Save the Snow for our Best buddies!

Saturday and the day is packed - but not really - the kids wake up to our snow that is already on the ground and VERY cold temperatures.  VERY cold.  We are thankful that we don't HAVE to ski today.  So we bundle the kids up and send them outside.

Reminds me of this photo

only a few years back - our back yard was much smaller, but so were they!

Fast forward 5 years...

Farrah and I bundled up too and tried cross country skiing in our neighborhood while the boys sledded

Extreme sledding!

Brian has a cool slow motion app to make this video extra cool -  The adults went over this jump - ONCE - OUCH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LleYzt4JzAc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh3l1SwHm50

After we warmed up, we had to head out to a local beer spot - Hooker Brewery - in Bloomfield.  The beer was fab and plenty of it =)

The boys went in first and weren't sure it was a spot for kids. - Sure we may have the only kids in the brewery (count'em - 8!)  But these are some well traveled kids and they have restrictions from screens, UNTIL we walk into a winery or brewery!  So all they need is a spot and each other.  Farrah got them all set up =)  Several folks walked by and applauded to how well they were behaving!  I have a feeling there is a photo of this crew on the brewery's feed somewhere.

The reunion - This was the first time we were ALL TOGETHER since we left Germany in 2011.  

LOVE

Here are some other things we loved----

Great purchase Brian - 

Great Save Wayne - (wine from our trip all together to Tuscany!)

Great Turkey Chris

The ladies scooted out of the brewery with the 2 young kids and headed to pick up my folks who had been snow birding in Florida for 4 weeks.  We are thrilled to have them back and so happy to have a FULL car to pick them up.  I know they were tickled to have Diane and Farrah in the back too.  They weren't terribly interested in our late night dinner so they went home to re-group - 

Meanwhile - 

That is one happy Table!

And so many bellie laughs I wish I recorded the evening just to play it back and remind myself home much we loved every second.  Awesome games Farrah and Brian!  This will bring back memories for years.  

Our only regret was NOT putting the kids to bed.  They were up until 1AM - yikes.  Made skiing the next day a little tougher - but with friends everything is easier.

They are here!

Delayed opening on Friday morning caused me to 'crunch' my prep for guests timeline.  We literally dressed these guys up and sent them outside (knowing they wont have recess either - boo)  This is the 'Get here now face!'

 

They made it in record time - left at 6AM and at our door by 1:30 - AMAZING  They almost didn't stop to use the bathroom!!.  Just hearing their voices in our home filled my heart!

We got to sneak into Nick's classroom as the mystery reader.  (I signed up thinking I may have to cancel, but if I didn't how awesome would that be??)  Nick was excited to see me, but beamed when he saw Tate.

A class full of readers and Farrah is so good to think of taking a photo.  See Nick and Tate next to eachother?  

Next, we picked up Shane - I should say Macy picked up Shane, but Shane was totally caught off guard at both Macy and Farrah.  Shane at Gymnastics which gave us the chance to do the Simsbury Cell phone tour and end up at Red Stone Pub for a beer - 

Kids beer here.

One happy crew and not just for the beer!

This was my favorite photo for the evening.

So wonderful how much different you can feel around good friends.  Its gonna be a fun weekend - no matter what!

Time

Our closest family friends are coming tomorrow and I am filling my to-do list with a million things - getting food, cleaning the house, making plans.  Yet I am continually reminding myself that I just want time with them.  The kids just want time with their friends and we will enjoy whatever we do together.  And yes, we should probably eat...  so I will shop.

But I loved seeing this family circus really about family.

And yes, we had a delay Friday morning - so the boys had time to do this.

Thank you Liz and Tam for the gift that had us focus the time.

Blizzard time

Remember me saying how much I love the snow - well lets hope after a few storms we say the same thing.  With my folks in Florida they asked us to pop over to their home for a little storm prep - making sure the bubbler is working well in the pop (and snagging the generator in case the high winds blow the power out - and grabbing the space heater for our guests!)

Here are 2 reasons why we love the snow - 

1 - Sledding

2 - Drew's red snow suit.  (Bought this in Germany for Nick when he was SO BIG)

Chris's crazy antics and why he is such a fun dad - he challenged them to run to the trampoline with no shoes or socks on.  Yes, we had a fire roaring for when they got back in.

I only saw one set of foot prints....  Ans they were a men's size 10.

Yes, we still use the swing

The first blizzard came Monday night - we had our nieighbors up for a few beers -(monday night) and school was closed on Tuesday with a delayed opening on Wednesday.  They predicted up to 30"  Chris woke up Tuesday morning crushed to a mere 10".  The crazy thing about the snow out here - it stays!!

So we must have LOTS of hot chocolate

And good sleds

and a good shovel (or 2)

Thankfully all those outdoor activities create tired munchkins.

I literally 'read' him to sleep

This guy too - love a snowy nap time.

Cheers to a few more before the season is out)

All 5 on the mountain!

This just happened - 

We are officially a skiing family and LOVE it.  Look at them all.  Nick is independent - both Shane and Drew are getting there.  They love it - and better start earning some $$ to pay for it =)  Hehehe.  Till than, this Sunday afternoon at the local skiing spot was just fabulous and was incredibly surreal for what the future looks like for this family!

Thank you Barbara for the ski day care package - we put it to good use - day and day again!

Warm hugs

Its official

 Last Friday Chris and I opted to make this whole CT thing official - I have been DRAGGING my feet for months - -
The taxes
the DMV
the paper work
the emissions
the taxes - countless reasons.
So on Wednesday I decided to tackle a nagging task.  Took the cars in for testing (with the kids too) found the NICEST Midas ever and passed inspection.  Now for the DMV - This place is a legit mess.
1 - The loud speaker calls your number and you start an application -
but after that,
2 - another person randomly calls your name for a vision test,
3 - another randomly calls your name for payment, another for a photo.  I am sure they have done efficiency studies but I would LOVE to see the rationale....

We were in Wethersfield the OLDEST city in CT - Chris had spent so much time at the DMV there was no time for sight seeing.  Here is my photo as we were blazing through. 

Its also official that Chris finished the family room wall and we love it - just in time to cozy up and start a fire - for the ENTIRE winter!

Time to go.....

Anyone tired of my Florida Blog yet?  Great, me neither.  O.k., maybe Chris is....  Monday morning I wanted to capture the 2 things I got to wake up next too....  The snuggliest man alive

and the beautiful sun rise

We slept on the murphy bed in the family room.  Its genuis!  I want to find a place for this in my house.  Here is it, bed....

No bed - 2 minutes!

One more day to do our favorite things....push the elevator buttons

Ride our bikes 

Especially over the same bumps that Oma Sue opts to avoid. 

Try to get as close as possible to the birds 

Explore another Florida playground 

Capture our favorite matinee sand sculpture

Capture a beautiful Oma Sue smile

Catch the pelican's in flight (maybe with a bird the size of his can in his beak!

footprints in the sand

write your name in the sand

Be thankful for this time together.  Thanks so much to my folks for realizing that this TIME was a true treat to Shane.  He didn't want or need anything else.

Somethings almost bitter sweet about this cute picture.  He said to me on the way home that he understood that he wont be able to come back next year - that its someone else's turn, but he was so glad he got to go now.  Shane, I was happy to be your chaperone.

Love, Mom