Finally, some sledding!

We finally got enough snow to really go sledding.  Benjamin wanted to come but it's finals week so he stay home to study.  The three other kids and I headed to our favorite spot - "Shade's Hill" aka. the hill behind the leasing office of a nearby apartment complex.  We adore it for it's kid perfect size and it's relative unknown status, so we always have plenty of hill to ourselves.

The first thing Peter did when he got his snow boot and snow suit on, was to fall face first like a domino into the snow.  Then scream.  And scream some more.  I worried it was a bad omen.  Luckily, I couldn't have been more wrong.  Other than his complete refusal to walk in his boots, he loved sledding.  He grinned all the way down every time and wanted to do it again and again.  Only when his gloves got soaked and his hands got cold did he start to complain.  We had a wonderful time. 

Christian gets better at "snowboarding" every time we go.  He made it all the way down the hill this time.  Just didn't get a good shot of it because he was heading straight for Peter, I realized, so I scooped him up and missed the photo-op.

Christian wanted to take Peter down too and they were able to sled together several times.  Often Bella ran into them at the bottom, but only once did it spray snow on the Peter and bother him.  Christian is such a great older brother.

 

Our Newest Eagle Scout

 Benjamin finished his eagle scout project a long time ago, but getting all the paperwork, interviews, etc done to finally get official approval for his rank finally finished last night.  Normally the last step is the "board of review" with the committee in person, but thanks to Covid, he got to do it from his own bedroom.  The committee made the comment, "You are 14, but you don't seem like 14.  You are mature, respectful, and very impressive."  It was a very proud moment.  We're very proud of Benjamin and all the hard work he's put into scouts over the years.  There were times he wanted to quit all this hard work, but he kept pushing forward and he got it done.

A Whole Lot of Nothing Going On

 After the week in Mexico, this week has seemed so incredibly dull.  Kids in online school, me cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Peter.  Still not going anywhere or doing anything due to Covid.  Too cold to play outside much.  It's been tough.  The only highlight of this week was that Benjamin's blue light glasses arrived in the mail and he loves them.  He and Kelly are now glasses twins. 

Other than that, there's nothing to talk about.  Christian and I make sure to get out as often as possible when the weather allows mostly because he's gotten a dog walking job for a neighbor.  Her husband died of covid and she's not well enough to walk the dog herself, so she hired Christian to do it.  He feels like he's rich beyond his wildest dreams now and it's gotten him out of the house regularly.  I always take Peter and come along on the walks so we can all get a little fresh air every day.  On days he doesn't walk the dog, we make sure to play on the trampoline.  Peter loves the trampoline.  He doesn't know how to jump, but he loves to run on it.  He runs and runs and runs, back and forth for what feels like forever.  He falls down a lot but never seems to get hurt.  He just laughs and pops back up again.  It's a great way to expend some energy.

One funny thing happened this week.  Peter is still a terribly picky eater.  He'll only eat 4-5 foods and I struggle every day to get him to try new things.  However, I was at the grocery store this week and as I passed by the sweet potatoes, he grabbed one from the display.  I figured he'd play with it for a bit and then I'd add it to my bag.  Next time I look at him, he's eating it!  Dirty nasty potato in his mouth and he's happily chewing away!  I'd tried to serve him sweet potato just the night before!  Baked to perfection, cubed to bite size.  He threw every piece on the floor and refused to even try it.  Here, though, dirty nasty thing went right into his mouth!  I couldn't believe it.  Maybe I'll roll his food in dirt next time I want him to try something new.

Lovely Mexico

We debated a long time whether or not to make the trip to Mexico during a pandemic but I'm sooo glad we did.  Other than the flights, we were as socially distanced as we ever are here and we had an amazing week.  The airlines are also really good at doing all they can to keep people safe, so although, I don't plan to fly again for a while, I'm so glad we took the chance and made some great memories.  The first thing that strikes me every time I go to that resort is the view from our room!  Combine the amazing resort pool with the ocean view and I could stand on the balcony all day. 

