White Mountains

We rounded up our snow clothes again because it was time to get the kids out on the ski slopes.  It was a total splurge, but I suppose one needs a good splurge now and then.  I am not so keen on trips, you know.  The bright side was that it was short, I had a whole morning to get ready with Jarom’s help and we had a comfortable place to stay (although that doesn't mean anyone slept well)  I really enjoyed being encircled by the kid’s excitement in the days leading up to the adventure. 

Road trip

Layne was sure he was going to speed down the mountain and do jumps and tricks, because he already knows how to ski.  This is one of Layne’s many quirks, he is confident he knows how to do pretty much anything even thought he has never had any experience.  He knows he can and is very convincing.

We put Layne in full day ski school which included 2-90 minute lessons.  I skied with him from 2-4 pm and he had picked up a lot of good skills, namely, staying upright most of the time.  After going down the bunny hill once, he coasted right over to the mid mountain lift which took him up to his first green.  He did not like the lift ride, the height was a little much for him, it was cold and windy and long.  Getting off was a bit tricky for him too, he wiped out the first couple times.  I warned him that there were some really scary runs up on the mountain and he needed to stay close to me so that I can tell him which way to go.  Turns out, he had no control, he just went straight down with out slowing and finally coasted to a stop at the bottom.

Layne was thrilled with himself and so excited to do it again.  I knew he had gotten lucky to have not taken any turns off of greens, but was impressed that he never fell.  He got slightly better on the last run at slowing up here and there, but took a really hard fall that did him in.  His body was so exhausted and he was freezing because he didn’t want his jacket zipped and took his gloves off because he got snow in them.

Brik had plans to bring his bicycle helmet and thought he could probably snow ski alright when he is five since he did water ski really well when he was three.  I thought this was reasonable. He forgot the helmet, but the ski goggles made his day.

We put Brik in full day Fun Zone Kids Care with one 90 minute ski lesson.  He never learned to ski on his own, but had a good time through the whole day.  When I went to get him at 1pm he was begging to go out and ski again.  After a bed wreck with Brik between his legs, Jarom found a new way to keep Brik upright by having him hang on to his ski poles while Jarom balanced him.  It took a lot of effort, but Jarom got him up on mid mountain and kept up with us fairly well.

After a crummy night sleep and being left all day in the kids care with strangers while his family skied Roxwell made it all the way to Payson before loosing it.  As he was having his melt down I was trying to comfort him.  Finally I told him we were going home and he could sleep in his own bed.  He got quiet, I kept talking and he wailed again, but when I went back to the part about his bed, he stopped.  I went on and on for a couple minutes until he pushed me away and pointed for me to go back to my seat.  He fell asleep and was fine the rest of the way.  He just wanted to be understood!  Roxwell was such a trooper. When we were returning Brik’s skiis he said “I wanna skateboard!”

As for the parents, whew, a lot of work!  We reminisced our first time skiing.  Jarom’s was at Sunrise too, where his dad started him off (without any instruction) on the mid mountain ski lift.  Apon boarding his first lift ever, he dropped his (handmade by Mom) mitten.  As soon as they got off the lift, Dad says “I’m going to go find your mitten, I’ll meet you at the bottom.”  Jarom does not have good memories.

I remember it being hard, but fun and my gloves got ruined and my hands hurt from the rope pulley that was on the bunny hill. I also remember my fuscia jacket, florescent pink rainbow bright ear muffs and  turquoise snow pants, but that is probably because of the pictures.

Eat at Marks

Yes, my boys play "Chef's."  It is like "house," Bagley style.

Step 1; move the kitchen to the playfort.  This includes tables and cooking utensils to the upper level.

Step 2; write the menu

Step 3; make the restaurant customer friendly.  This includes a board that represents a table on the lookout, which is the smallest area of the entire fort and incredibly difficult for full size people to get in and out of.  Also, post a sign in the foyer for guest safety which reads "PLes.  Do NoT Go in BAC sind (signed) LAYne"

Step 4; track down customers

Step 5; take order

Step 6; discuss order with su chef, Brik

Step 7; cook.  Note; the red side of the lego table was the fire.  Layne warned Brik Not to burn himself.

Step 8; serve the customers and watch them eat.

Roxwell ordered pizza, but was served a tissue.  He was a good sport and pretended to eat the tissue.

