vacuum 

and then eat...

Meanwhile...

clean the whole apartment.

build a Christmas tree

decorate the tree

visit Santa

and 

buy some ski boots 

for the mountain vacation

(but those pictures will have to wait)

A recipe for a joyful weekend!