Mark's Birthday

Mark is a New Years baby and we start celebrating him on New Year's Eve. This year, the kids made gluten free cupcakes (Mark found out just before Christmas that he, like his sister, has Celiac Disease and cannot eat gluten- but that's a whole other blog post) with grandma and Aunt Sarah.  We sang Happy Birthday to him (notice Will plugging his ears) at Doug's house before we took the kids back home to the babysitter.

We rang in the New Year and Mark's official birthday celebrating at the base of Crystal Mountain. I don't have any pictures of the Torch Light Parade because it looks the same each year.  A line of 60ish people snaking their way down the hill on skis or snowboards, while carrying road flares and Mark leads the way because he's the birthday boy and well, he's been leading the way for a long time.

It was very windy and freezing cold (notice the awesome outfits, it was all about dressing to stay warm). There was some concern that they wouldn't be able to light off the fireworks because of the wind.  But the show still went on.




In the morning, Will and Erin were excited to give their daddy the presents they picked out for him. Erin gave him a football because he didn't have one (and she was right). Will picked out a Spiderman shaving kit.  He saw it a Meijer and really wanted to get it for daddy because daddy shaves and Will likes Spiderman.

We met the Schafflers and G &G (they were dropping U. Matt and A. Kristin off at the airport) at a bar in Traverse City for lunch. We had a nice lunch and then our family drove around the East Bay to check out the Bayshore 10k course (we are doing the race Memorial Day weekend). It was a cold, snowy and windy day, but it was really peaceful to be driving around looking at the beautiful houses. 

Mark and I left the kids home with G & G and walked to the Kinlochen for a date night. I think it might have been the first one we'd had since our anniversary in July. We get out, but with other people. It was a delicious dinner and nice to not wrestle any kids while trying to eat and maybe talk to each other.

This is what we came home too. LOL! They were wound up and having a dance party. They were supposed to be going to bed but somehow, this happened.  I love random moments like this!

All I Wanted Was One Nice Picture

And this is what I got! 

Me-"I want to get a picture of the 4 year olds. Go sit on by the fireplace so I can take your picture." 

Fast forward 5 minutes and two frustrated parents (and probably kids) this  is the result. And I'm okay with that because I'm all about living in the moment. I know that these days are flying by and before I know it they'll be 18 and heading off to college. I'll wish for these days to be back again. So to me, these are perfect pictures of my four year olds, even if they aren't what I was planning on. 

January 18!!

IOn the morning of their birthday, Will and Erin didn't want to go skiing. So Mark and I went and skied for an hour.  The snow was really icy, hard and fast so it was good that they didn't come with us. It was nice to spend time together carving a few turns. And reflecting on what life was like 4 short years ago. 

The kids had fun opening a few presents ( Will did ask where the rest of his presents were- I think that's a problem with having their b-day right after Christmas). 

We Face Timed with Aunt Sarah because it was her special day too (she turned 30!) 

We packed up and headed home. I wanted an afternoon at home without feeling rushed. We FaceTimed with Aunt Kristin who was traveling in Switzerland, Uncle Matt in New York, Aunt Krysten in Chicago, and grandpa Paul/grandma Connie. What did we do before technology? 

 We relaxed a bit and then went to Uuchellos for dinner (it's a local sports bar/restaurant so daddy could watch the rest of the Packers game). Will spent most of the time plugging his ears because it was a bit loud from a few people who were cheering. 

On the way home we stopped for cough medicine because Erin had a cold. I had to mention that because the kids are sick every year on or around their birthday. It's just something we plan on now. 

It was a fun and special weekend spent with some of our favorite people. 

Crystal Mountain Birthday Part 2

We went skiing with the Jen/Pat and Steph/Todd families on Saturday morning. Mark has been friends with Jen and Steph (who are cousins) for his whole life. The girls and I were all pregnant together. Steph was due in February with Urban, Jen in April with Margo and I was due May 1. We all know the ending to that story. We got all 5 kiddos out in Totem Park for a few runs before we hit the big hills and chair lifts. We even got Grandma Melanie on skis. She did great and I think she'd do it again. The snow was perfect and so was the company.

These next pictures are funny because we tried to get all the kids together for a picture. Margo wasn't having any of it and she literally ran in front of everyone while she was wearing her skis. It happened so fast and we all laughed really hard. 

Hendrick (18mths), Erin, Tommy (almaot 5), Urban (almost 4), and Will. And Margo was somewhere else. 

The kids have become amazing little skiers. Erin is starting to carve her turns. We can see her knee bend when she turns. It's awesome to see her ski! 

Crystal Mountain Birthday!

 

We didn't have anything planned for the kids birthday this year. We decided to go to Crystal and bring my mom with us too. At the last minute, we had an imprompt birthday party after skiing with everyone for a few hours Saturday morning. The Schafflers (and their friends), Galdes, Relichs and our family had pizza, beer and cake back at our house. The kids had fun playing and Will shared his Spider-Man cupcakes and Erin shared her rainbow cake with everyone. It was fun to spend time celebrating with some of our Crystal Mountain family. 

I had to relight Will's candle because Mark blew out the candle and Will was sad. Will doesn't like loud noise (including singing) so he was plugging his ears. 

Erin wanted a rainbow cake. She was so excited to have this cake. 

Aavra, Noah, Will and Erin had fun playing Hungry Hungry Hippos. 

We had fun swimming with Tommy and Margo. 

These pictures are blurry because the kids don't stop moving!! 

These two live the hot tub. They're only supposed to put their feet in the tub. But they eventually end up slidding down onto the first. As if we don't notice them. They also love to play with th my bubbles. On this day, they wanted to play 'car wash'. They took turns going under the handrailing and I had to wash anthem with bubbles and rinse them off.