First foray into skiing

Since I'm pregnant I, obviously, was not skiing on the trip to Beaver Creek despite the fact that the trip was originally my idea.  But that was ok because I just got to hang around the condo Saturday morning while Jason, Kelly, and Tripp headed off to ski school.  They scheduled a half day private lesson (do this also, well worth it!) and all said that they enjoyed their French-Canadian instructor Bobby.

I don't know that they took any pictures of ski school (at least I don't have any), but just to help your visualization here are some pictures of the bottom of the slopes.

They all made it through gamely.  Tripp had skiied before and I heard picked it back up very quickly.  Neither Jason nor Kelly had skiied before so they were a little slower but still did good.

We all ate lunch at Blue Moose Pizza and rested for a little bit before Kelly and Tripp headed back out.  Jason chose to spend the afternoon with me which was sweet of him because it had gotten kind of sad with the rest of them leaving and having fun skiing.  Jason and I explored the village after lunch and went through some shops although we didn't buy anything.  We headed back to the condo and then went and met Kelly and Tripp by the Centennial Lift where the chefs give out free, warm chocolate chip cookies every day at 3 pm.  The chefs would come out in their white hats with silver trays piled high with cookies and they would get swarmed before they could even get on the snow! 

In our exploring we did see this little stream and took some pictures of it because it was so beautiful.

By the time everyone made it back to the condo we were exhausted so we took some time to rest before dinner.  It started snowing that afternoon which made everything even more beautiful.  We walked to Toscanini for dinner and enjoyed a good meal.  Sadly, the little bit different taste of their Italian food didn't sit well with me so I didn't eat much but we made up for it by stopping at the market for ice cream on the way home.  We ended the night with a competitive game of Spades (we won which I'm pretty sure is the first game we've won when we've played Kelly and Tripp!) before heading to bed.

Welcome to Beaver Creek!

Last Spring we started talking about taking a ski trip with Kelly and Tripp.  I really wanted to go skiing since I hadn't been since the eighth grade and everyone else said that they were game with the idea.  So we started looking in to where to go and quickly got overwhelmed with all of the descriptions and options.  Then we found out that a charity event that we were going to had a week-long trip to Beaver Creek as part of their live auction and so we decided to get that trip if it wasn't too expensive.  Well, we were some of the only people that apparently wanted to go skiing and hadn't yet booked a trip so we won the trip!

Last Friday we set out bright and early for Colorado.  Our flight left at 7:15 which meant we got up at 4:30 AM which is no easy pill to swallow for this tired, pregnant girl.  But I was excited about the trip so it wasn't too hard to get up.  We had a 3.5 hour flight to Denver which was pretty uneventful.  It was a long flight though for someone who needs to go to the bathroom frequently but I managed and we landed safely.  As we were waiting to deplane Jason got a text from Tripp (they were sitting about 5 rows behind us) saying that Antoine Dodson was standing in the aisle behind us.  Turns out, he had sat across the aisle from Tripp the entire flight.  Needless to say, I wasn't too impressed with his travel attire.

We then had to take a 30 min flight from Denver to Vail.  The plane was decent sized (six seats across) but the flight was still just so bumpy going over all of the Rockies.  If we come back in the future we'll probably just drive from Denver because we would have gotten to Beaver Creek around the same time.  We had scheduled a private car to take us from the airport to the condo (definitely do this!) and we saw our driver standing there with a sign with our name on it!  Sadly, he folded it up before I could get a picture of it.  We enjoyed a pretty drive from the airport to our condo and got all settled in.

We then headed out to explore and let me say that the town of Beaver Creek is so neat.  It has a common area running through the area with cobblestone, an ice rink, and shops and restaurants and the condos/hotels are all on the outer perimeter of this area.

We ate a late lunch at The Flying Pig.  Their sandwiches were really good!

