Ski Trip

When your blog is hopelessly behind, why not start with something that reminds of a cooler time, say, a ski trip?

Thanks, nice skiing guy, but this picture is a little blurry...

I used to ski. A lot. I learned as a teenager in Oregon and then living in Provo I skied some more. I thought my skiing days were over when I married a non-skier and moved to Arizona 10 years ago and figured I needed to be wealthy to take ski vacations out of state. I had always wanted to ski with my kids and this year, I decided to give it a shot. Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff, about 3 hours north of us, was a great place to start. I planned a little getaway during spring break and my girls didn't know until Sunday afternoon that we would leave the next morning. I booked a hotel and enrolled them in ski school. Sure, it was the end of the season, spring conditions, but that made the weather more tolerable for the first timers.

The snow bunnies excited to get going

I was nervous about it being just me and two non skiers - that is why I decided to do ski school for them. Just a half day lesson would be enough to get them started and accustomed to basic techniques and learn how to get on and off a lift.

Lindsay's small group lesson turned into a private lesson and she had the best time and really took to it like a fish to water. You couldn't wipe the grins off her face. She learned all about pizza (snowplow wedge) and french fries (parallel) and "skis to the trees."



Caroline was having a harder time. First, her class was a little bigger than Lindsay's lucky private lesson. Second, the instructor changed part way thru and the second guy was not terribly patient with the 5-6 year olds. She said he was mean. :( But she was brave and kept going and going. I never did get a picture of her in class.

While they took their lessons I went by myself to ski the upper bowl. I was a bit nervous - it had been over 10 years since I had been on a black diamond! I rode the lift with a guy from Phoenix who travels a lot to ski and he reassured me that a black diamond at Snowbowl was like a blue in Utah. The view from the top was pretty.

Our first day was a gorgeous sunny day. Look at that happy girl - she loved every second of it.

Back at our hotel we swam in the pool and had a slumber party eating rainbow Twizzlers.

Day 2 was a little more chilly. We had to bust out the beanies. Caroline was a trooper and ready to try again. She was frustrated that she wasn't doing so well but I was proud of her for trying and trying again. As we were on the lift, we looked down at the snowboard classes and I said "I could have enrolled you in snowboard school - but you would spent ALL your time on your booty."

Navigating the lodge stairs in ski boots is definitely a skill that requires a little work.

OK, maybe I am too much of a party mom. Day 2 lunch in the lodge cafe. At home my kids eat broccoli, drink their milk, eat fish, and have fruit as snacks. So when the lodge has options like nachos and fries and cheddar cheese Ruffles and sprite, who am I to say no?

I spent a lot of time with Caroline on the beginning beginner hill and Lindsay rode the lift herself with us and on the advanced beginner hill. After a while I was able to get Caroline to the top of the advanced beginner hill and got a little video of them on the trail off the lift that bypasses the "upper bowl" and drops you off at a more tolerable spot on the hill. Not the greatest but a time I actually remembered to shoot one.

Don't be alarmed - this is just how we finished our day on the mountain. Caroline bit it hard and I think that crashing on her face didn't help. She cried, saying "I am all done skiing!" and stood up, took her skis off, and started walking to the lodge. We had made quick friends during our two day trip with the locker attendant he thought Caroline should go visit the ski patrol office to get checked out. She was fine. Just tired. And done skiing.

I am so proud of my little big girls for trying something new. I am excited to take them again next winter/spring. Lindsay is super excited to go again. Caroline says she is "kind of" excited. I think the second time around will be a lot better for her.

Run Wild!

Another in our family running adventures - Run Wild at the Phoenix Zoo back at the end of March. A 5k for mommy and a "Kid's k" for the kiddos. A 5k is only 3 miles so a run on the shorter side for me but the girls have been bit by running bug so an event like this is great for everyone. It was early, yes, but after we were able to spend the morning at the zoo and saw tons of animals up close - early mornings are when they are at their most visible. A super fun day for all of us!

Pinning the race bib on a sleepy participant.

Gosh, I look so serious. Just putting in ear buds, that is all.

Two little runners getting ready for their "Kid's k" race.

If they have sunglasses on, they are the Simpson Girls!

And finishing the race - I stayed about 15 feet behind the girls so they could cross the finish by themselves. They loved the table of snacks for the runners - fruit and muffins and stuff.

