I was so looking forward to this weekend with the Carson's - I honestly cannot believe Chelcy booked it so that ALL 4 of them could travel. As I stood in the airport waiting for them I was overwhelmed by a bit of emotion thinking of all the miles our friendship has traveled. Look what my tea said!
On to the big hugs and getting them home. Their flight landed at 10 and after grabbing their 4 bags of luggage we drove them home to snuggle up by the fire. I was thrilled we had LOTS of snow piled up along the roads for the kiddos to enjoy on the windy ride home (that Chelcy orchestrated the GPS - oh how quickly we fall right back into our rolls!!)
I absolutely loved the sound of their voices in our home that evening. This photo is for Misty!
Sometimes it really feels as if no times has passed at all.
Busy breakfast table Saturday morning as the Dad's and the kiddos went to Shane's last Basketball game while I took Chelcy to my Body Pump class. While I have been an instructor for 8 years we have never been in the same place at the right time. She is SUCH a trooper for joining my on Saturday morning - I loved having my pump friends help her along the way too = especially love the chicly expressions I received during class.
Here we are grabbing the right snow gear for everyone and enjoying the snow right outside our house! Chloe is going to do her best to devour this one!
I just got a new phone that takes AMAZING pictures! Example here - )!
And here!
Well lets head to Simsbury Farms for some Texas style sledding - lots of snow and plenty warm.
See what I mean about the camera - makes even eating peppers look good!
By far my favorite photo of this little guy - captured the sweetness that I look for every day!
our culmination of snow sports for the weekend
https://youtu.be/Mwxy4Z6FAyI
Loved capturing one of our beautiful lady
Truly defining 'chillaxing'
Maybe this defines 'Chillaxing' even better - Nice Legs ladies!
Just missed these 2 walking up holding hands and while I thought it was super sweet I have a feeling it had a lot to do with Chelcy's bad calf and Deakon's twisted ankle. Either way - really love this couple!
This awesome dude sure does look good in the Maize and blue - He managed to get tremendously wet sledding in the warm snow - It didn't slow him down AT ALL and was a total trooper at the yummy lunch spot that followed
We came home and had naps while we dried all our gear - than headed out to NIGHT SKIING!! With the weather so amazing the crowds during the day are NUTS. WE were smarter than the crowds. Here we are outfitted and ready for a few skiing tips from Shane!
Of course a quick selfie - pretty sure Chelcy was the only Texan out on the slopes
Nice But shot!
After just a few trial runs we decided to hit the chair lifts of Sunny Side. I scored the first ride with Chloe and Shane.
Drew took Chelcy up (and made sure she put down the bar!)
While Deakon got to go with Evan - wonder who is helping who in this photo.
loved loved loved how well the kiddos did. Evan is clearly an athlete being able to make sharp turns while Chloe is rather fearless bombing down the hill. Deakon was able to do a few trails with us and I know he was crushed to not be able to do more - but thankfully the bar was open. After Chelcy and I swapped boots - she was my right hand lady with the kiddos as we did more runs until the place closed down - yes, that means we had these kiddos out til 10PM! that Pizza when we got home was DELICIOUS!
Sunday was another BEAUTIFUL day which could translate into crowds at the slopes - so we had a slow morning and planned to hit Butternut for some tubing. It was only 45 minutes away, but as we pulled into the parking lot we realized LOTS of folks had that same idea. When Chris pulled up to the tubing station (with the really long line) we asked who wanted to get out - NO ONE SAID A THING..... Hmmm.... Well, we were here, and its time to get out. So we parked by a snow bank (which the kiddos LOVED) while we checked it out.
Turned out to be just perfect for us - a conveyor belt took us up (or you could race each other) and there were 8 lanes to race back down. Here are Drew, Evan and Nick
As the kids lost motivation, the adults chimed in grabbing their tickets.
Drew took this photo for us up top (this and 100 others very similar...) this was my favorite. WE don't look any older right?!?!
Now the kids are ALL playing on a snow bank while ALL the adults hit the tubes
Who is the real winner here!
From tubing we headed straight to my favorite canton tourist attraction and only open on Sunday - The moonshine tasting!! HUGE favorite!
From there we brought the kiddos home, prepped some dinner and thanked Carly for putting them to BED!! We were out on the town to dine at Millwrights
Delicious dinner and impeccable company!
The view isn't too bad either.
We even made a surprise visit to my folks (apparently to floss our teeth!) Made their night to have our best buddies pop in
Proof that we don't make the best decisions late at night
Monday morning the debate was NYC, Boston, or Mystic - when we mentioned the Sub museum Mystic won!! So here we are!
All of us!
Taking the guided tour of the very small spaces
Chloe kept us moving right along - one of the many reasons I love this one!!
One more for the record books
The artistic comparison of submarines through the years.
Now to walk the streets of mystic (the part the kiddos just didn't understand - but they did it anyway!)
We didn't eat at mystic pizza (remember pizza was last night) but had to get a photo!
Chin up everyone! Looking younger at this angle =)
This was Chris entertaining them while we popped in a shop or 2
Seems to be working out well at the moment.
getting a little more daring
Clearly we were doing some entertaining of our own too.
The weather was absolutely beautiful!
We being artistic while we wait for the potty
One last photo of us all together as I truly loved having everyone at one table. But the end of the weekend it felt absolutely normal to have the carson's living with us. They may have even enjoyed a bit of the snow.
Thankful for these amazing people in our lives - thankful for the times my kids were pills and she could step in, for the times I could motivate her kiddos when she couldn't - love parenting with friends - co living!! So sad to take them back Tuesday morning. I know its a lot of travel and a lot of time, but i know I will remember this trip for YEARS and cannot thank you again for making the effort. Love you all!
