Moab / Colorado 2021!

After fun visit to a farm with Weston's ABC class that included horse rides, Llama petting and feeding Ostriches (who eat CRAZILY!) we packed up the car and headed for an overnight drive.  The kids slept most of the night and Crystal / Mac drank a lot of coffee and team drove.   With sleepy kids - we arrived in Salt Lake City for breakfast and the pushed onto Moab on Sunday morning! 

While we were tired, we caught a quick snooze and then enjoyed our time at the hotel pool! 

Pool is a highlight for sure!

   We stopped at the dinosaur museum and got to go on the dinosaur walk!

The next morning we were up early and out to Arches NP for a hike to delicate arch.  It was a beautiful hike with beautiful scenery and a great time for the kids (even if dad was scared of the heights).  

Cool traveling baby!

Yoga at bay break at an arch!

After a quick nap and dinner we headed our for a HUMMER RIDE!!! A wild off road trip through a slick rock trail and the kids LOVED IT!!!  A highlight of the trip for sure!!

this ride is CRAZY!!!!!

Guess who LOVED the Hummer ride??  We were went on a 4x4 trial with a real "tour guide" and it was really amazing to me what those vehicles can do - it was crawling up and down rocks that I thought it would have not business on.  

Don't fall off the edge family!!

The next morning we were back at it!!  Renting bikes and riding along the beautiful paved trail system.  IT was a bit cold so the kids and Brenda headed back to the hotel while Crystal and Mac did some single track riding.  We then picked up the kids and Brenda for a longer ride and Elliot CRUSHED IT!! While Wes and Fiona got a good bike trailer nap.  

The next day we took a quick hike to Corona arch, outside of the national park system, and had lunch along the Colorado river in a sunny spot.  We got a great trip into Canyonlands national park - stopping along the way for little adventures to arches, balancing rocks and other view points.  

Don't fall off the edge Elliot!

The final day in Moab we dropped of Brenda at the airport, picked up Junior Ranger packets and spent the last few hours looking around Arches before hitting the road and heading to Colorado.  The kids were great hikers and took to the trials / ladders of the national parks with enthusiasm - it was a lot of fun to hike with them!

We arrived in Beaver Creek to meet the Weis family and enjoyed several days skiing, both adults and kids and letting the cousins play around.  It was great to see everyone and to spend time catching up and skiing!

Elliot and Jordyn had an absolute blast - they are two peas in a pod!

The whole crew out skiing - it was a gorgeous day for skiing and Elliot really did an amazing job!  Wes wasn't quite feeling it yet and stayed with Clay / Grandma.  

Elliot getting ready to shred at Beaver Creek!

The boys also....two peas in a pod!

and we all got to ride in a gondola together for one ski run - how cool is that!

On our way back through Denver to fly home - we stopped at Eric and Sam's house and it was amazing!  Awesome views and lots of snow / cardboard boxes to set up an epic snowball fight between the uncles and the cousins!  Everyone was exhausted before we got on the plane for home!  

2021 off with a bang

Hello 2021!  The Pandemic continues but at least the weather is reasonably nice.  We got out into the snow, including a hike in the mountains on a snowy / rainy day.  

Skiing at Ski Bowl - Elliot really took to skiing this year and, by the end of the season, was really able to ski independently.  She would lap the magic carpet all  by herself and, with a boost, could ski the beginner chair lifts.  Weston loves the idea of skiing but is still working on the balance and strength to really make it happen (and patience) and there are a lot of snacks involved in ski days. 

More hiking!

Snacks while hiking - an essential part of the hike!  They are really good about sitting in a line here because they are getting hot chocolate - not usually this organized ;)

and bike riding in the city even in the middle of winter.  Wes is on a peddle bike and a tearing it up next to Elliot - they are a pair of speed demons! 

The kids continue to grow up and Wes is becoming a loving, supportive and thoughtful big brother.  He loves Fiona and really likes playing with her and making sure she is safe and happy.    

And Fiona is developing into a young woman in her own right - strong willed, talkative an adventurous.  Look at that hair!!

As the pandemic wore on, we started trying to do special days with each of the kids - to try and get some 1:1 parent / kid time.  Here are Wes and Crystal enjoying a snack at our local coffee rosters. 

And Elliot on the ski hill with Mom! Elliot really shreds the sicky gnar pow at this point and is legitimately fun to ski with! 

We still had family adventures, however, and this is us up sledding at White River snowpark on Mt. Hood - we met some friends up there for a sledding day and a fire / roasting hot dogs to follow!

We also took some time for ourselves through the winter - scheduling some childcare to make time to go on an adult ski day....although the weather didn't really cooperate. 

As time went along, we planned our last trip with Andrea - to Black Butte Ranch in the winter! Snuggly baby Fiona!  Look at those teeth!!!

And Wes drove the car a bit, or at least pretended to!

We skied for the first time at Cooper's Spur - on the far side of Mt. Hood, and it was GREAT!!! A bit of a longer drive, but very few lines, great snow and very accessible lifts for kids.  A hit for sure and we will definitely be back!

 

I told you....she shreds the sicky gnar pow!

Through all of this - Elliot was in Pod Kindergarten.  With the pandemic, her kindergarten instruction was all online and we partnered with four other families to hire a teacher (Bella!) to run a full day of in-person kindergarten based on the PPS curriculum.  Rotated houses each week and the kids got some consistent instruction, a solid group to learn with and really did better than we hard dared to hope at the beginning. 

and Fiona is pooping on the potty!

One fateful day, Wes was very quiet at nap time and only later did mom discover the extent of his coloring from a stashed marker.....

the true extent......smh....

no wonder he was quite for over an hour!!

Snowpocalypse 2021 brought us a series of winter days with a few inches of snow in Portland, however because it stayed cold - the snow stuck around longer than usual.  The roads were never plowed and we had a blast getting out and sledding / skiing / walking through our snowy neighborhood.  The kids loved sledding down "suicide hill" and the uniqueness of true snow in Portland was not lost on us. 

Welcome to Oregon Brenda!!!

Crystal volunteering as the physician on duty at one of the mass COVID vaccination sites!!!