I suggested that since their place is called "Fish Marks," They should have some fish on the menu.  Layne added Fish Sticks for today and said when I come back tomorrow they will make me Mahi Mahi.

One Hundred

Layne has his one hundredth day of school yesterday and in it's honor he was assigned to write a book.

It reads;

I wish I had 100 QoDR'S (quarters)
I wish I had 100 SiStrs (sisters)
I wish I had 100 MAGic crisTLs (magic crystals)
But I wouldn't want 100 SCWrPeinS (scorpions)

100 years from now people will Be Mare KinD PePL WiLe Lev AMnS ULon (Be more kind. People will leave animals alone)

I could eat 100 CAnDey Brs (candy bars)
I could eat 100 Pesu's (pizzas)
I could eat 100 reD PePr's (red peppers)

P.S.  He has been earning money with orange juice again, outside this time.

The Snow Day

I don't miss the snow.  Ever.

The kids thought it was going to be like Disneyland to spend a day in the snow.  They were the reason we made the trip, of coarse.  It hardly ever snows enough in Pine, AZ to get a good sledding hill, we kinda felt like this THIS was our chance.  Jarom miraculously had a Saturday off work, the stars had aligned.

The night before Layne got sick with a fever.  When Layne get's sick he does things like tills the garden and climbs onto the roof.  It was such a hard decision to go or not to.  A day of Layne whining about going to the snow and Brik sad about the lost opportunity while being stuck at home, again. So we headed out anyway.

I have to admit, snow does LOOK like a lot of fun.

"The Meadow"

But it is hard to drive in.

Not too much fun to dress for.

And definitely not fun to be sick in.

This made my day though...

After the 2 hour drive, I was antsy to go to the bathroom.  We got stuck pulling into the drive, so I had to wait longer than I wanted.  Roxwell couldn't even walk in the snow and Jarom had already headed up the hill to the cabin, which is a good hike, especially in snow, especially, especially wearing tennis shoes, especially, especially ,especially holding a bundled up 2 year old.  I told Brik to start getting dressed and I would be back down when I was done and started up.

It had taken me quite a while and I was pretty sure Brik was going to be half dressed, halfway up the hill, too tiered for another step, crying for someone to rescue him.  Nope.

Totally dressed with snow suit, coat, boots, gloves, "snow glasses," bicycle helmet (which he packed himself) and a shovel!  The kid was shoveling his way up the mountain!  And happily doing it!!


He ended up having a blast and luckily their were cousins for him to hang with.

Rowell was not so fond of the sledding.  It could have been that he landed on his face the first time down.

Poor Layne didn't even go down once, but he found a cozy place by the fire.  And that is saying something because cozy places were hard to find that day.

Air Hog

I found some video editing software on our new laptop that is really cool.  Don't be fooled, those are real people and a real toy flying around.

SNOW?!

Today.

In our own back yard.

For all of 30 seconds.

Under the Sea

Third port of call; Cozumel, Mexico

We had the hardest time deciding what to do in Cozumel because there were too many great choices.  We had gone back and forth between 2 of the boat excursions; a swim with dolphins, which Jarom pointed out would be more memorable and a boat ride to a secluded island with snorkeling, volleyball and hanging out on the beach one that sounded like a low-key good time.  Another contributing factor to our indecision was thinking it might be a better price if we find the same excursion off of the boat.

We ended up deciding not to go through the boat and headed to Chankanaab Park on our own to swim with the dolphins.  This place was recommended by Jarom's brothers who had a nice time snorkeling there a few months ago.  I was impressed with Cozumel in many ways.  The hagglers were less "in your face" than on the Riviera and there were signs for tourist that helped us know upfront how much things like taxi rides cost and what is available for excursions.  At the park we found that the price was the same as the boat (plus the taxi ride) so that was a learning experience. 

Walking through the park, we observed the dolphin interaction exhibit for a while.  Then, we walked up the beach where there were lots of beach chairs for lounging, snorkelers in the water, a beach-side restaurant, hammocks in the shade and dive huts...3 of them.  The first shop offered us a dive for $65, the second beat the first with a $40 dive, but they didn't take American Express.  The third sweetened the pot $40 dive, American Express AND pictures!  We passed on the dolphins for another chance to dive, which truthfully, was only enticing because I wanted some pictures.  My throat was still hurting from the day before, my nose bruised from pinching it to pressurize my ears and I didn't trust that the Mexican guide would be as concerned with our safety as the guide from the resort yesterday.  Jarom was confident that he could save me from anything, so I kinda felt better.  (Jarom is confident about a lot of ridiculous things, so it was hard to be completely reassured by this.)