We then headed back to the condo so that everyone could get fitted with their equipment.  A man delivered everything to our condo (do this also, it's no extra money but the convenience is so nice!) and they were all set and ready to hit the slopes!  We were pretty lazy that afternoon due to our very early morning, plane ride that didn't sit too well with us, and a little bit of altitude unease.  But we managed to get back out to find some dinner.  We ate at The Dusty Boot and definitely all enjoyed our hamburgers!  We turned in early and got ready for everyone else to go skiing the next day!

A Dog Day Afternoon

The weather has turned beautiful in our area and we've been taking full advantage of it by taking walks and going to the park.  Charlotte has apparently outgrown walks in her stroller and now when you ask if she wants to go on a walk she says, "Way-gun!" and gets all excited.  Last week I dressed Charlotte in one of my favorite outfits of hers and we walked to the park that afternoon. 

Pictures in the driveway before we left

All set and ready to go in her wagon!

The only problem was that Charlotte didn't like the swing and so I set her down after I took her out and after that she didn't want back up.  She loved going down the slide (and still says "Hi slide!" when we drive by it) and definitely didn't want to leave the park.  I finally talked her in to it and she walked all the way up the hill holding my hand by herself because she still didn't want to be picked up.  I might not take her to the park by myself again -- I felt outnumbered even though it was one on one!

Happy Day!

Charlotte had a great Valentine's Day this year!

She learned how to say "Happy Valentine's Day!"

She exchanged Valentine's with her friends at school and received her first dozen roses from her Daddy! (the yellow ones)

And we had a fun afternoon playing!

Then we got some Valentine's treats and Mommy made a Valentine's peach pie!

Charlotte Unplugged

Charlotte's speech and understanding has skyrocketed in the last month.  All of a sudden she's stringing three and four words together to make a sort of sentence and has gotten in to pretend play more and more.  It's so much fun watching her little brain grow and develop! And it does it all at such a quick pace it's astounding! She'll all of a sudden start saying words and phrases and I have no idea where she learned them (I'm guessing school or church nursery!).  It's amazing!

So I thought I'd share some of the precious things Charlotte is doing these days.

Charlotte is all about things being in their place (like Mother/Father like Daughter I guess!).  We put our laundry into baskets for whites and colors but stack our clothes that go to the cleaners on the floor until we are ready to take them.  That arrangement doesn't work for C.  She knows that clothes go in the hampers so any time she comes into our closet she picks up those clothes and puts them away where she thinks they should go!

Charlotte has finally gotten tall enough to climb onto furniture.  She found a picture of Elmo in an entertainment magazine recently and climbed up in my chair to "read" the magazine herself.  She also loves flipping through my books even though there aren't any pictures!

In these two pictures she's "pouring" herself tea and then drinking it.  She loves to pour tea for others but one caveat, you have to make big slurping noises when you pretend to drink!

Charlotte loves walking around in our shoes these days.  It doesn't matter if their slippers, Daddy's loafers, or 3 inch heels she gets her feet in them and then walks around the house in them!  It's quite impressive that she can master heels already at her age! :)

Charlotte also loves talking on the phone these days.  She says phone very clearly and has actually started responding when someone on the phone asks her questions.  But mostly she just likes walking around listening to someone talk!

If You Give Charlotte a Cupcake.....

Our typical routine of stopping at the local cupcake shop for a cupcake after Charlotte's doctor's appointments was thwarted when she had an 11:30 appointment and we didn't leave until 12:45 which is 45 minutes into her typical naptime.  She did ok at the doctor but we had to run straight home because she was close to a meltdown after a shot and missing some of her nap.

Waiting before her appointment

But since her appointment was so traumatic (for both of us) with a shot and news that her ear infection was still there I decided to make Charlotte her own cupcakes while she was asleep and let her ice some of them when she woke up.  I made white cupcakes with chocolate icing and iced about half while she was still asleep and when she got up I set her up in a chair with one cupcake and a spoon full of icing and tried to get her to ice her cupcake.