Off to see animals - running the race meant early admission to the zoo and early mornings are the best time to see animals!

GREAT views of the lions...and I don't have a camera with telephoto lens! (yet...)

Rhinos...

Orangutans...

Turns out we were there to celebrate Dutchess' 50th birthday - the oldest Orangutan in captivity in the US. Lindsay fell in love with Orangutans during this visit and decided this would be the topic of her upcoming animal report - her big research report for the end of 3rd grade.

I don't know about these critters. This must have been when Caroline was sprinting from exhibit to exhibit - I don't think she wanted the race to be over.

Isn't the monkey walk-thru a cool exhibit?

After we went to the YUM-O Joe's Farm Grill. Tasty as always.

We ate outside under the citrus trees and it was lovely. The place was packed though - they were celebrating "Diners Drive-Ins and Dives" - the Food Network show that featured Joe's, and were featuring recipes that were shown on the show. I love the BBQ chicken pizza - tons of fresh basil, so good.

Anyway, we don't get a lot of days like this, where we can just play on a saturday, so this was definitely one to remember. Because soon our Saturdays would be spent digging up and fixing our sprinkler and drip irrigation system. Yea us.

Utah - BYU

Disclaimer - I whole slew of my pictures are being held hostage in Steve's laptop so for now, our vacation pictures will be out of order. Like you care. But just so you know I am not bonkers...

After we said goodbye to the Southern Simpson's on Tuesday morning, following the wedding festivities and family fun, we decided to spend the day in Provo. First we had a pit stop to University Mall. Caroline desperately wanted to go to Claire's at the mall and buy a fingerless glove to wear on one hand. Strange? Have you met Caroline? She found a turquoise blue fishnet number that fit the bill perfectly. Now that THAT is done...

We went to BYU to spend the rest of the day. We brought our bikes and rode around campus a bit. You technically are supposed to ride to campus and park your bike but it was spring term and so little people were on campus so we could ride around a lot.

We ate at the Cougareat. Daddy read the Daily Universe. I marveled at the cost of the food. Can students really afford to eat there??

We all got new BYU shirts at the bookstore. (And candy from the candy counter, of course.) It took us SO long to pick out 5 t-shirts! And what is a trip to the BYU bookstore without running into someone you know? Steve was watching a family shop for t-shirts like us and kept saying to me "I swear that is Allison so and so" and after about 30 minutes he asked and sure enough, it was Allison. Someone from the stake where he grew up in South Carolina. Small world!

The campus was SO green and Kate loves to wear her panda bear bike helmet.

In the Math Building where Steve spent a lot of time back in the day, we found this model of "Po" from Kung Fu Panda. Turns out a BYU student was the lead designer of Po in the CGI animation for the movie. Lindsay loves math, loved the (snoozefest) math building, and did her best Kung Fu pose for me.

While Lindsay was posing with the panda, I spied this precious moment. I don't know what they were doing or talking about but I appreciate catching these tender moments between sisters.

Steve pointed out that he may have chosen a better shirt to wear at BYU...maybe not a UNC Tarheels shirt!

Riding across campus...

Cute cruisers with cuter girlies

We went to the Bean Life Science Museum. Steve had never been there. For reals? Never seen the stuffed lions and zebras and cases of bugs and taxidermy?

How often can you get this close to ROAR with a lion?

In this case is a mosaic of a butterfly. Made entirely of butterflies. I asked Caroline to do her best butterfly impression. (Since I knew I had that awesome pose of Lindsay as Po.)
Please note Caroline's awesome fingerless turquoise blue fishnet glove on her right hand...and one of her favorite t-shirts - a kitty named Spike.

We finished the night with dinner at Wallaby's in Lindon. A place we used to love before we moved away. Big hunks of pulled pork, their own BBQ sauces, slices of grannie sycamore bread, garlic mashed potatoes, and green salad just the way Steve likes it - nothing fancy. And Kate sacked out.

Then it was off to cousin Cheri's house in Highland. We were able to reconnect with several members of Steve's extended family at a BBQ on Memorial Day. We were trying to work out where we would stay after we all checked out of the vacation rental we had with all the Simpson's. (That is how we roll - we rarely have firm plans when we travel.) When Cheri heard me mention we were waiting on an email about a cabin rental she insisted we stay with her and her husband Chuck, and daughter Mallory, and pug Ziggy. They made us all feel right at home and we were able to use their home as our base as we would head out for daily adventures of biking and hiking and playing. And Kate and Ziggy were head over heels for each other.

