Escaping Winter

Winter's been fun.  Lots of sledding, lots of snow forts and snow ball fights, lots of shoveling (that became not so fun) but we have decided we are done with winter.  The kids have started riding their bikes and wearing shorts (yes, outside) and are pretty much ignoring the fact that it's still below freezing.  We've signed up for soccer (Bella and Christian) and baseball (Benjamin) and we've booked our trip to Utah for spring break.  We are ready!! :)

In the meantime, I got to escape the cold for a while with a trip to Miraval Resort, in Tuscon Arizona.  That was heaven.  My mother and I spent a girls' weekend there and I knew I was in the right place when the plane landed and I saw that the guy waving the plane in was wearing only a t-shirt and shorts.  Between the massages, the yoga classes, the horseback riding, lounging by the pool, and the fabulous food (all in 75 degree weather), I was rejuvenated and ready to face winter for a few more months.

This is me with my horse Elvis:

Then to further escape the cold, Kelly and I took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge.  It looked so fun on-line and I'd heard great things about it, but I have to be honest, my initial reaction when I saw the place from the inside was, "Ack!  So many people all in the same little pool!"  It was shoulder to shoulder with strangers in the water and I'm a bit of a germ-o-phobe so it took some mental effort to get me into the water with so many strange, large, hairy men and all those children who I knew weren't taking potty breaks.  But I just looked at my kids and how happy they were and how much fun they were having swimming and sliding and splashing and in the end I had a great time too.  When we weren't swimming we were running around playing Magic Quest - their in-house electronic game where you can wave a wand at various pictures and statues in the place to solve mysteries.  Benjamin loved it most of all.  I took Christian to a room with toys and books and crafts when he got tired of running up and down the stairs chasing after the big kids.  There was a girl working in there that read him books in all sorts of crazy voices and he had a blast.  He asked her to read the same ones over and over again and she did it every time.  So cute.

Her face says it all, doesn't it?  I just love that smile.

Christian's preschool had a field trip to a bakery which allowed each kid to decorate their own cake.  He loved that.  I was surprised by how conservative he was with it.  I expected him to douse it in as much sugar as possible, as Bella had when she'd done the same field trip.  Christian, however, treated it like a careful work of art.  He carefully placed the sugar decorations evenly around the circumference of the cake and the dotted icing in symmetrical patterns in the empty spaces. I couldn't have done a better job.

He also went on a trip to the fire station with his friends.  He loved sitting in the fire trucks and seeing all the equipment in the ambulance.  His favorite part was when the fireman put on his full fire gear and showed them how they talk through the mask when they're in smoke and how they wear a strong helmet to protect themselves.  The fireman got on all fours and let the kids bang on his helmet to show that it keeps him safe.  Christian and Bella (who also came along) loved the idea of being given permission to bang on a grown-up's head.  They took full advantage.  He may have regretted that move later!

Christian has loved preschool and has been awesome in his letter learning at home.  He can write his full name now without any help and he knows all his letters upper and lower case through T.  We are on U right now.  So amazing how quickly he's learned them once he decided that he wanted to.

Isabella and Benjamin have been taking an acting class these last few months that they've really enjoyed.  The last day of class involved them putting on the play Tangled (Rapunzel).  Benjamin was Flynn Ryder and Bella was Pascal.  Bella loved the play until she discovered she'd have to wear a costume and she hated the costume her teacher had.  Then it was a battle to even get her to go on stage. She thwarted our costume efforts and wore her cowgirl boots and some tights.  I talked to her about how this isn't a fashion show; it's theater and you wear what your part requires.  In the end, though, I threatened to take away screen time for a month if she didn't at least wear the hat.  She looked nothing like a chameleon but at least she wore the hat.  They both did a great job, Benjamin especially.  He learned all his lines so quickly and was the only one who didn't need a cue from off-stage at some point during the play.

That same day, one hour later, Benjamin had his spring piano recital.  When I'd picked him up from school that afternoon, he'd complained he had a sore throat.  A kid in his class had strep a few days earlier, so I worried when he told me that.  His throat did look really red, but not the classic strep look, and he didn't have a fever, so I told him to go to bed and rest and I'd wake him in time for the play.  He was sound asleep when it came time to leave.  I wouldn't have woken him if it had just been the recital.  I would have just texted his teacher and told her we weren't coming, but you can't perform Tangled without Flynn Rider!  So he went to the play feeling miserable.  We said a prayer together that he'd feel strong and be able to do well.  He did great and felt up to going to his recital too.  During the recital, however, as he waited for his turn, he started to fade again.  He crawled into my lap at one point and curled up - not easy since he's nearly as tall as I am.  When his turn came I was impressed that he did as well as he did given how lousy he felt.  He only messed up slightly on the second piece but I think it's because he never practiced that piece with the accompaniment at home.  Not everyone has a $2,000 Clavinova at home!  It was hard to get used to playing with it when you only do it once a week at your teacher's house and then only for the last 2 weeks.  Otherwise, I was so proud of him.  All he cared about, though, was going to bed.  He went straight to sleep, still fully clothed the moment we came home.  Poor boy.