First Day of the Season

Bridger Bowl opened this weekend and we were anxious to get out and see the kids skiing! We woke up to a beautiful bluebird day just perfect for a family day at the hill! We loaded up the skiis, boots, suits and toques and enjoyed the quick 15 minute drive to Bridger Bowl.

First order of business was to get the kids their first ever ($5) season's pass! Noah's looks like he's giving the camera a high five...this seems to be a good sign. Dan and I were both brimming with pride to see our kids dressed up like real skiers.

Lily amazed us with her willingness and excitement for skiing. She hopped right on the lift with me and snapped her skiis on like it was an everyday thing. Dan rode up with Noah, who also showed no hesitation. Skiing must be in their blood! I helped Lily slide and ran along with her (most exercise I've had for a long time). She did great! We did a couple runs, then went into the lodge for the best part....fries and dogs! During lunch Lily kept pointing up at the big hill saying she wanted to ski down there...yet another good sign of days to come.

After lunch we went out for one more ride up the lift. Noah opted out... This turned out to be Lily's best run! She even slid down the run for a portion of the time with me just holding her mittened little hand. We packed it in quickly...figuring less is more at this stage, and headed back home content with our successful first outing.

The Nutcracker "Tea with Clara"

Today was the big event, "Tea with Clara". This is an elegant high tea hosted by the Montana Ballet Co. where the cast of the Nutcracker serves tea and performs several of the dances from the Nutcracker. It is geared towards young girls (who have a hard time sitting still for the long performance of the ballet). It was a delight to see all the performers dressed up in their elaborate costumes. Lily thought they were princesses and was most enamoured with the Rose dancers and Sugar Plum Fairy. Sara K and Miss Amelia joined us. Amelia thought it was wonderful...she smiled and laughed right up until the final number. The soothing tunes finally put her to sleep. The tea was delicous as were the tea sandwiches and sweets. We also enjoyed music by the Schlender's and the bell choir. All the while snow was falling gently outside the windows. This is a wonderful event that I would recommend to anyone with younger girls. They all seemed to love being up so close to the dancers. Some of the girls even got to touch the Sugar Plum Fairy's platter dress...magical! See more photos http://picasaweb.google.com/jessndanb/TeaWithClara09

Rag Ringlets...first attempt!

The night before the Nutcracker "Tea with Clara" we decided to try rag ringlets in Lily's hair. I bribed her with her favorite tv shows while I tied strips of torn up old sheets into her hair and wrapped the hair around the strip. The expected result of this method would be to have tight ringlets like Nellie on Little House on the Prarie. By the time we were finished she looked like she had dreads in her hair. She was a really good sport about it especially when I told her that in the morning we got to unwrap them and we would find a surprise! She was excited to have hair like Clara from the Nutcracker. In the morning we pulled them out and found that she had tight little ringlets! Being that it was our first attempt the curls were not all perfectly uniform and there were some straight strands, so we decided to pull it back for an upswept do. We will post another post on the Nutcracker so you can see the completely finised product.

What to do on a Snow Day

Bozeman remains covered in a thick blanket of deep white snow. Unfortunately for me, Dan is gone this week hunting and I am left to weather the intense energy build up of two house bound children and one house bound dog! By about 10 am we are bursting at the seams (note: toilet paper photo taken at 10:15). Yesterday and today we tried to visit two of the local parks, but the snow was so deep that the kids could hardly make it to the play structures. We tried... Lily has been enjoying the snow in our backyard and is seen here on skiis. She was singing a song about how much she loves skiing...music to my ears. We are reading "The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton and also "The Nutcracker" by Susan Jeffers. Tonight we are planning to go to the free night at the Children's Museum just to burn a little more steam before bedtime. We are told it is going to snow more on Saturday....any suggestions of free toddler energy burn?

We took the kids yesterday for a tour of the firehouse. Noah is bound to be a future firefighter. They let him climb into one of the trucks and I was worried I'd never get him out. They saw all of the hoses, tools, and attire of the firefighters. The kids got to see where the firefighters live and learned what kinds of calls they respond to. It was a lot of fun to watch them interact with the crew. Noah kept yellling, "truck! truck!" and he followed the firefighters around wherever they went. Lily enjoyed herself too...especially seeing the fireman's clothes.

Here's Lily sprinkling magic fairy dust

Winter in Bozeman arrived on Wednesday night. The snow started quietly falling in the middle of the night and didn't stop until the next evening. We stayed indoors all day Thursday, but on Friday morning when the sun came out we couldn't resist! Everything was dazzling and sparkling. The trees old men bowing under the weight of the fresh snow. I strapped some skiis onto Noah and he was in heaven. I pushed and pulled him around the driveway...he is a natural. I had to wipe a tear from the corner of my eye. Lily, who just discovered the story of the Nutcracker, preferred to sprinkle magic dust over everything...including her brother's head. It is a winter wonderland here!