The dive was pretty spectacular.  We saw eels, stingrays, an octopus, lobster and pretty awesome fish.  We also swam into a cave that had fresh water flowing through the top of it, which makes the water look like shimmery, iridescent rainbows. Besides the fact that our guide wasted tons of pictures on having us pose by the underwater statues of the Virgin Mary and having a leaky mask that I had to clear every few minutes and endure the terrible water-up-the-nose feeling the entire time, the dive was better than Roatan.

When we got back and they made our CD and let us use their computer to email pictures to my Mom and kids.  We had to pay for internet EVERYWHERE, so this was a big perk too. The day ended up being well spent, we checked out the rest of the park before we headed back to the boat.   There were some trails with "flower gardens" and "Mayan ruin replica's" and a small area for sea animal shows where the announcer spoke Spanish the whole time except for after he asked a question and the audience went silent.

The ship really pushes the shopping at each port and I suppose most people enjoy that activity a lot anyway.  It just seems silly to me since most of it is junk and mass produced in China anyway.  Many of the stores were even chains that we have in the US, I don't see the draw.  We did have people to buy for back home, so we stopped in a couple shops before heading back to the ship for a VERY late lunch.

Celebrating Christ

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year.  I love the personal reflection that takes place on where we are in the light of Our Redeemer, how miraculous His birth, life and death were and the assurance that He will come again.  I do not do shopping, which mystifyingly, works out well this time of year.  I spend more time at home baking treats, which is great fun.  I think of others all year through by buying gifts when they more or less fall in my lap, and we never over do it in the spending category.

This year, Jarom worked most of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We got together with his family for dinner each night.  On Christmas Eve, Becky put out a tasty dinner and immaculately decorated dining and family room.  Grandma brought costumes for the Grandkids to play parts in the Nativity scene.  Layne enjoyed giving everyone a sniff of the expensive perfume, frankincense and playing the part of Joseph, Brik the wiseman who gave the gift of frankincense and Roxwell, the older Christ babe to whom was given the gifts.  The Bagley's do a very loose reenactment where the kids take their own artistic liberties.  It is always nice to reiterate the roots of the holidays in this humble production.

Christmas Morning, the kids waited for me to arise from my edgy slumber (why on earth am I so jittery about the gifts when I know what every one of them are?)  Jarom had a few minutes to spend with us as we found our presents from Santa, unloaded stockings and unwrapped what was under the tree.  It was a little face paced for our standard.  I grew up where opening presents was THE activity of the day and it was to last as long as possible.

Layne has asked Santa for a ridiculous item each year and has never been disappointed, despite the fact that he has never gotten what he has asked for. He taped a note and a movie to the front door asking Santa to watch it and return it by tomorrow.  He also reminded Santa that he wanted " A uledric scodr."  He ended up being quite impressed with his Air Hog, though declaring it is not quite as good as a motor scooter.

Brik asked for a robot, which was off the wall.  He got one, however.  9 inch, rolls around on the floor with poseable arms.  Both of them have already run out of batteries, which is a sign of rotten toys.

The afternoon was full of playing.  Nana's trucks were a hit, and those silly little Bakugans.  I played Connect 4 with the boys and put together a floor puzzle with Brik.  It was nice to just focus on playing and let the rest go for the day.  I used to miss my family terribly at Christmas time because the in-laws didn't do it quite right.  Now that we have the kids, I love staying put, enjoying the comforts of home and the Arizona weather.

Discovery Dive

Second port of call; Roatan, Honduras

Our dinner table mates had set up a scuba diving excursion through a resort on the island and we talked them into letting us tag along.  Scuba diving was always a hobby we had planned to take up once out kids were older and we have more time and money to devote to hobbies.  The car ride to the resort was educational, we got stopped by the police, witnessed the crazy, anything goes kind of driving and got to see the heart of the island where things aren’t so glitzed up for the tourists.

