Friday, January 31, 2014

A visit with the Schraufnagel's

Uncle John and Aunt Chrislynn and the boys' cousins Emily, Jack and Grace came for a visit over the long holiday weekend.  

Uncle John giving piggy back rides to Jack and Nick, at the same time!


Sledding fun!


Snow bunny, Grace.


Cousins, Jack and Ben. 


An all boys slumber party!


I had so much fun baking cupcakes with my nieces Grace and Emily!



We visited the Indy 500 Museum.

Jack, pretending to be a real race car driver!


Nick is in the lead!


Sam and Nick were eyeing these antique cars in the case.  33 race cars all lined up and ready to race!  They kept going back to this display and were disappointed when they learned they were not for sale in the gift shop.  They even got Grace excited about them!


100 years of racing!


Sam was excited to find a race car that matched him!


All of the cousins.  
 There's something very special about cousins!
We had so much fun with the Schraufnagel family and can't wait to see them all again!


Snow

Snow.  We've had lots and lots of snow this year.  The kids' school has been cancelled 7 days and counting with numerous days of delayed starting times due to sub zero temperatures.  The kids don't seem to mind too much!  




Even our kitties seem to enjoy the snowy days.  They love to go out with us in the morning to see Nick and Sam off on the school bus.


Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Fortune Cookie!

Have you ever seen such a big fortune cookie??  Uncle Dan and Aunt Deena gave our family this huge fortune cookie for Christmas.  The kids, and Eric and I, thought it was the best tasting fortune cookie, ever!  The fortune was pretty funny, too! 



Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Besides skiing

On our off day from skiing, we visited the children's museum in Salt Lake City.  We went there last year too and the boys remembered it well and requested to return again this year.  
It's a very fun, interactive place to explore.




A "real" play airplane!


We went to dinner one night, horse and carriage style!  The restaurant, Snowed Inn, was located at the Park City ski resort.  The restaurant sat half way up the mountain.  It was a fun, cold, snugly kind of ride!






Nick's view point of us!


Sam and his famous fall asleep at dinner maneuver!  We actually ate here at this restaurant 2 years ago, on Sam's birthday.  The results were the same for Sam and Nick got to blow out the candles on his birthday dessert.  Nick is never going to let Sam forget that one!  


The wait staff brought around carrots for the kids to feed to the horses.  Silly Ben.




Hanging out at our condo.  Nick was busy looming,


while Ben made a sign to cheer on the Colts!



We were all set to fly home after 6 days away, but mother nature had other plans for us!  Back home in Indiana there was a terrible blizzard and crazy cold temperatures happening and the Indianapolis airport  closed.  We had to wait 2 more days to catch a flight back home.  Luckily we were able to stay at our condo those nights.  This gave us the opportunity to explore a little more of Park City.  
The first place we found was a place called Monkey Mountain.  It was the best place to spend the day for our little monkeys.  They had so much fun the first day, that we had a return visit the following day!   Ben has asked several times since we've been home if we could go to Monkey Mountain again today!


 




The next find was a super cool bowling alley.  This was the first time we have gone "real" bowling with the kids.  With the help of the bumpers, they weren't too bad!  



Every good bowling alley has to have an arcade.
4 way air hockey!  Too cool!




We made it home safely and thankfully all was well at our home, including our cats Jack and Annie.  School was cancelled the entire first week after our Christmas break, so the kids didn't miss out on a single day of school.  We are still experiencing a true winter in Indiana with lots of snow and cold, cold days!






Monday, January 27, 2014

Ski Utah!

Happy New Year! 

We began our new year on the slopes in Deer Valley, Utah.  The boys are becoming very seasoned skiers as this is our 3rd ski trip as a family.  

Ben, getting the right fit for his boots. 


Nick with Daddy on the lift.
  The boys attended ski school each day.  Nick's class met at the top of this lift on our last 2 ski days so we had the joy of skiing a couple of runs in the morning with him.  Eric and I were both impressed at how well Nick has progressed in his skiing abilities.  He is quite speedy on skis, and he and Eric quickly left me behind!
On the mountain to the right of Eric and Nick we watched all week as the crews worked to assemble moguls and a jump for the Olympic trials that took place a few days after we left.  It was fun to watch it all take shape!


Nick with Daddy.  The Colts played this particular day and Nick was very excited to wear his Andrew Luck jersey!  He got a lot of comments throughout the day about his shirt!


Nick and I at the top of Bald Eagle Mountain.


While Eric and I were out, we came across Sam and his ski class.   I followed them for a bit and got this shot of him from behind.  He was so confident and happy and he glided down the mountain.


Ben, on the magic carpet lift.  Ben always had a smile on his face and a little wave for us when we spied him.  He rode the chairlift later in the week, too!


On one of the runs these two houses can be seen- known as the Raccoon and Bear house.  The ski school kids get a real kick out of coming across these privately owned homes on the slopes.




Our 3 ski bums, still happy at the end of the day!

Nick


Sam


Ben


We ended each ski day in the lodge with a sugary snack!  The boys needed that sugar boost to give them the energy needed to get back to our condo, change clothes, and be ready to go out to dinner.  Eric and I needed our spiked coffee, for the same reasons!