Ski Trip 2013

2013 marks our fourth year of skiing. This year our friends Missy and Phil, and their kids Emily, Hannah and Caden, were there the same time we were. We were able to ski with them a couple of days.

After four years at Beaver Creek, we now know our favorite runs. We did try a black this year, Centennial, although we aren't really sure why it was a black, except for the fact that is was really steep with a quick turn at the bottom.

At the top of the mountain is a kid's area called Ghost Town with trails, jumps and obstacles to ski around. The boys love it. I do not. It's hard for an adult to manage in the space. Well, at least THIS adult.

Also at the top is an area skiers can do jumps, and snowboarders can practice tricks. We did that quite a bit too. Here's video of our group: Zach is first in red, then Adam, then Scott in yellow, then our friend Phil, and his daughter Hannah.



We did have an exciting last day. The wind picked up and it started snowing. It was hard to see the trails.

See?

The day we left, we ended up stuck in traffic while whoever is in charge of the highway or mountains (highway patrol? Forestry service?) conducted a "controlled avalanche" to ensure a "real avalanche" did not happen and cause a "situation. Traffic was backed up for 45 minutes.

 At least the view wasn't half bad:

During this time we also found out that a huge snowstorm was headed our way. Normally we would stop for the night in Colby. We decided to drive all the way home to avoid the storm. We arrived just before midnight on Friday night.

It was a good decision. They closed I-70. This was our house the next morning.

Oh, one more thing. I had been fighting what I thought was a cold the last two days we skied. It ended up being a double ear infection. The good news about an ear infection? You can't hear very well, so although I was miserable, at least I couldn't hear any fighting from the back seat.

Related:
2012 Ski Trip - By the numbers
2011 Ski Trip - Boys, please ski responsibly
2010 Ski Trip - First year

House Remodel: In Progress

Related: House Remodel: Decisions

January 19: Ordered carpet and furniture, bought paint.
Took everything off the walls and out of closets. Purged unnecessary items and threw away lots of “stuff.”

February 1-2: Move furniture into garage. Move in with my parents.
Interesting that our entire house, except the kitchen, fit in our three-car garage, (including our two cars) or in our two small downstairs storage rooms. Since our house was void of furniture (including couches, beds, desks and dressers), we’ve moved in with my parents for two weeks. You can see where I was "trying out" paint.

February 3-9: carpet de-install, paint.

Helping. This is after new paint, but before new carpet.

February 11-12: Carpet install.

February 15: Move back in.
We gave away our previous living room furniture, so the room was empty. There was no place to sit. It’s amazing how often we hang out in there, and how annoying it is when we have to sit on the floor. See? No place to sit.

February 21-23: Paint the boys’ rooms.

This was during two huge back-to-back snowstorms. We did get it done quicker than anticipated, because school was cancelled for four days. It did make my work-from-home abilities a bit more difficult. Do you know how hard it is to manage painting with two boys, plus try and get some actual “paid” work done?

Painting Zach's room.

Adam's finished wall. Zach had orange paint in his hair until the next time we got it cut.

March 14: Living room furniture finally arrives.
Our new furniture arrived the day before we left for nine days during spring break. Of course.

Next:
Put everything back on the walls.That could take a while. Scott just wondered why we didn't just put everything back the way it was? Well, that would be too easy...I want to change things up a bit.

Grocery List

Special instructions for grocery shopping:

Zach's Window

I spy with my little eye...

What Zach sees outside his bedroom window.

Blizzard of Oz x 2

February 2013 was one for the record books. Wichita received 21.5 inches, beating the record of 20.5 inches set in 1913. School was out for four days, plus a weekend.

It all started Wednesday, February 20. The boys finally got their snow. This was after school.

The snow was deep and heavy, perfect for fort building and snowballs. We used our snow shovel plus our "regular" shovel to play.

It continued to snow through the night.

Thursday morning.

School was out, but that didn't mean that work was out too. Scott and I fired up our laptops and worked from home. I think Scott ventured in Thursday afternoon...after this amusing conversation (he didn't think it was funny, though): 

Scott: "Where's the snow shovels?"
Me (uh oh): "Outside."
Scott: "Where outside?"
Me: "By the snowfort."
Scott: "Where's the snowfort?"
Me: "You know, by the corner of the driveway."
Scott: "You mean buried in the snow?"
Me: "Um, yeah, I guess."

You see, Wednesday the boys and I were shoveling snow and making snow forts. Well...it continued to snow all night, and we forgot to bring the snow shovels in.

Thursday afternoon we had 14.5 inches.

We did a little sledding. All three of us on a sled. My view.

And a late afternoon snowball fight, complete with three forts for protection.

Sunday night another storm was predicted. Before we even went to bed, we got the email, text and phone call: "No school tomorrow."

Monday started out calm enough, but by noon, it was blowing and snowing on and off throughout the day. It's hard to tell how big the flakes were...you can see it better on this video. This was later in the afternoon (there's nothing to hear, so don't bother with the sound).

Final measure on Tuesday was another 7 inches, bringing the total snowfall to the record 21.5 inches.