No dice on actually putting the icing on the cupcake but the spoon immediately went in her mouth!  I had tried to talk her into wearing her cute new apron that she got for Christmas but she initally wasn't having any of that either.  But soon she changed her mind and wanted hers on so I put it on and kept trying to get her to ice her cupcake.

Still no icing but she did decide to try her cupcake....well at least to lick the top of it!

Mom and Dad stopped by with her medicine that they picked up for me and they started asking C to make funny sounds, thus the funny faces in the last two pictures.  We were able to finally convince her to take a bite of her cupcake.  I think you'll agree with me that she thoroughly enjoyed it!

Hey Piggy Piggy!

At the beginning of the month I decided to try putting Charlotte's hair in pig tails.  Every time I've tried previously she has squirmed and complained too much for me to do it, but recently I have started putting ponytail holders in her hair before putting her bow in (now her bow stays in instead of immediately falling out!) and she started to love "tails" as she calls them and wanting to play with them.  So I figured I'd give it a try.  Even though she squirmed a little bit I managed to get them in and she looked so precious if so much older!

We took some pictures as soon as they went in because I wasn't sure how long they would last....

And I got a video of her dancing (excuse the singing!).

Then after her nap I redid her ponytails and got some pictures of her drawing!

Right handed...

Showing me what KayKay does

And now left handed!

More of what KayKay does. (When Jason's parents kept C a few weekends before the weatherman came on and said that we might get snow again that week and Kay put her hands on her face and said "Oh No!" and now Charlotte will do sort of the same thing if you ask her!)

I love her pigtails and she's worn them a few other days since then!  She does look like a little girl with them in though! I'm sure we'll be sporting this look for many years to come!

Show Us Your Life - Show Us Your Alma Mater

I wanted to chime in on Kelly's Show Us Your Life this week -- show us your Alma Mater!

If you've been reading my blog for any time at all (especially in the fall!) you know that we are big fans of The University of Alabama.  My parents attended The University, Jason and I both did, my brother did, as well as six of my aunts and uncles, and I currently have six cousins in school there also!  As you can see, we definitely bleed Crimson and White!

Even though in high school I spent a few months exploring my other collegiate options I ultimately stayed with my roots and chose to spend my four years from 2002 to 2006 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Everywhere else I applied was pretty far away (I definitely didn't apply to that other school!) and I got some great scholarships in Tuscaloosa and Alabama had just been part of my life from the time I was born.  I mean, my Dad taught me the fight song when I was three, where else would I go?!?!

My four years in Tuscaloosa were full.  I was a member of my sorority (Alpha Chi Omega), on the Panhellenic Executive Board (VP Judicial -- the least fun job there is!), in honor societies and professional groups, and participated in some off campus experiences like interning in the US Senate and interning at a company in my field.  I made some good friends, but, interestingly enough the people that I'm still with now I met while I was in school but wasn't close friends with then.  I'm glad that I'm friends with the ones that I am now -- they're the best!

And for some laughs....here are some of my favorite pictures from my college days.

Obviously, my Bid Day. September 2002.

Decades Party. September 2002.

First date party!

Homecoming dance competition.  We got robbed! :)

Bid Day, August 2003.

MCGA conference with Panhellenic, Chicago, February 2005.

Being tapped into The XXXI, April 2005.

Senior Bid Day, August 2005.

Alpha Chi/ATO Swap with my little brother! September 2005.

My candlelight, September 2005.

Seniors at our last Formal, November 2005.

Trip to Google for a conference, January 2006.

Flowers for being an Alumni Association Outstanding Senior, March 2005.

Tapping Lindsey into The XXXI, April 2006.

Senior Pledge class pictures, May 2006.

Graduation! May 2006

We are working hard to continue the Alabama tradition with Charlotte by teaching her "Roll Tide" at a super early age and taking her to tons of games -- including the 2009 National Championship game!  We're hoping that she enjoys four years in Tuscaloosa just like we did!