Aaron preschool Christmas party

Aaron's preschool class put on a cute little Christmas / holiday party for the families again this year, complete with the cuteness of 4 year olds singing a version of reindeer hokey pokey. They had crafts, games, and treats for the family. He really has a wonderful preschool class with great teachers and great kids. 

Sleepy Aaron

Just some more snapshots of Aaron sleeping anywhere.

Two different days and he clearly has his sleeping position in this car seat. 

Mixing up the pose a bit. 

About to fall asleep next to Daddy. 

Aaron slept on me for an hour. He didn't budge even when I moved or was talking. This was the middle of the day. 

After skiing. Totally exhausted. We all were.

Skiing in Salt Lake City

We went skiing! The day before we planned to ski, there was a HUGE snowstorm that dumped 2 feet of snow and saw temperatures plunge into the negative and single digits. While we prepared for snow and cold, we didn't prepare for that cold. So we picked up an additional layer to help keep a bit warmer. After all, we've lived in San Diego for many, many years where it's just not cold (in any true sense of cold, but ask anyone in San Diego and they will tell you that 60 degrees is cold) and Raleigh where it has some colder temps than San Diego, but the city shuts down if it's in the 30s or any inkling of a snowflake or ice. Having been through snow and ice in Raleigh, the grocery stores and Costco are a mob scene and shelves are bare as everyone prepares to be stuck inside for a month. Salt Lake City on the morning of the storm was reasonably calm. We went to Costco to pick up some things for skiing (hand and foot warmers) and it really wasn't that crowded and certainly didn't have a sense of panic despite the big storm. Anyhow, I digress. 

We went to Brighton which we were told is a great local ski 'resort'. While it may not be as large as Park City or some other larger resorts, it was just right for us. There was plenty for each of us to ski, level and run wise. Kyle, Emily, and Aaron all did ski school on the first day to get their legs under them. This was Aaron's first experience with ski school. He did great as did Kyle and Em. Kyle and Emily had a great instructor who has his own adventure / climbing tour group back in Switzerland. He's also climbed the seven summits. Needless to say, they were in great hands. And it wasn't that crowded that their ski school was virtually a private group lesson with them, the instructor and maybe one other kid. Can't beat a 2:1 or 3:1 ski school ratio! Same thing for Aaron, he had 2 teachers and 2 kids (including him) in his class! Aaron made huge progress, easily graduating from the magic carpet after one run and spending the rest of his first day on the bunny green hill lift. 

The second day, Kyle and Em did ski school in the AM, Aaron the full day. In the afternoon, Kyle and Em skied with us, mostly with Jeff because they easily surpassed my green and blue level skiing. I shouldn't admit this, but that's fine with me. I have no business on a black diamond run, nor do I want to go on one. I enjoy my blues and enjoy skiing by myself as well. I was able to ski all the lifts and find a blue or green way down and also found my favorite run, California Highway I think it was called. The mountains, solitude, peacefulness, is wonderful. This isn't to say I don't enjoy skiing with Jeff and the kids, I certainly do enjoy it. I just don't mind skiing by myself either. 

Kyle good ski run - - video taken by their instructor Jean

Emily good ski run - video taken by their instructor Jean

Aaron skiing a long green at the end of the second day with me and Em

Aaron hanging out in ski school before the day started.

Emily ready to ski!

Kyle ready to ski! 

Aaron skiing!

Me skiing!

Kyle, Emily, and their one classmate. 

Me, Kyle, Emily on a lift

It was insanely cold. This was on the drive up the mountain that it was showing -4 degrees. That wasn't even at the top where it was colder. And thankfully our rental minivan made it up and down the mountain both days. That first day was very treacherous after the big storm the day / evening before. It was plowed mostly, but still had a good dusting and likely ice. On the way down the first day, the car directly behind us spun out, likely some black ice, to the side and thankfully didn't hit anyone or anything and slid safely to a parking lot. Very scary. 

It sure is pretty out there. 

Ready to ski!! 

Jeff and me skiing together. It was so wonderful to have some time together. A skiing date if you will. 

Top of the world! As we were skiing, Aaron told us that it was like we were on top of the world. We were in many senses of that. So much fun. 

Emily, Aaron, and me about to do a run down together. This was the end of the second day. Aaron's teachers had been taking him down the big chair lift green run. It's a long run (Mary's Back run). So we did one together. Now doing this at the end of the day, after two days of skiing in negative / single digit temps, is quite difficult. And one of us being a 4 year old. Taxing. Aaron did great though, showing off his skiing abilities. He will be better than me in no time. 

And headed back to Raleigh. We were just a little bit tired.

Salt Lake City

With all of Jeff's travel to Salt Lake City, we got to take one of his trips with him to explore and to not have to do another week of commuter family. 

Right outside our hotel was an ice rink which was great entertainment for the kids. 

We took a hike. 

We played at parks. 

And...

Pullen Park Christmas celebration

The kids and I went over to Pullen Park for their annual (our first time) Christmas celebration days. They had a train ride, visits with Santa, crafts, reindeer food making, games, and all kinds of winter Christmas fun for the kids. We started off with a talk with Santa. And you can see the kids didn't cry at the sight of Santa. Aaron was very much like Ralphie on "Christmas Story" because he had to tell him that he wanted a "double blaster popper gun" (it shoots foam balls - but hey, you can still "shoot your eye out!"). We rode the train, went sledding, rode the carousel, played games, played on the playground, and had a good time getting in the holiday spirit. 

More Duke basketball games

Jeff had to return to Salt Lake City, but the kids and I still made sure to have some fun together. Jeff and I had gone to the Duke Men's basketball game the evening prior and our tickets were good for free entrance to the women's game the following day so we capitalized on that. And I think this was the game that Duke defeated the then #2 team in the country, South Carolina. We went back to another women's game a week later though I don't recall the opponent. But I do recall that Duke won. As a former basketball player, it's fun to watch a live college game. And the kids enjoy it and especially in Cameron. While it may not be as crazy as a men's game with the fan antics, there is still an element of that and the experience it is to be in Cameron. It's really small compared to nearly any other basketball arena. Televised games make it look so huge when in reality it's very cozy. 

Duke basketball game

Jeff was home from Salt Lake City for the weekend and as luck would have it, we were given two tickets to a Duke Men's basketball game! This has been on our Raleigh bucket list since we arrived (and before). We had tried getting tickets to previous games, but they are so expensive. Last time Jeff was at a game was when he was a student at Duke where tickets don't cost an insane amount, just some camping outside the stadium. He even took me to a game when I visited him at Duke in college. Anyhow, it was an amazing experience to be back inside Cameron for a men's game (against Maine). 

There is a lot of construction going on on the walk to the stadium from parking and the diggers, especially this daddy and son digger, were just too cute to not take a picture.