Living the dream baby!

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Ski Week

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Karsyn was out of school all week, and I’m maxed out on vacation, so I decided to take the week off (or so I thought). Sonya and I rented a cabin with our friends Steve & Tracy (and their son Matthew) up in Dorrington near Bear Valley. The snow they received last weekend was well timed. We had 60 degree days up there.

The cabin we rented was fantastic. It was a two story deal with three bedrooms (one complete with two sets of bunk beds for the kinds), kitchen, dining area and cozy living room. The kids had a blast, although only Ryan seemed to appreciate the sledding course that Steve and I setup for the kids outside.

We got in two days of skiing at Bear. The weather was great, and the snow had a fresh dusting, so it was another great ski day. Sonya and I traded off skiing while one watched Ryan. He was chomping at the bit to try out the skiing thing, so Sonya rented the little guy some skis at the resort.

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To our surprise, he took to the whole thing like a mad man. Turning be damned, just point his tips down hill and let’er rip! I couldn’t believe it. He’s 22-months old, and skiing for crying out loud! And he digs it! We didn’t force him into lessons or anything.

So now we have two little shredders in the family. Karsyn continues to get better and better on skis. I was racing her by the end of the second day. We skied several black diamond runs over the course of the two days, including a run down Bear’s terrain park. That girl is fearless.

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We ran into several folks on the slopes, including Brad & Lindi (and kids Erin and JT), Chris S and her son Mathew, and one of Karsyn’s former pre-school classmates. I was surprised at how empty the resort was. Can’t complain however, because it meant zero wait time on the slopes.

[Photo Album]

Video: Ryan Shredding

Video: Ryan's Ski Run

Video: Karsyn Sizing Up a Jump

Video: Chasing Karsyn Down the Hill

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Happy Anniversary

9th Anniversary

Sonya and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary last weekend up in the Sierras, complete with a perfect day of skiing at Squaw Valley. More importantly, we got to spend the weekend together sans children. I think this was really more of a treat for Sonya, seeing that she spends all day with them. I can’t say that it was torture being away from them, but I missed them nonetheless.

The weather gods and the ski gods converged to help us celebrate with what was one of the best skiing days I’ve ever had. It was sunny, with temps in the 50’s, but more importantly, there were no people at Squaw. This is almost unheard of. No lift lines and perfect weather? It was heaven!

We spent a good six hours of constant skiing (with the exception of a short break for lunch). The only downside to the day was that because we spent so much time on the hill, we paid for it in the overworked muscle department. My quads were cramping by the end of the day, because I just don’t use my quads the way I used to. It was pretty pathetic. But did I mention that it was the best skiing day ever?

Atop Squaw

Sonya spent the week prior to our trip struggling over finding hotel accommodations. She booked us at a brand new hotel in Truckee that turned out to be awesome. Brand new rooms, nice facility, and a brand new hot tub (refer to mention of cramped quads above).

We spent our 2nd anniversary at Incline seven years ago, and had dinner at this cool little Mexican restaurant in Incline, so we decided to revisit it. Really, we procrastinated on making reservations at the place that we really wanted to eat (The Lone Eagle Grille).

A friend also mentioned a place called Le Bistro, but after a day of skiing, we decided to keep it simple. Made it back to the hotel and crashed. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in my life.

It was a perfect weekend. I almost forgot what it was like to spend time alone with Sonya. Her sense of humor is second to none, she tolerates all my weirdness and she gets more and more beautiful every year. What more could a man ask for?

I had a great time. Looking forward to the big 10th next year.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

The New Wolverine

WolverineMini Wolverine

So I took this picture of Ry Ry the other day and couldn't help but think that he looks like a little Wolverine with that crazy hair he's got going on. Except for the fact that Ry is this cute little guy that runs around the house pounding everything in sight with his plastic golf club, he's pretty harmless. He's no real Wolverine. At least the real comic book kind of Wolverine.

Well, except for the crazy hair do.

Here's another picture of the next defender of the universe running around the living room with a bucket on his head and no pants on. Evil doers beware, we have a super hero in training right here in Sunnyvale!

Defender of the Universe