The resort, Bananarama, was awesome, very rustic, yet classy and personable staff.  We got suited up for our discovery dive, this included wetsuits (long one for me because I am extra wimpy about the cold), weight belt, goggles, vest and air tank.  The guide gave us the beginner scuba course, which included how to clear your mask, find optimal buoyancy, equalize pressure, monitor your air and find and replace a lost regulator.  It all seemed pretty straight forward until we got in the water…

Jarom went down once and never came back up.  I, on the other hand was shooting up every 30 second in total panic.  This was a shock to me because I have always felt pretty strong in the water.  The main battle was how difficult it was to breathe.  I am a nose breather, and to force every breath through my mouth took a whole lot of effort.  Then the bubbles and the murky water from all the sand our group was kicking up; iy, yi, yi!  I thought there was no way I was going to be able to do it.  The instructor was very patient and supportive.  His best advice was to just keep going down.

I ended up making it through the entire dive and really liking it.  There was a reef that we explored that was basically a huge wall with all kinds of plants and little creatures living on it.  The scenery distracted me enough from the discomfort that I was able to relax somewhat.  There was one time that Jarom knocked my mask off and I thought I was going to die.  Then, when I realized I wasn’t dieing, I was sure I was going to kill him, but somehow we both made it through alive.

The one thing I was bummed about was that, with all of us in the water, our camera was left behind and we were not able to get photos of the whole experience.

Caribbean Blue

First port of call; The Grand Cayman Island.

Look at that water!  It was amazing, so beautiful and colorful.  We tagged along with some bartenders from The Royal Caribbean, did a lot of walking and found a good snorkeling spot around a sunk boat.   We stayed away from the crowds on 7 mile beach and enjoyed a relaxing sunbathing session on a more secluded beach while our bartender friends chased girls and found us a ride back to the harbor.

We are not too good about remembering to take pictures, we took this one on the tender ride to the ship after our day of fun at The Grand Cayman Island.  So there I was fresh faced and fancy free.

Deja Vu

Same cruise line.
Same year.
Same guy.

You are My Sunshine

5 years ago I endured a super speedy delivery of one precious peanut. Sleeping through the night from the day he was born, no joke!  Brik is the most charming of little boys.  His brown eyes make my heart melt and his smile warms my soul.  This kid has got mad empathy skills, he radiates peace and love.  I am infinitely honored to be his mother.

Baby Signing {Play}

Happy Darn

Thanksgiving was extra special this year because I got to do all the cooking and we had wonderful dinner guests.  My sister Kate, who is my favorite person in the world.  I think she likes me too as I am one of the only people on her facebook over 30 without a limited profile (I did have to fight for it though.)  My dad, who is super funny, outgoing and laid back, was the life to our party.  Kate's friends Michelle and Abby made the trip from Iowa too and they were lovely visitors.

Our Menu

Free Range, Brined and Oven Roasted Turkey

Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Gravy

Orange-Vanilla Bean Cranberry Sauce

Multi-grain Yogurt Loaf

Sizzled Green Beans with Prosciutto and Pine Nuts

Sparkling Grape Juice

Cranberry Walnut Tart

Pumpkin Pie

Instead of after dinner TV time, it was after dinner computer time.  Oh, how things have changed.

Once the food settled, we headed out for our traditional Thanksgiving hike. We have really only done it one other year, but I really think it will make for a great tradition.

Black Friday was just as pleasant as we enjoyed a horse trail through the mountains by Saguaro Lake.

Afterwards, Dad taught Brik how to ride his bike sans training wheels, as is tradition, set a couple years back with Layne.

Each night we played games, mostly The Great Dalmuti.  It was hours full of jokes, texts and laughs.  My dad has quite a few phrases that have become part of his everyday vocabulary.  Many of them are not the kind that you'd want your kids to repeat.  Layne was walking around the house saying "happy darn, happy darn."  We asked him what it meant and where he got it from.  "Papa always says it."  It took us a while to realize that the phrase "I'll be darned, " which Dad says in his Iowan way " All be darn, " was translated by a 7 year old as "happy darn."  It was a darn happy weekend, so we just went with it.

National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium

Who knew Dyersville, IA could have a museum that rivals the Arizona Science Center? Mom took our family here when we were visiting in September. It was a great find, and I would love to go back.

The inevitable-battle for a family picture

Sharks, Catfish and Alligators

Crawdads

Build and Float your own boats.