It ain't Colorado, but it was a good time.

We had so much snow this winter that we headed out to Mt. Crescent a couple times last month. It seems a bit of an exaggeration to call it a mountain, but it was perfect for us. All the fun of the bunny slopes in Colorado (where I spend all my time anyway) with a nice 20 minute drive instead of 10 hours. We all had a blast.
Paul and Adam trying to get it all figured out. Paul LOVED snowboarding and got to be crazy good. He was pestering Dave to do the Black Diamond runs. He knew better than to even ask wimpy me!

Adam seemed like a natural right off the bat on a snowboard. The second time we went he wanted to skiing instead. He was absolutely crazy on skis. He went straight down, whizzing by Dave and I. He told us he wants to be an olympic skier. Hmmm. Don't think too many come from Iowa, but dream big little boy!

Dave had heard that boarding was easier than skiing so he wanted to give it a try. After a couple runs down the slops he was dripping sweat and went and traded back in for skis. Can't say that I blame him. But props for giving it a go!

Noah didn't want to ski, but managed to have some fun anyway! Cute boy.

Walking Baby Jude

This is a video of baby Jude walking. He started at 9 months! Too many big brothers to keep up with, I guess. This one was taken after he had practically become a pro. Now he is unstoppable and really only bothers to crawl when he chases Smokey under the bed.

Gotta love the orange socks!

My Kitchen Counter

Ok. I am bizarrely excited about this one. I cleaned off my kitchen junk counter. I mean cleaned it OFF. It was stacked with every 'important' paper from the past three years, at least. Well, it turns out that after three years, very few things are still important. So, hello recycling bin! This may not seem like a significant post, but honestly, this is monumental and must be documented.

In fact. I'm gonna take a picture of it right now.

Destination Imagination Champs!!

Saturday Paul, Adam, and I went to Carroll, IA for the regional competition of DI. They are on a team with four other kids from church; Jet and Wynn Keller, Thomas Cruise and Carmen Long. I can't believe I didn't bring a camera... I always bring a camera.

There were a lot of surprises for the day. There was a mix up with the structure, theirs didn't have a big enough hole in the center. All the props had to fit in our container... they didn't, so we had to lose some. It took way longer to put on the newspaper costumes than expected. The best surprise of the day was that Team DInamite won 1st Place and is headed to STATE!!

They acted out a newspaper story about a soccer game and then did a fishing skit and finished up talking about the winter olympics. Then in the afternoon there was an instant challenge where they had 5 minutes to build something then 2 minutes to present a skit.

It's just awesome because the kids really had to do all the work. They came up with the idea, did the work, did the research and memorized their parts. I am so proud of them and can't wait to go to Ames on April 10th!!

Magic Kingdom

It was a little sunny... ok crazy burn your retinas sunny and we were trying to get our boys to look and smile. Well. This is the best we could do. The happiest place in the world.Paul and Adam were very excited to get their maps and decide what we should do. Don't they look so big?

All the boys on the carousel. Jude was loving it.

Ok. So the wait to drive the cars on the speeedway was about 45 minutes the first time we did it. Maybe time will go faster if we take some pictures... maybe not!
Dave and Noah ready to go!

Adam wasn't quite tall enough to ride by himself, but he still got to drive!

Paul was big enough, but it was quite a stretch to push the peddles and steer. A little practice for things to come.

Jude and I waited on the sidelines while the big boys drove.

Noah and I got to cut to the front of the line. I'm about 99% sure he was saying "Stop looking at me." at this point.

He definitely cheered up when we got in the car!

The exit to the Buzz Lightyear ride had some awesome decorations. The boys look way too comfortable in jail with Zurg.

Paul in his attempt to pull the sword from the stone. I guess Camelot can wait.

The coolest part of our trip was the Extra Magic Hours. We got 3 hours after the park closed where only Disney hotel guests could stay in the park. The night we did the Magic Kingdom we were there from 8 to 11 and it felt like a pretty late night, but the lines were soo short we just couldn't resist. Everyone is looking tired on the Winnie Pooh ride, but they still manage some not very authentic smiles!

Yep. It was a late night. Noah collapsed and claimed Jude's stroller. Jude got so heavy we finally stacked him on top. The next day we broke down and bought Noah an exorbitantly priced umbrella stroller. It was so worth it though.

One last picture of Cinderella's Castle. It was gorgeous with the changing lights. It was a great family vacation and we can't wait for the next one.

And believe it or not, I am DONE blogging about my vacation!

Epcot

As we walked around the World Showcase at Epcot they give out these little masks and at each country the kids can get it stamped and signed in the native language. My boys were only interested in being goof balls with them.

The Family.

Dave and baby Jude in Paris. Probably the closest I'm going to get to the Eiffel Tower for quite a while.

I just loved this picture because it was at the end of the night and everyone actually looks authentically happy. Even Jude, that makes it a good night!

Jude just REALLY enjoying his spaghetti. He was also getting into the music and belly dancing at the Moraccan restaurant.

Hollywood Studios

Paul and Noah loved The Tower of Terror. Adam... not so much.

Adam got to hang with me and Jude and the camera quite a bit at Hollywood Studios.

Aerosmith's Rockin Rollercoaster was much more his style.

Cute baby Jude playing with the 3D glasses at the Muppet Show. Mostly I think he was just happy to get out of the stroller.

Every time I see Charles Krauthammer I think he reminds me of a muppet but I can't remember which one. When I saw this guy at the show I got so excited I had to take a picture. He is Sam the Eagle... just in case its been bothering you too.