Steamboat Springs Ski trip (at long last!)

Cue the music . . . . I actually made it to Colorado this year!

And it was awesome! The mountains, the skiing, the seeing my friend - so, so good.

I was super-nervous about this being a sort of cursed enterprise, so I didn't think it wise to go back to the same place as last year's ill-fated trip. So, instead of Crested Butte (which I hear was lovely), we went to Steamboat. Which was very, very nice.

(As a side note, when Mike and I were in Glacier a few years back, we were riding in a shuttle seated bus behind a family from Texas. One of their kids - a boy, about 11 or so - was clearly awed by all the scenic beauty, and he turned to his brother and said (I kid you not!) "Yah almost forget what Fort Worth looks like." Oh, my prophetic soul.) Anyway, being in Colorado was like that - you almost forgot what Fort Worth looked like.

This is not Fort Worth.

Speaking of forgetting and remembering, I was totally worried that, since it had been nearly six years since I'd last skied, I'd be a disaster on the mountain. That was not true, thankfully. In fact, I was rather pleased that I was able to keep up with my dear friend (although she may have slowed down for me!). Something else that was a big help? Fleece long underwear! Where has this stuff been all my life? Oh, right. I live in Texas. Nevermind; you know what I mean.

We only skied for two days - our first day was a challenging snowy, low-light day.

But our second day was glorious and perfect and sunny and warm.

We were staying at this motel downtown that was the perfect blend of kitsch and comfort.

Best of all, the motel was not only in front of a mountain shuttle stop, but also across the street from the actual Steamboat Springs hot springs.

Alas, after a hard day of skiing, some hot tubbing, and dinner, we didn't do much else. And that was perfect. I had these visions that Miso and I would sit around and knit and chat, but we were just too tired! On the other hand, being able to go to sleep when you're tired and knowing that you've got an uninterrupted night of sleep in front of you is really, truly a luxury (for which I thank Mike greatly!).

On my last day there, I had an afternoon flight out. So I spent the morning just chilling in the town. I actually walked to a lovely little coffeehouse and sat and knitted and breakfasted in peace. And look at all that hot coffee! And that scone! Just for me!

On my way back from my coffee interlude, I came across the town's Winter Carnival Parade. Notice that all the high school kids in the marching band are "marching" on cross country skis. How awesome is that? I think I might be in love.

This was a totally successful, amazing weekend getaway. What a change of pace! And, best of all, I got to come back to my two loves - all rested and refreshed and full of stories!

Love to all!

We didn't mail Valentines this year, but here are the pictures I would have put on a card, had I had done a card-making project.

So, well, enjoy! Love to you!

We kept it pretty mellow this year. I was actually out of town the weekend before (more on that later), but I came home to some lovely flowers. On the actual day, Mike made us some delicious pizza. We also had a nice dinner at home this Saturday, after the small one had gone to sleep. Mike made curry and home-made naan (this is totally one of those things I didn't think was possible to make at home, but it is! And it's really, really good!) and I made a Texas sheet cake from my new favorite desserts-just-for-two website (so then I guess it's more like a washcloth cake? Or a pillowcase cake? Ha, ha).

Other food things? We also had crêpes one night. This was Natalie's first time trying them - I think we can agree that they were a hit!

On that note, big girl has started to get a lot more specific about her food descriptions. She'll still sometimes say that something is "not yummy", but she's also happy to let you know that something is "spicy a lot" (said about Thai food), "too juicy" (said about a runny poached egg), or "too crunchy" (said about yogurt?). She's also let us know that the Jewish holiday of Tu Bishvat (the New Year of the Trees) is "kind of crunchy" - indeed, it sort of is!

Also, here's a funny story from some months ago. Back in the fall, her class at school was studying Noah's Ark. My mom asked her what was on Noah's Ark. And she told my mom, "animal crackers."

Indeed. The medium is the message, etc.

Here are a few other Natalie pictures:

Keep reading! (And I promise a post soon about my weekend away!)

January round-up

Natalie is going through a, uh, less restful phase at night, so most early evenings find me too tired to blog (and most early mornings find one of us curled up on the carpet - or, "the fuzzies", as she calls it - in her room. But that's another story).

Anyway, so we've been doing things, but I have been sort of neglecting writing about them.

First, though - a post-script on our time in San Diego. I have two cute animal-related stories that I forgot to share earlier. First, once my aunt and uncle's dog (Pumpkin) was resting on the couch at my grandmother's house, and the dog sort of scooted so his tummy was exposed, hoping for a belly rub. Natalie found this HI-LARIOUS, and kept saying "Pumpkin upside down, Pumpkin upside down" over and over. So cute! Second, one day we walked down by the part of town where you can see the seals resting on the beach. The seals were actually being quite noisy that morning. We asked Natalie if she wanted to talk to the seals and maybe tell them about what she'd had for breakfast, and she barked out "Aaaar, arrrr, watermelon yummy, aarrrroo." Who knew the kid could speak seal?