We kind of all felt that way.  Just stand there in awe of the roar of the ocean and its ceaseless waves, the wonderful warm sun on your face, and all the fun activities the resort runs all day long pool-side.  They have a DJ that works all day playing music, running games, etc.  It made it hard for the kids and Kelly to work on the patio as they'd hoped to do, but it made for a very fun, lively atmosphere.  

At first, Peter hated the ocean. He wanted nothing to do with that scary crashing salty water and barely even tolerated the sand.  He discovered the the sand is a source of really interesting shells, though, and was happy to sit there and explore while the kids played in the waves. 

After a day of sitting pool-side and observing,  he was willing to get in the pool and play there.  By the end of the week he was playing independently in the baby pool and even made a little friend with whom he shared pool toys.    

Other than the water, we enjoyed the shuffle board games, the pottery painting (didn't get a picture of that), and various other outside activities.  My favorite thing was photographing Christian's crazy hair.  He would swim in the waves and then the ocean breezes would dry his hair into the craziest of formations. He didn't appreciate me always saying, "Your hair is crazy!  Smile so I can take your picture!"  Kelly also took the kids on a speedboat ride through the mangrove forests and snorkeling, but I stayed at the resort with Peter and didn't get any pictures of that.  They loved the speed boat best, they said.

Near the resort they had what they called "Hydrobounce."  That was a lot of fun for the kids too.  It rained hard the day we were there, but when you're already soaked, who cares?

That same day, Kelly and the older two went parasailing.  They sat in a large seat attached to the parachute and flew all around the bay between mainland Cancun and the hotel strip.  The crazy thing was that it rained all day and the boat driver was saying they'd have to cancel our reservation.  It was scheduled for 3:30 and it was still pouring at 3:20.  We asked to just wait and see and he said he'd take us if it stopped raining before 5pm.  At 3:30, just as our appointment arrived, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and he waved us over to the boat.  What an amazing blessing.  The kids loved the trip.

On our last day there, we visited Isla Mujeres.  We were supposed to snorkel on the way there, but the winds were too high and they canceled that part of the trip.  No one was sad but me since I was the only one who hadn't snorkeled yet. 

 

The highlight for Benjamin was the all-you-can-eat buffet on the beach.  Fish tacos, taquitos, etc.  He had helping after helping.  He topped it off with about 20 churros.  

Isla Mujeres was way too much of a tourist trap for me.  I had agreed to the trip for the snorkeling and when that didn't happen, the trip was a waste, but the kids had fun riding golfcarts around the island (I stayed on the beach with Peter, so no pics of that) and eating unending amounts of tacos, so they counted it a win.  Also, the beach there was lovely.  So warm and clear and wave-free, so Peter loved it.

In trying to escape the tourist frenzy, we discovered a rocky beach on the north shore of the island that was also fun to explore.  Terrible for swimming, but a nice walking spot.

Pretty much the only downside to the whole trip were the very first moments in Mexico when we discovered that the rental car companies advertise cars and prices online that they never actually plan to deliver in reality.  We reserved a minivan for the week ahead of time, but when we got there, they said they didn't have it.  No apologies, just don't have it.  But they'd be happy to rent us another car for 5 times the price.  Not caring that our family would never fit in a regular car!  So we went from one rental car company booth to another looking for a rental minivan and every one either didn't have one or wanted 5-6 times their reported online price.  As we made our rounds, we heard several other irate American customers dealing with the exact same issue - online bait and switch.  So frustrating!  Finally we settled with someone who offered a somewhat more reasonable price but it was still 4 times the online price and still too small for our family.  Christian sat on the floor between Bella's legs the whole way from the airport to the resort and then Kelly went back in the morning and spent several hours there until he got a minivan for us.  After that experience I wanted nothing more to do with Mexico and their sneaky tricks, but other than people constantly trying to get us to sign up for a time share, we didn't have to deal with any other issues and the van was great to have.  Not having to wait for a bus or load/unload an infant car seat in a taxi every time we wanted to go somewhere and not having that additional cost each time was very nice.

