Sent: March 27, 2008 8:27 PM
Subject: On the Road Again Again Again Again...
Proving yet again that we're incapable of staying in Dallas, we were on the road for the third month in a row. This time, it was for our annual Colorado ski trip with the rest of the Nelsons/Ficks/Lopps/Piekunkas. It's one of my favorite weeks of the year, and we've got the photos (and the extra-long, tree-killing printer-friendly version) to prove it.
Although there are fewer bullet points this month, I've sprinkled the more moderately enjoyable (and moderately less offensive) tidbits throughout the photos. Enjoy!
- Jack accused us of being "sartastic"
- On the way to Colorado, Jack declared the back of the van "blazing hot." It's official, he's a native Texan
- I asked Jack if he wanted watch the end of Home Alone with me. Jack replied, "Mayyyybeeee..."
- On Monday, Jack insisted that he take a ski lesson, so the two of us went to A-Basin where I enrolled him in a full-day lesson. Even before his ski lesson, Jack was skiing really well. He could follow me down the bunny hill as I made s-turns, and he could stop whenever he wanted (or, more accurately, whenever I asked). I pronounced him an "official skier"
- After lunch with his ski class, Jack felt sick and was taken to the medical station where he "barfed" (his word) several times. Unfortunately, I never saw the messages asking me to report to the medical station, so he spent a couple hours resting before I found his instructor and tracked him down. Jack threw up one more time at the condo, but he then began to quickly improve. We suspect it was a case of altitude sickness
- To add insult to injury (or illness, anyway), we couldn't find Jack's rental skis -- his instructor hadn't told me where she put them and no one could find her. The next day, Ron searched for the skis with the help of Jack's instructor, but they too came up empty handed. In utter financial liability despair, we learned that whoever had taken them had eventually returned the skis to Virgin Islands
- Lauri meant to say Irene couldn't clean up after dinner since she had cooked the meal. Unfortunately, it came out: "Irene can't cook." Paging Dr. Freud...
- Jack informed us matter-of-factly: "I'm the electronics genius with the DVD player."
- On our last day in Colorado, I taught Jack and Cate how to play checkers. After a rather lopsided game, Jack finally took her last piece. Cate said, "I'm out of pieces," and Jack gasped, "Cate won!" Apparently, they've been playing to much Crazy Eight's, so I had to explain that he had actually won. And there was much rejoicing
- Dateline, March 22nd. Jack rode his bike without training wheels for the first time today while Cate scootered. Amazingly, he was about to ride about 75 feet after just 30 minutes of practice, but he spent much of the time petrified of falling. Each time he came to a stop, and for reasons still unknown, he stubbornly insisted on falling to the ground
- Jack requested Black Mirror be added to the bath-time set list. When its turn came, he shouted: "Crank it to eleven!"
- In addition to sleeping with just a night-light for last couple of months, Cate now insists that for fire safety reasons we should close her door as well. Yet another sleeping breakthrough
That's it for now!
Lisa and Greg