Jeenee Jeenee Jeenee

Jeannie's Welcome sign...courtesy of Caroline

Anyone who knows me (even just a little bit) knew we were anticipating April 15th for months. Not for the usual taxes are due reason, or the fact that it was Zac's 2nd birthday, though both these things are valid reasons to get excited. (OK, one more than the other.)

No, for me, April 15th was J-Day! I adore my sister-in-law Jeannie and in the last several years we have become close - our children are the best of friends, we laugh and play games all night during family get togethers, and have found over the years we share many things and email each other long and newsy emails several times a week. Jeannie is married to Steve's older brother Brad and they live outside of Atlanta. Last year I went to visit for her 40th birthday party and this year she wanted to come visit here. She had served part of her mission in Tucson and had wanted to come back to Arizona some day.

We have both started running in the past year and when looking for a weekend to come, I suggested she come the weekend of Pat's Run and we could do the event together. We would also be able to celebrate Kate & Zac's birthday as family.

Jeannie had 3 requests for her trip to Arizona:

Eat at Cafe Rio
Attend the Temple
Have a Pizookie

I promised her we would do all those things. (And probably then some.)

My camera in my phone is terrible...but I forgot my real camera and who could resist a picture of Jeannie eating a Cafe Rio Burrito AND salad...all while calling her sister Nikki to celebrate the landmark event. (OK - we shared both - she didn't eat it all by herself!) It was so good...and I had homemade Oreo's waiting for us when we got home.

We made it to the temple Friday for a little girls day out. The Atlanta Temple is closed for over a year for renovations so attending the Mesa Temple was a real treat. I love our temple - it has so much history and as Jeannie pointed out, it is quite large!

I planned a little GNO with some dear play group friends and my sisters Molly and Maddy. Pizza and Pizzookies at BJ's and some fun girl talk too.

New on the menu is Pizookie sampler - sometimes it is so hard to choose just one flavor.

Saturday everyone was up bright and early to go park and ride the light rail to ASU for Pat's Run.

We were there with plenty of time to spare because we knew traffic would be difficult. It was a huge crowd - 22,000 runners and assorted family members - but it was an upbeat positive atmosphere. Notice my arm - I had my iPod and my phone on my arm. Later, as we were running the race, Jeannie was to my left. Then she said she had to change sides because of all my "technology." I don't know if it was crashing into her or it was just unnerving but it was funny. That phone would be my downfall later on...

After the race, Jeannie and I finally found each other after about 10 nerve racking minutes. This is when we made it to the stands where Steve and my girls were waiting for us. We have different running styles - I was running a steady pace, Jeannie sprints and slows down. 6 of one, half a dozen of another! We ultimately finished within 20 seconds of each other. For the last stretch coming into the stadium, Jeannie and I were separated. I was trying to call Steve to tell him we were finishing but as I opened my phone it crashed (of course) and I was fumbling with the battery and trying to re-boot my phone which slowed me down. Jeannie was sprinting looking for me everywhere and I was working with my phone not looking for her. We took forever to find each other!! I was so proud of Jeannie - she had never run this distance, 4.2 miles, and did it like a champ.

The girls also did the Kid's Run - a .42 mile dash that was a sprint into the stadium and finished on the same finish line on the 42 yard line of Sun Devil Stadium. Caroline was hurting - she was fighting an ingrown toenail (which eventually required antibiotics, poor kiddo) and her running sneakers hurt her feet so she ran in her Uggs. Steve ran with Lindsay; I ran with Caroline. We ran into a friend from her school class too!

They didn't slow her down too much!

Afterward we went to Yodipity in Mesa for frozen yogurt - a yummy after race treat for everyone!

Jeannie from Georgia left a note on the Yodipity coloring wall.

And the day was not over yet. Caroline wanted to go out for a little shopping spree with a gift card she had and really wanted to do it with Aunt Jeannie. So off to Target we went. And later, we celebrated the little cousin's 2nd birthday at the Molly's house (Shelly's Pool) with Maddy and family and Grandpa Mike.

Let's just say we were pooped at the end of our 17 hour day.

Sunday we went to church and rested and ate yummy food.

Monday morning it was time to say good bye. I was looking forward to this weekend for months and I hope Jeannie had as much fun as I did! I love you Jeannie!!