It's kind of hard to be back in the cold and I miss practicing my Spanish.  Nearly every one spoke English in the resort but I got to practice with the maid who came every day and that was fun.  She was really nice and it was good to have someone that didn't just flip into English when I struggled a bit.  I learned a lot in just those few days.  It would have been fun to stay longer.  

Also, I learned how to be a little more flexible with my cooking.  We didn't have many of the same ingredients or supplies as at home and I had to read all the Spanish  labels very carefully to know what I was buying.  The resort offered food programs, but they wanted $2,240 for the week and I managed to grocery shop and feed the whole family for just $150.  I cooked all meals and snacks all week since Kelly was working, except two nights when he had the time and he struggled tremendously without his fancy spices, knives and pans.  He declared, "You definitely win the "cooking on the road" prize, as he dumped half his meal in the trash on the first night.  He bought a whole bunch of other ingredients and supplies (including a new pan!) for the final night and made an elaborate taco meal for us that was much better and we all enjoyed it.  

I don't know when we'll ever get to do this again given how cheap flights were due to covid and the kids' online school, so I'm glad we took the opportunity.

Merry Christmas!

 This has been a nice Christmas.  I invited Thea over for Christmas eve dinner because I knew she didn't have plans and felt terrible that she'd have to spend Christmas alone.  I figured covid wasn't worth making a poor woman be alone on Christmas.  I'm glad we invited her because it was really nice to have her join us.  We had a big dinner thanks to Kelly and acted out the nativity scene (Bella was shepherd, Christian was sheep, Kelly was Joseph and narrator, Thea was inn keeper, I was Mary, Benjamin was wiseman, and Peter was baby Jesus for a second year).  Peter was squirmy in his role as Jesus at first, but I said, "Peter, can you just sit still with me for a little while?" and he did!  I never thought that would work, but he sat completely still from that point on until I told him he could get up.  Then we read the classic poem A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Moore and listened to part of the Christmas sermon from Ward Presbyterian that I'd heard on Sunday and really liked, and then we all played Family Feud together.  It was a lot of fun.

Christmas morning the kids woke us up at 7am excited as could be to open presents.  Benjamin got socks, underwear, jeans, sweatshirts, a fitbit watch, candy, money, and blue light glasses.  Bella got chalk pastels, charcoal pencils, an Xacto knife, a sleeping bag, a blanket, a pocket knife, sweatshirt, card game, candy, and money.  Christian got Addidas flip flops, church pants, pocket knife, board game, dot to dot books, candy and money.  Everyone was very happy.  After presents we had our traditional ham, cheese, and egg on croissants and went out to play in the snow.  We shoveled our driveway and Barb's driveway and made snow angels.  Christian wanted to play tic-tac-toe in the snow, so we crawled all over our yard drawing game after game in the freshly fallen snow.  Sadly it was too powdery to build anything out of it.

Since then we've mostly been busy playing board games and card games, taking care of all the neighbor's pets while they're on vacation (daily visits to 3 homes - 2 cats, 1 dog), playing Christmas songs on the piano, and Kelly has been enamored with the marble set we got for Peter.  Peter loves the marbles and loves watching them roll, but it's Kelly who has spent a lot of time building.  Sadly, this set is terribly flimsy and Peter is constantly knocking Kelly's beautiful creations to the ground as he places the marbles into the tubes.  I'm frustrated by the cheap construction of such an expensive set.  Kelly doesn't seem to mind, though.  He's loved spending time with Peter building and when they break, it's just an excuse to build it again.  We've also been watching Christmas movies such as Elf, Noelle, The Santa Clause, Christmas Chronicles,  Home Alone, and The Grinch and reading Christmas books, such as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson and The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements.

The biggest Christmas surprise this year was an offer by Kelly's parents to use their time share next week.  They aren't going and don't want it to go to waste, so we're off to Cancun, Mexico on Saturday.  We debated back and forth about the wisdom of traveling during a pandemic, but how do you pass up a free resort stay in Mexico??  Airfare is 1/2 price right now and the kids have online school so they wouldn't be missing anything.  Plus, we'll just be on the beach and in our private condo as isolated as we are here in Michigan, so we're going.  I'm nervous and excited.  It'll be fun but oh so much preparation and work to make it all happen with a 1 year old!  Warm weather, here we come.

