Snow Day

We finally had a snow day in Memphis and as you can tell from the pictures...it didn't account to much but my little clan loved playing in it anyways.  We suited everyone up and headed out.
  
It was Maggie's first snow experience.  There was snow on the ground last year when I went in to deliver her but she obviously didn't get to play in it.

She really liked the feel of it and was intrigued from the start. 
Her snow boots were passed down from her older cousin and were still a little big so she had a hard time walking in them but they kept her feet warm and dry.
Austin enjoyed making snow balls and eating them.

They spent a while collecting snow and then made snowmen.  I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the snowmen because Maggie became wet and cold and got very upset so I had to take her in to warm her up.  They still ask every morning to see their snowmen.

Hoping for 1 more fun snow day that we can actually play in it.

It's a Winter Wonderland

The day after Christmas we woke up to our yard being covered by snow.  Austin came down the stairs and ran straight to my room to tell me it was snowing.  I was awake but hadn't opened the curtains so didn't know it had snowed.  He was so excited.  After breakfast we suited up and went outside to play for a little while.

rest of ski trip

After breakfast on Sunday we then suited everyone up in their snow gear and played outside.
Miller was in rare form. He was exhausted so he didn't want to do anything. He would cry if he was being held, cry if he was down, cry if he went inside, cry if he was outside. It wasn't the most enjoyable time but we wanted Austin to have fun so we just pushed through hoping he would start enjoying himself.  He didn't ever start enjoying himself.

Our friends the Meduris played outside with us throughout the morning.
David and Chris pulled the kids around in the sled while David held Miller because he didn't want to be put down.


We went to the resort hoping to ice skate but the rink wasn't totally frozen. They had soaked it with water and it wasn't ready yet. Not sure why they soaked it with water on a weekend when people wanted to skate but we went with it. We instead decided to go sledding down the hill behind the resort. I wasn't sure what Austin would think of it but decided to give it a shot. He LOVED it! I don't know if I have ever seen him laugh that hard. It was precious!
I had no control of which way we went or how we ended up at the bottom.
Austin got off the ground after our crash and proceeded to throw himself down again. He thought it was so fun to roll around in the snow.
After the crash he had some snow in his mouth and was upset about it so I showed him that eating snow was ok and actually tasted pretty good.  Just don't eat the yellow snow.  He then started feeding me tons of snow.

Since the trip he has told me at least 15 times that you shouldn't eat yellow snow.  I have to agree with him. =)
Audra and I rested at the bottom of the hill for a while and let the daddy's play with the kids.
Miller never got down out of David's arms.
 
We let the kids nap at the cabin while the adults rested and had uninterrupted conversations. After the kids woke up we packed our stuff and hit the road. We returned to Boston a little after bedtime so immediately put them to sleep. Around 1:30 am I heard Miller cry out really loudly so I ran in to his room and I was greeted immediately with a terrible smell. Miller had gotten sick all over himself and the crib. For the next 2 hours David and I went through the process of cleaning him and his stuff up 4 or 5 times. Everytime we would think he was better he would get sick again 20 minutes later. It was a rough night but eventually he stopped and slept the rest of the night. The next morning he was almost completely better. Sweet Austin didn't even wake up until the very end and was sweet as could be about going back to sleep.  It put a little damper on the weekend but overall it was a wonderful weekend with memories that we will cherish forever.

Ski Trip

This past Friday the family loaded up and drove to Maine for a weekend with friends.  David took off Friday from work so we left Boston around 9:30 and drove straight to Freeport, Maine to stop for lunch and walk around the outlets.

The LL Bean Flagship store is there which was really neat to see.  The boys enjoyed the fish pond and aquarium.

There was a bubble in the aquarium that you could stick your head in and feel like you were inside the tank with the fish. The boys got a big kick out of that.

 We also stopped in a few more stores but it was more work than it was worth to shop with kids.
We left Freeport and drove the last 1.5 hours to Bethel, Maine.  Miller took a 45 minute nap and sweet Austin stayed completely quiet the whole time so "Mudder" could sleep.  It was really sweet.
I know Miller's paci is orange with pink and yes David does hate it but paci's are hard to keep up with so we just go with it.

Once we got to the cabin we suited up in our snow gear and played outside.  The daddy's pulled the kids and mommy's on the sleds around the house and down to the resort. It was really fun and the boys loved it.

 Saturday we woke up early to a delicious breakfast and headed for the slopes. All the kids stayed at the ski resorts daycare while the parents skied all day. I was a little nervous about how the boys would do being left at a place they didn't know but they really did well. It helped that their friends were there as well. Austin because he was over 3 got to try out skiing with an instructor. David and I skied for a little while and then came down to the bottom of the mountain to watch Austin.
I should have listened to my husband and not let Austin see us. We watched him come down the bunny slope one time with his instructor and then I heard him say he didn't want to do it again.

I thought if he saw us he would try it again but my plan backfired.
He instead got really upset when he realized we were continuing to ski without him and he was going back to the daycare.  He kept saying that he wanted to go home (which meant the cabin).  David tried skiing with him one time and then the poor instructor had to pick him up and ski down the rest of the mountain back to the daycare with him screaming in his arms.  It was pretty traumatic and I was really sad about it.  If you ask him now though he will tell you that he loved it and wants to do it again so obviously it didn't leave a lasting impression.

 David and I went back up the mountain and found our friends.
We continued to ski the rest of the day until we hit the point where we were all freezing and ready to get warm and see our kids.  We picked up the kids and headed back to the cabin.

Each couple was responsible for a meal over the weekend.  One couple cooked a delicious Thai dinner which we all enjoyed after the kids were put to bed.


The next morning the boys woke up bright and early (5:40 am) ready to see their friends. We convinced them to lay quietly until 6:15 and then they were ready to start the day. I was in charge of breakfast so we went ahead and got up and going. The boys wrestled while I prepared breakfast.
2 of the families headed back early on Sunday so we made sure we got a picture of all the kids before they left.


Austin and Miller love Sebastian.  They have become quite the trio!
I love this next picture of Remi on the move and all the big kids just watching him.

I'll do another post from our Sunday adventures.