Broken February Break

Our February break was a bit of a bust due to Cece kicking it off with a 4 day fever resulting in a stormy day hospital visit to diagnose ear infections and a UTI. Peter and I both battled colds (his eardrum burst from an ear infection and my ethmoid sinus flared up for a couple of days), and said blizzard and frigid temps were a bit of a downer.

But despite our awful luck, the kids still enjoyed relaxing close to home. We even got out a few times for piano lessons with friends, sledding, and lunch at the fancy Scottish restaurant with friends. And we have high hopes that April vacation will be a bit warmer and more fun.

To the Mountains

We had a ski resort adventure with the Balls at Attitash in New Hampshire. I was watching a PBS special on John Denver and they mentioned that he wrote "Annie's Song" on a ski lift. I believe it- there's something magical that happens when you get back to nature even in the bleak chill of winter.

It was our kids' first time, and they loved it! We put them in lessons and they had learned so much even after the first day. I was able to ski the whole mountain with them at the end of the second day (the green runs).

Tell me that's not the cutest snow plow ever.

Cece loved the en suite ginormo bath tub.

Welcome to the Hotel Blizzard Juno

Blizzard Juno was forecasted to be one for the record books in terms of high winds, snow accumulation, and power outages. And, living in the middle of a forest on a dead-end street has made for some long lived outages in storms past.

So we preemptively put ourselves up in a hotel near Peter's work for a couple of nights. We packed a box of food, a bunch of games, and our swim suits and spent the blizzard vacationing. It was mostly splendid except that Cece was not a fan of sleeping at night. Particularly memorable was the dinner we cobbled together from the vending machine because of the travel ban.

Oh yes, and we watched too much TV.

Baby Whisperer

My Dad is a baby whisperer. He can take the most stubborn and stranger-shy baby (that would be Cece in this case) and make a fan out of her. It's always amazing to watch.

Besides caring for Mason and Willow, he still found time to come visit us (sometimes with kids, sometimes without- he even walked to our house once and later biked to our house). Sometimes I still I hear something like a knock and I wonder for a brief moment if he's come to visit. He's fun to hang out with.

In true dad fashion, I mentioned a few things around the house I was hoping to tackle, and like magic they were all done by the time he left (basement door plexi-glass, kids' room light, and garbage disposal switch). 

Frozen Flu

We took Dad out to the frozen reservoir. This was the first time in his life he had ever been on a frozen pond/lake. The ice hockey players were out and the pond was solid. We monkeyed around for a bit, throwing snow, climbing trees, shoveling (who doesn't want to shovel a pond?!?), and then hiked back.

Dad caught some pretty severe chills out on that ice and struggled to raise his core temperature when we got back. It was only later when we realized he wasn't hypothermic- he had the flu. We all spent the next week and a half passing it around (it hit me, Ivy, and Cece).

Friends Teach each other How to Gamble

Our very good friends trekked back to Boston for a lovely visit. They left 3 of their kids home, much to our older three's chagrin, but brought their adorable baby who is only a month older than Cece. We had fun watching them interact with their burgeoning social skills as they cooed, patted each other's hair, and gouged each other's eyes out.

Activities enjoyed by grownups included: running around the reservoir, walking on the reservoir ice, climbing a tree by the res, going to the gym and spinning in our own private studio session, chatting, philosophizing, shop talking, and learning the game of tripoly, which involved some penny poker where I discovered I have a latent love of gambling.

Their oldest daughter had the opportunity to be cast as young Jo in the play Little Women, so we went out to the Alcott Orchard House.

We also stopped by the bird refuge just in time to watch a couple of elegant swans flying off into the sunset. The light was amazing, but it was too cold to linger.

Christmas Comes to Town

Christmas arrived in fine fashion. After a lively dinner with Lance and Dani and Courtney (Dani's sister) and Joe on Christmas Eve, we tucked our munchkins in and then awoke at a pleasant 7:15am the next day. After a quick and humble breakfast of cold cereal, the kids got right to the business of stocking inventory.

"Santa must shop at Trader Joe's. " -Calvin
"This is really good stuff!" -Ivy
"Om nom nom nom." -Bryn
"Plbbbbbt." -Cece

Present opening then commenced, with happiness at each gift (even the socks). They were especially excited to watch each other open the sibling-selected gifts.

"This has not been a disappointing Christmas!" -Calvin

We spent the day lounging and gorging, and meandered over to the church at 3pm for the Christmas devotional. Our musical number was the kids singing "Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus" and included a cello verse opening by Bryn.

Nothing beats the magic of Christmas in the eyes of a 5 year-old. She was all astonishment at every present- especially the candy nerds rope.

Cece was pleased to be surrounded by her favorite little people all day, and enjoyed her first unwrapping experience- she ate the paper, of course.

Loot! 

Loot in action!

Our woodland tree. My friend gave me the homemade ornament in the lower right.

Merry Christmas!

On the Cusp

Cecily endured her first bad virus (cold + 2 day fever + nursing strike). The following week she cut her bottom tooth. We had a photo-shoot to commemorate the last of the toothless grins, and to celebrate her return to a semi-normal sleep schedule.

Santa Comes to Town

Santa made a special visit to our ward Christmas Brunch again this year.

The theme was "The Polar Express" and they watched some clips. Mason watched in awe, and was sad it was abridged.

Our chorister was out of town, so Bryn and Ellie filled in and conducted the primary kids singing.

Santa Selfie Yo

Cece ho ho ho