Back in the (seal-free) present, we had a pretty serious rainstorm here last week. So serious, in fact, that the reservoir-lake near us came up five feet! It's great, we need the rain, and Natalie is well-equipped!

On the subject of sunny days, here she is "playing picnic" (which just involves spreading out all over the floor any and all blankets, washcloths, changing pads, etc. that she can find), going for a walk, and trying out some sunglasses.

We've also had a festive month! First, it was Felix's birthday! 

Second, Mike and I went to the very lovely wedding of a former co-worker of mine.

We've been cooking some, too. Last weekend I made a lighter version of this butternut squash and wild mushroom bread pudding. It was a fair amount of work to assemble all the parts. But it was also really, really good.

Mike's also been on a bread kick, making his own naan and pita breads. Pictures to follow!

Last, Natalie's school had a "Texas Shabbat". We're still unclear as to exactly what was different from a regular shabbat, other than that the kids all dressed up. But, hey, that was pretty dern cute!

Also, I do not know the name of this rodeo event, but our cowgirl has it down.

In closing, here is a shot of Natalie in her pajamas. Sleep tight!

Back in the Swing of Things

Well, we're trying to get all our routines re-established. It's been a strange few weeks with me back at work (and very busy), but Mike not working, and Natalie re-adjusting to her school after the extended holiday break.

Some days, it's hard just to change out of your pajamas, you know?

But, seriously, things are going well on all fronts. We've been going to the park a lot lately (this being the season of (mostly) reasonable weather here).

We play inside, too.

And here's Natalie playing with / wearing Daddy's shirt and discussing her job as a professor (and, yes, she even gives a discipline!).


One last photo of big girl outside:

San Diego

We're back from San Diego, and we had a lovely time. So lovely, in fact, that I managed to check out and forget to take some great pictures of all of us in my grandmother's living room, the four generations together, and the lovely Chanukah party with our good friends. What can I say? You get what you pay for, I guess!

But have no fear, I do have some pictures and stories!

The crew:

Coffeecake

Natalie helping Pumpkin open his present.

"Who's Pumpkin?" you ask. This is Pumpkin:

Pumpkin belongs to my aunt and uncle who live in San Francisco. This was Natalie's first real prolonged encounter with a dog in the same house. We discovered that two year-olds and puppies are pretty evenly matched - at least in their ability to create havoc! But, seriously, Natalie loved Pumpkin. Whenever Pumpkin wasn't near or was sleeping, Natalie wanted to go see and play with him. But then, when Pumpkin would show any interest at all in her, she'd turn and run, screeching and laughing joyously and demand to be picked up, urgently. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Over. And. Over.

Pumpkin was great, but Natalie's true love is still Oma's kitty cat. In fact, returning from the beach at one point, we had this conversation:
Mike: Let's go upstairs and see Oma.
Natalie, hopefully: See Oma's kitty cat?

However, don't let the kitty cat love fool you. We also had this conversation when Natalie and I had had to abruptly come back into the house.
Me, to Mike: Ask Natalie why she had to come inside.
Mike: Why did you have to come inside?
Natalie: Ka-buzz I kick the kitty cat again.
(To clarify, they weren’t hard kicks - so much so that I felt the first one just might have been an accident, hence the warning that if she did that again, we’d need to come in. Guess the first one wasn't an accident. Also, I don't know what's more adorable here, her use of "ka-buzz" for "because" or the little "again" tacked on the end of the sentence.)

We also went to the beach.

Yeah, we still like the beach. A lot.

But Oma's yard is fun, too.

Speaking of fun, we also had a lovely lunch with my friends from high school and their kids (so, so weird to write that phrase, by the way). It was so nice to be together, and more than a little sad for me to realize that if we lived in San Diego, these kids would be Natalie's friends, and we'd have a lot more parties like this.

On the left: Natalie + ice cream. As genetics would suggest, ice cream was a big hit! On the right: the newest arrival. And, why, yes, I did make that hat!

We also went to one of cousin Emilia's basketball games.

Given her recent experiences, Natalie was a bit puzzled by the concept of whole-team, non-punitive time-outs.

And, as is the custom, we had sublime sushi with the Seattle contingent.

Time for some more park pictures, no?

 

And here's a video of big girl attempting to catch some birds (hint: she wasn't all that successful).


And a shot from the airport on our way home. As you can surely see, we had a good time!