Ski trip to Boyne

We spent our Presidents day weekend (and Valentine's too) skiing up at Boyne Highland & Mountain. We left on Saturday morning and got to Boyne Highlands just in time to go on a sleigh ride. It was very nice and peaceful in the snow covered forest.

We had a great dinner at the Mitchell St. Pub and then the next day we spent all day skiing at Boyne Highlands. Except for one time we snuck over to another chair, we spent the whole time at the beginner area. The kids are getting good at skiing, although it was rough at first for Zack. After lunch time we let Sydney use her poles, which really helped her more than we expected.

Sydney even had her first "yard sale". Here she is picking up all of her equipment that scattered around the mountain. Luckily she wasn't hurt at all and it didn't bother her much.

We had a major disappointment after skiing when we tried to buy tickets for tubing. Apparently they changed their policy so that only people 5 years and older can go tubing. Zack bawled when he found out we couldn't go. But no fear, we had plans to go tubing on Monday, when Zack mysteriously turned 5 years old. wink wink.

Sunday night dinner was spent at Papa Lou's, chowing on some super yummy pizza. On Monday we went skiing at Boyne Mountain. We were supposed to go skiing, then tubing, and then head back home, but we found out that tubing didn't even start until 4pm, so we ended up getting all mountain lift tickets instead of the just the free area. The kids did an excellent job skiing on the green runs, and Zack said he even wanted to go on the blue runs!

Sydney's skiing improved incredibly this season. She even was a "tour guide" for us and lead us down the mountain. She is working on her turns. A highlight for her was when she went over one of the jumps in the terrain park! It was a huge jump and she popped up in the air when she hit it. She landed on her butt, but she had no problem getting up. What excitement!!

Zack was also doing pretty good with his skiing - although he is using an edgie-wedgie which we think might be a "crutch" right now, but at least it keeps him happy and going down the hill with the rest of us! :)

Spider monkey boy

Sleep and kids, it's an odd combination in our house. We have one, but not the other. I mean, you know how people say those days of "sleeping in" are over when the baby comes? well for some of us those days never pass when the babies are long gone. My kids have to get up early during the week, so they are automatically hard wired to wake up extra early on the other days too. No matter what they did the night before or what time they went to bed. It's surely a shame for those of us who think 8:00 is "sleeping in". I mean, I'm not asking for much of a miracle, but I think a rest until 8:00am would be just heavenly!! But I digress, I'm really here to discuss the odd sleeping habits of our little one Zack.

He's never been much of a good sleeper. He was pretty good when he was a baby, sleeping through the night and all. But as toddlerhood came and went we noticed he was quite a restless sleeper. There was all of those nights he would get up numerous times for no reason, and then the tonsillectomy to help him stay asleep and breath better. But it appears he just has some natural tendency for movement! Case in point, our weekend ski trip. Sydney and Zack share a bed - queen size, big enough for both of them. But for some reason, Zack is magnetically repelled to beds and laying down "still". He has this odd ritual of squirming around and around in his bed before he falls asleep. Most nights none of us need to endure this craziness, but when they have to share a bed, I feel so sorry for Sydney. He's got his legs up, then his butt, then he's burrowing his head in his pillow, then flipping around in a circle again, and kicking all of his blankets down to this feet. This behavior goes on for at least 5 minutes if not longer - causing everyone to eventually be saying "Zack, lay still!!".

When it comes to my sleeping habits, I think they were passed down to Sydney because we are both the "Monica Geller (from Friends)" of sleeping. We smooth our our sheets and blankets until they are "just so" and then 5 seconds after lights out, we are fast asleep. Apparently Zack has inherited his sleeping habits from Alan. When he was a kid his sisters used to call him "spider legs" because he never settled down. No one liked sharing a bed with him. Poor Zack... in addition to his stunningly good looks, he's got this "curse" of movement too. But don't despair, all is not lost - at some point he will grow out of it perhaps like Alan did, be able to be still, and just want to sleep in all morning just like Dad!!