Vail 2015

We spent NYE with good friends and discussed a possible ski trip in February.  Well all the stars aligned and we made it happen! Woohoo!  Our friend's sister is working and living in Vail for the season and offered up her place for us to stay, combine that with airline points and available grandparents for babysitting and we were off!

 We headed out thursday only to find out our flight had been cancelled and we wouldn't be on another one until that evening, so Brian and I decided to start our vacation with a stroll around Santa Monica.

After our late flight, lay over in phoenix and car rental we ended up arriving in Denver around 2:30am.  Thankfully we have cousins in Denver and were able to crash at their place before driving up to the mountains in the morning. 

We arrived in Vail in the next day in time for lunch and wandered the village until we met up with our friends.

We just barely beat the snow and it was so fun and magical.

Catching snow flakes:

Not a great picture but I tried to capture the awesome snow fall.

I went to this coffee shop at least three times.  Cold weather means I NEED a warm beverage to carry with me, and this place even used almond milk. 

Just freezing:

  

The first night we went to dinner and then to a fun little bar with live music.

 Nothing makes you feel like you're in college again quite like jager shots.  (The bar was giving them out, notice each of the hubbies is holding two because Alexis and I chose to pass!)

Next morning after the snow fall:

The next day we hit the slopes.  The snow was coming down hard but it didn't stop us.  It actually wasn't horribly cold and the conditions were great!

Snow selfie:

We ended up taking longer to get down for lunch than we thought and by the time we did Alexis and I were tired and freezing.  After lunch the boys went back for a few hours while the girls headed into the village for drinks:

The boys finished up and met us for dinner and we walked around again until we were all too tired to move (which was around 7:30) 

Day two of skiing, the conditions were amazing and less snow was pelting us in the face. We broke for lunch at the perfect time so we were warmed up and rested for the afternoon. 

Back story, Brian and Beau went to the top of one area the day before and took a wrong turn and ended up spending a good amount of time in the trees.  The next day they wanted to show us the top and somehow we took the same wrong turn and ended up in the trees.  Alexis and I are not through the trees skiers.  We are both pretty cautious, needless to say we took our skis off and went down the rest of the way on our butts.  Shout out to Beau who captured it on film.  LOL.  And shout out to Brian who skied down through the trees carrying extra equipment.

Skiing with my honey:

All this guy wanted was some chili in a bread bowl and we found it on day two.  Day made.

Alexis and me on the lift.  It could really be any two random people given how we are dressed.

We took a break around 3 at the Ritz for bloody Mary's by the fire.  Amazing.

 Two hours and two bloody mary's later we skied back to the condo and called it a day.  

On our way out of town we were able to stop and visit with cousins.   It was an amazing weekend.  I am so grateful for the times Brian and I get to get away together and for the friendship with have with the Daniels family!  We are already planning our ski trip for next year ; )

Valentine's Weekend

Valentine's day weekend our good friends were camping down at Leo Carrillo and invited us out for the day.  We arrived around lunch time for the most perfect day of fun in the sun.

Owen got a sweet boogie board ride from our umbrellas to the waves courtesy of Mama Kia. 

Lincoln, Parker and Scott basically spent the day playing in the waves.  The are three of the sweetest friends in the world (although sometimes their behavior at school doesn't always reflect that). 

We caught an octopus

And met a beach friend

And got buried

Thanks for the enthusiasm, boys.

Too bad there is a thumb in this picture.  Cutest friends ever.

These mamas. <3 p="">

We had so much fun we went back the next day.  Next time we are spending the night!!!!

Speaking of Kindergarten...

Like many preschools, our school does very informal kindergarten readiness evaluations.  This really has no bearing on whether or not your child is allowed to move onto kindergarten, its just to give parents an idea of where their child is at, especially for parents who are on the fence about whether to start in the fall or wait a year (summer birthdays etc.).

The teachers were explaining this process to us at a recent team talk and gave some of examples of what they were looking at and evaluating for.  One such example was having the kids draw a self portrait.  My girlfriend and I looked at each like "are you nuts?! our kids are not going to do that."  We can barely get them to sit still for 60 seconds, let alone draw, color or craft.

Well a few weeks later I get to school to pick up the boys and one of the teachers takes me aside to tell me how it went.  I couldn't believe it when I heard that he not only did the activity, but that it actually resembled a human.  I had no idea he could draw anything more than a scribble.  (This makes it sound like i have no confidence in his ability, its really not that, its more that he has never shown any interest in drawing anything and I've seen him do is scribble.)

A voila, there you have it.  Scott's self portrait.  Kindergarten ready.  (By the way this also not the only thing they evaluate, and I was already pretty confident that he would be just fine starting in the fall.)

Beach evening...

A couple weeks ago we had a rough one.  Scott was having a tough time at school, Owen was having a tough time with life, therefor I was having a tough time with school and life.  We had a team talk day that I spent half of sitting in the car with one of the teachers having a cry fest.  Ya'll, that's the kind of school we go to.  

The next day one of my mamas brought me this:

That would be tequila, bedazzled by hand with jewels while she worked in the art area.  My friends are the best!

That friday night we headed to the beach to meet Mimi, Papa, Auntie, Parker J and Eden. 

These boys love each other the most!

We picnicked on chili and watched the sunset.  It was a great end to a rough week.

Sister time:

O was stoked on his juice box.

And of course the most excited to hold Eden.

And then the sunset...

Beach days cure all the things : )

School days...

Excluding the week that the plague of 2015 took over the Campbell house, we are back in the swing of our school routine after Christmas break.  My kids always seem to have a tough time transitioning back after Christmas, and this year was no exception.  Scott is definitely the big man on campus and ready for kindergarten next year.  He and little buddies are trying to run the show a little bit and it has ended in lots of hurt feelings and boy play that goes too far.  With the help of his teachers (aka my favorite people on the planet!) we have been able to give them all a little more structure in their day while still allowing them freedom to play and be challenged.  But it did make for a rough couple weeks after Christmas.  And Owen, well he just decided that he doesn't want to go to school at all anymore.  Until about 90 seconds after I pull out of the parking lot and one of the teachers texts me a picture of him playing and having a great time.  What a stinker.  Thankfully the teachers are there to rescue me again and let me know that he's doing just fine.

Now for some pictures (aka iPhone dump)

Buddies hanging by the fence waiting to all walk to our cars together at the end of the day.

Auntie and Eden visited us at school one day and Scott had the best time showing off his favorite girl cousin.  It was too cute because all the big tough guys came and took turns holding her and giving her all the attention in the world.

Hanging in Ms. Dana's yard after school.

These friends and their moms fill my heart.  And also Owen's clothes were wet and drying in the sun. Although him running around in chones is not out of the ordinary.  Even at school.

Field trip to Create!

Owen was into it and made a robot.  Scott, not so much.  He glued a few corks onto cardboard and called it  day.

That afternoon was our first soccer practice.  The boys had a great time.  Owen got a little bored because he's the oldest in his class and he's used to playing with the big boys, he was also more interested in the snacks I brought. 

By the end of class Owen was picking flowers.

Scott is definitely ready for more organization and is at a very good age for this type of class.  I promised him that once we did this he can sign up for a team.  

Back to school...here's the tiny (not tiny) nugget practicing the monkey bars.

Piper (the little girl) passed out after school one day when we all stayed to play.  Her mom finally gave in and laid down too.

This particular day almost all of our friends stayed after for hours.  We were the first ones to leave, I waited until the last possible minute but I had to go to work that evening.  Scott was broken hearted.

These two cuties were having so much fun, I hated to drag him away.