Snow and Sand

A recap, in photos, of the past 4 days here in the CLE.

Thursday evening:  A crisp, 28 degree evening.  Perfect for the kids' first time skiing...

Saturday: 65 degree sunshine.  Of course we went to the beach...

Snow:


 I've had the opportunity this year to help chaperone my school's ski club.  I've been meaning to do it for years, and finally had Monday nights free.  Of course, between snow days and warm spells, we've not gone skiing too many Mondays!  But the two sessions I did have were terrific.  A little bit of head-counting on the bus is a very small price to pay for a few hours of skiing with good company and amazingly short lift lines.  I ski so rarely these days, I forget every time just how much I enjoy it.

I discovered at my last session an added bonus:  free passes on my advisor card to ski later in the season!  We looked at the forecast and realized that "later in the season" may very well mean "this week."  So, on Thursday morning we decided that a spontaneous ski trip, on a school night, would be the perfect idea.

Lucky for us, it turned out well. We had 4 free passes and used them all and FINALLY got both of our littles out on the slopes.

This one took to it like a natural.  He was skiing Buttermilk by the end of the evening and asking when we would be back...

Little girl tackled things with her trademark enthusiasm until her trademark low blood sugar hit and she fell apart.  She has decreed that "Tubing is much more fun!"

Sand:

On February 18th, in both 2014 and 2015, I had a snow day.  This year, we were barefoot by the lake.  Can't keep up with this weather.  While this warm spell in February is a bit creepy, we are certainly enjoying it.  Driving with the windows down, airing out the house, soaking up the vitamin D. We had a magical Saturday, complete with  a kids Brass concert at my mom's church, lunch out, and almost two hours at our lake.  Topped it off with dinner and board games with friends... AND the fact that it was only day 1 of a three day weekend... not too shabby...

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Happy "Spring" everyone (going to enjoy it while we've got it!!)

Winter Sports Week!

These past 5 days have been an extravaganza of athleticism and fun around here.  Interspersed with quiet times at home, playdates with friends, and plenty of Valentine making.  

Not to mention crazy weather ranging from snowy 12 degrees to a rainy 60...

Never a dull moment here in the CLE!

Ivy's observation night.  The girls keep getting taller but the cuteness is still too much to handle...

 They sure do love Miss Beth.  Here are their faces as they watched her set up the cones to "leap" over....  "Higher, higher!!"

And everyone's favorite:  the parachute!

Also Wednesday:  Jack's final night of Indoor Soccer Academy.  I am so proud of him for sticking it out after a rough first few sessions. He had fun and learned quite a bit.  Now maybe someday he will learn to stop being his own worst critic....

 Thursday:  Swimming with friends at the JCC-- and some fun in the raquetball court after...

I love the way Ivy is looking after (not-so-little-anymore) Sally...

Saturday:  Tubing with Hiram Alumni!

It was a kind of warm day for snow tubing, it turns out.

 The lanes were a little slower than last year, but it was still...

...wait for it...

 ...  a "blast"!

After Jack took a tumble and retired to the bonfire with Nat to nurse his pride, I spent quite a bit of time riding up this conveyor with this hilarious girl.  She enjoyed marching back down towards me as the belt moved up...  dramatic smile on her face....She is the best.

The little girls could NOT get enough.  "One more time, one more time!"  We kept going a good half hour after our passes ran out..

 Actually I have to admit it wasn't just the little girls who wanted to keep playing.  We discovered the fun of tubing in a linked group of 10 (the max number allowed) and it was definitely the way to go.  More weight = more speed, plus that many more smiling faces to watch, that much more infectious laughter from the children.  Their little faces, all alight.  The best.

Letting the good times linger around the fire...

Happy Valentine's Week to you all!

Snow and Flowers

 This week started with the most pleasant of surprises: a snow day!  And a completely unexpected one at that.  Went to bed to light flurries on Sunday, and woke to this view:

And our luck continued when the snow tapered off and the roads cleared by midday, so we could join every other family in Cleveland Heights on Coventry Hill. 

 What a magical afternoon!

Perfect powdery snow. friends to the right and left, and a happ dog running up and down the hill alongside...

 This boy was catching some serious air over a jump the big kids constructed, and learning to sled standing up.

 After sledding, a whole troupe of friends came to our place for cocoa and conversation.  A gift of a dy indeed.

The littles had themselves a second snow day on Tuesday while I slogged through the snow to work.  The roads could've been worse and to tell the truth I really hate to miss too many days during the 3rd quarter-- so much to cover, so little time...

Thinking of time flying-- spring (??) conferences were Thursday at Boulevard.  We were duly informed that the kids are all right. Jack walked us through his data folder and Mrs. Bellini sent us home with a stack of books for our "too fast" reader to keep busy with in his free time.

Ivy showed us all of the centers in her classroom with great precision and in great detail, and  Mrs. Saad left her in charge of the room when she went to dinner!

 A quiet, chilly rest of the week, with lots of time snuggled in watching TV...

And today, flowers!

 Orchid Mania has come to town and we had a marvelous time amid the profusion of blooms.

Ivy dutifully completed a scavenger hunt, holding her paper up against me to color in the squares.  Jack tried his hand at focal point photography, happily catching shots of the "exotic pigeons" as well as a cluster of ants eating bird poop.

He's a natural.

The Gardens were truly fantastic, festooned with architectural elements to showcase the architecture of the flowers.

 An indoor pool and fountain!  And more of the same in the entryway, complete with fog machines.  We are hoping to make it there at night sometime.

Aren't they just unreal!!

 My favorite flowers of all.

Enjoying Rice Krispie squares the size of their heads...

 Sometimes they are a little intense....

 But always just perfect.