Christmas Trees

We finally set up all our trees this week.  I made sure to accompany the set up with a fun new toy for Peter so he was busy with that while we put up all the ornaments.  It worked really well and now the tree has been up for 3 days and still he hasn't broken a single thing.  It's a miracle.  My older kids broke an ornament a day every year.

We decided to put a little tree up in Peter's room with no fragile things, Christian wanted a tree on his dresser in his room that he decorated all by himself, and then we have our main tree in the living room.  It really is wonderful what a festive spirit the tree, twinkling with lights, brings to a room.

Every year I'm amazed how much more independence the kids show as they set everything up.  Other than the tree itself and the lights and tinsel on the high branches, I didn't have to do a thing.  I just enjoyed watching Bella and Christian do it.  They love unpacking each ornaments and remembering when they got it or where it's from.  Benjamin was busy with minecraft and didn't want to participate, but I made him come in and help me with the lights at one point in the hope that he would stay, but he didn't. 

Christian loves to give Peter shoulder rides, but Peter has started wanting to hold onto Christian's face.  It looked so funny the other day that I had to take a few pictures.  Unfortunately for Christian it wasn't as funny as it looked. Peter grabbed so hard that his little toddler fingernails grabbed right into this gums and left his mouth bloody!  He's taking a break from shoulder rides for a while.

Build it Up and Tear it Down

We never miss an opportunity to play in freshly fallen snow.  We got only a little snow compared with areas farther east, but it was just enough for Christian to construct a snow wall as a defense in a snowball fight.  He (and later Bella too) used the recycling bin to form the blocks.  Bella, he and I all had snow shovels and shoveled our yard clean in an attempt to gather enough snow for the wall.  I felt rather foolish shoveling the grass but it was for a good cause.  Once the mini wall was built, Christian sat atop his wall in all his Trump-ish glory and Bella fanned him with her snow shovel like a slave would fan a Pharaoh.  All plans to use it as protection in a snowball fight vanished.  

After fanning Christian, Bella wanted a turn at the seat of honor.  She thought Peter might like to sit with her, but he was not in agreement.  

Within seconds of being done, Christian suggested destroying it.  Bella readily agreed.  I voiced the only dissenting vote as I exclaimed, "Wait!?  What?!  I just shoveled the whole backyard to make that!"  They were unsympathetic.  They hacked and kicked and jumped and in no time, the wall was reduced to snow rubble.  They declared that the destruction was every bit as fun as the construction.  After that they laid down to rest and caught snowflakes on their tongues.

After they'd rested, Christian played with Peter for a while.  Peter most enjoyed being pushed around the yard on the shovel.  I really need to get the sleds down out of the attic!

Yesterday the weather was wet and cold in a slushy, rainy, snowy way and Christian lacked all desire to go outside.  So we designed an indoor exercise activity.  Using varying treadmill speeds, varying bag locations, and varying jump styles, we created what will certainly be a new olympic event.  I kind of stunk at it but Christian was the champ.  I found I have a little too much self preservation instinct to allow myself to fly through the air as he does.  He makes it look easy, but I found I had some inner hesitations that were hard to overcome.  I had some decent jumps but Christian went home with the gold medal.  Here's a small sample.

Today we decorated our much anticipated gingerbread houses while watching church.  I hadn't planned to make one, but Benjamin got bored early with his and told me I could work on it with him.  Once I started, then everyone had ideas and his house became the family project.  His house got a swimming pool for the gummy bears, a frosting tree, a gum drop modern art statue and a whole field of pine trees, not to mention all that got added to the house itself.  Everyone was quite proud of how it turned out.  Then immediately they decided that it had been so fun to destroy their snow wall, why not their gingerbread house?  I was shocked they didn't want to leave it for even an hour!  Bella saved hers but was more than happy to join in the destruction of the others.  Sprinkles went flying, everyone was laughing, and in no time at all, they were reduced to crumbs.  They are psychos.  There can be no other explanation. :)