What a Difference a Year Makes

As I was going through our pictures from 2011 I came across this picture of Micah and I at the end of last January. We had been at the Butterfly reserve north of Santa Barbara for a field trip. As we were heading home, the weather was so beautiful that we made an unexpected stop at the the beach in Santa Barbara and played in the water for a little while.

And one year later, we had another unexpected adventure. Lots of fun! But much colder this time!

With all the craziness of moving, getting settled and adjusting to a new job, Nathan and I had been wanting to take the kids away for some family time. But as we looked at the upcoming calendar, we realized it was either now, or much later. And the deal was much better if we did it now! So Nathan called his boss on Sunday afternoon to see if he could take a little time off, we made a reservation, and we were off! In the midst of our quick packing we realized that Ashlyn was trying to figure out this whole moving vs. vacationing thing as she asked what was going to happen to all the things in this house after we left. It seems she thought packing up the car again meant we must be moving. Poor girl! We're really confusing her!

Ready for a new adventure

Enjoying a little dinner on the road

 So where did we go? We headed north to Wisconsin, a state that none of us has ever been to. We found a little town called Wisconsin Dells - sort of a cross between McCall, ID (our favorite winter resort town) and Myrtle Beach, SC (our favorite beach). And it just happens to be what they call the Waterpark Capital of the World. Hmmm?!!

But before hitting the waterpark, we had something else on the agenda...

Downhill skiing!!

Yes, they do actually have skiing in Wisconsin. Not quite the Rocky Mountains, but the kids are beginners so this hill was just perfect!

Look how little the skis are? Aren't they so cute!

We had been planning to take Micah skiing for Christmas this year. But then our plans changed and we moved to Illinois instead. We figured that meant skiing was out until our next visit to the Northwest during the winter. But then we found out there are actually a few ski hills in the mid-west so we decided to give it a try. And at Cascade Mtn. in Wisconsin, kids ski free! Can't get any better than that!

Skiing was one of my favorite things to do growing up and I couldn't wait to be able to teach our kids to ski too!

Ashlyn and Daddy... almost at the top

I was super impressed with the bunny hill. It's been over 20 years since I spent time on the bunny hill so this might not be a new invention, but it was new to me... sort of an escalator for skis. Way better than the rope tow, and it doesn't ruin your gloves! So cool!

Here comes Micah!

Ashlyn's getting ready to go

Wheeeeee!

Watching the kids learn to ski brought back so many memories of when my good friend, Amy, and I first learned to ski at Brundage Mountain. I can remember it like it was yesterday. So glad our parents finally let us try it!

After a morning of learning it was time to hit the lodge for some hot cocoa and lunch.

Getting ready to head back outside

Silly Ashlyn!

Micah did fabulous out on the slopes! It wasn't long before he wanted to head up on the chairlift...

I realized we were in trouble when Micah wanted to take me up on the lift to show me what he and Daddy had found. He was only on skis for about 3 hours before he started looking for jumps!! They found a terrain park with all sorts of jumps! Aarrgghhh!

Ashlyn did a great job too! Before lunch she struggled a bit, but I think it was mainly because the thought of hot cocoa inside kept her from enjoying the slopes outside. But after lunch she was awesome. She even went up on the chairlift too (Daddy's idea) and skied on her own near the end of the runs. We were surprised at how much she enjoyed it! And we ended the day without any injuries. Praise the Lord!

After skiing we went back to the hotel and then over to their indoor waterpark. And this morning we were back at the waterpark again for a few hours before heading home. Here's a few pics from our last day...

Breakfast at Dunkin Dounuts! Mmmmm!

And then off for some water fun!

Micah braved the Crock-Walk...

He made it all the way across without falling in!

Here comes Micah...

Wow! That was fun!

Micah and Daddy racing down. Micah came down first...

But Daddy went farther

Bye Bye!