Whistler (part 2)

There has only ever been one day since hubby and I have been parents that we have awakened without an alarm clock and before our kids do. Today was that day. We were up at 6:30 making coffee and breakfast, and getting everything ready to go for the day because we wanted to be the first on the slopes. We dropped Chips off at the Whistler Kids daycare, got Noodles fitted for her skis, waved as she got in line for the gondola with her ski school, and we were off. Like two kids let loose from their parents, we hobbled with glee in our ski boots over to the quad chair and hopped on for the first run of the day. Here are two pictures I took on the quad showing the sun coming up over the mountain:

I took another at the top of the first run, we are on Whistler, looking over to Blackcomb:

After a few runs on Whistler mountain, we took a gondola ride up to Blackcomb. It took three lifts to get us to the top of Blackcomb, and then a t-bar. The top of both mountains was rocky and barren, and was quite intimidating. We went down a run called "panorama" that took us to the peak to peak gondola. I gathered up all of my courage, and got on. It wasn't as bad as I expected. It was definitely high, but the gondola car felt enclosed and safe. (At least, it gave me that feeling). Here are some pictures off the top of Blackcomb and on the peak to peak gondola (notice my nervous smile):

When we got back over to Whistler mountain, we had to hop on another gondola that would take us up to the top of the mountain. As we were waiting in line, we saw Chips and his daycare group passing by in a gondola car. Hubby and I hid our faces so he wouldn't see us and freak out, and we ended up riding up a few cars behind them. When we got to the landing, I snapped a quick picture of him as he and the teachers were checking out some wood carved bears at the lodge.

We then continued up to the top of Whistler, and decided to take a trail called "peak to creek." It is the longest ski run in America. I got a great picture of hubby at the top of the mountain and on the trail.

The spire behind hubby is known as "black tusk"

"go that way, really fast. if something gets in your way.....turn."

As we made our way down the mountain, I began to wipe out regularly. I must have fallen at least 5 times in the span of 10 minutes. One time, I was just gliding along a flat side trail, and literally just fell over. Hubby decided it was best to stop for lunch. We enjoyed some buffalo wings, beer and a hearty burger. We got a few more runs in after lunch, but it was starting to get warm and the conditions weren't as good as they were in the morning. All in all, it was a great day of skiing. We picked the kids up and took them back to the condo. I took some pictures of them playing in a little park in the village where we stayed and a silly one of Chips playing with our chapstick.

We ended the day with a soak in the hot tub and some homemade lasagna. Then, we all curled up in the pull out couch next to the fire and fell asleep while watching "Horton hears a Who."

Part 3 of our last two days is coming up soon!

Whistler (part 1)

We have just returned from the bestest ski trip ever!! (can you say hyperbole?) But seriously, the fam and I took a last minute weekend trip up to Whistler, British Columbia. We rented out a condo, packed a cooler full of goodies and set off for 4 days. The drive took us about 5 hours and passed through some of the most beautiful scenery the pacific northwest has to offer. It was a crystal clear day, so that was a bonus. I snapped the first picture on our trip of a view of the cascade mountains reflecting in a lake off the highway:




We then continued north and soon crossed the border into Canada. Just beyond Vancouver, we started on a road appropriately named the Sea to Sky highway. The road literally starts at sea level along a beautiful bay and winds up into the mountains. No one warned me of how beautiful this area was, and coupled with the beautiful sun soaked day, we almost fainted with excitement. Here are some pictures we snapped:

Along the way, we passed through a village called Lion's Bay. We pulled off the road and took a little drive through the neighborhood, at which point hubby vowed to leave it all behind, buy a house on this cliff and take up work as a fisherman. Here are some pictures of the neighborhood:






As we continued up the highway, we came upon a beautiful lookout of the Tantalus Mountain range. We pulled over and hiked up a little cluster of rocks to take in the view. Hubby snapped some pictures of me here. For some reason this scenery reminded me of the Wilson Phillips video for "Hold on" so I kept hearing that cheesy song, "some day somebody's gonna make you wanna turn around and say gooooodbyyyyeee!" ringing through my head as I sat on the rock posing for the pictures. Great. Now it's stuck in my head again.








Finally, we arrived in Whistler. We were really impressed with how big the skiing area was. As we drove along the main road to the village, we noticed what looked like power lines with air traffic balls between the two mountains. Then I realized, the little balls were moving and we must be looking at the peak to peak gondola! I must admit, it's really intimidating to see. I wasn't sure I'd be able to ride that thing!




We arrived at our condo just a little after 4pm. We gave the kids a quick snack, and then everyone immediately wanted to put their swimsuits on and check out the pool. Now this is an outdoor pool, mind you, and it was just about 40 degrees outside. Yeah, I opted out. Luckily the pool was heated and the kids had a lot of fun with their daddy.





That night, we enjoyed some delicious meatball sandwiches that hubby made from scratch, made some cookies (which I burned, of course!), played some Candy Land with the kids, and tucked them into bed. Here are some pictures of them snuggling on the pull-out couch by the fire.




Stay tuned for Part two...our full day of skiing pictures. I will hopefully get those posted later today or tomorrow!!

Valentine's Day

My hubby hates Valentine's Day. He's a believer in the school of thought that Valentine's Day is a made up holiday for the sole purpose of boosting chocolate, flower and card sales in a slow time of year. So needless to say, I end up buying myself a heart shaped chocolate box every year. This year, I was determined to get him in a romantical mood about the holiday. I booked us reservations at a local joint called Ama Ama. I knew I could get him excited about the place, as it's an oyster bar and my hubby has been known to throw back 3 dozen of those suckers in under 15 minutes. He's a true champ. We were also super excited for our night out because for the first time in a long time, we were able to find a babysitter! So, armed with our giddy excitement and 3 hours of child-freeness ahead of us (don't you love how I make up words?), we set off for Ama Ama. What we experienced for the next 2 and a half hours (minused out the driving time) was pure, mouth watering, unadulterated decadence. We ordered a five course dinner with wine pairing. A favorite on the menu was the kumamoto oyster with lemon granita paired with a glass of champagne. There was a fish for our second course known as Escolar, it was delicious, white and flaky. I will keep my eye out at the fish market for that in the future! Another first on the menu for both of us was Foie Gras. I'm not going to lie, I was a little freaked out at first (foie gras is duck liver). Plus, the first time I had ever heard of Foie Gras was in San Francisco during a protest against the inhumane treatment of ducks and geese in order to harvest their liver. I could go into the brief moral dilemma I had about eating this, but that's a post for another day. I'll just say I wasn't overly excited to try this dish, but I did. I have to say, it was pretty good. It actually tasted like lamb and had a consistency of a rare steak. We also enjoyed a beef tenderloin as the main course, and a chocolate lava cake for dessert. yum yum yum!! My husband was so impressed and excited about our dinner, he wants to go back next Valentine's Day. See? All I have to do is bribe him with a little food to get him in the Valentine's Day spirit! Mission Accomplished.

Pizza Night!!

A few weeks back, we all had a really bad week. As I write this, I can't recall why it was such a bad week, but it was just one of those weeks where you feel like you aren't connecting. I decided that what we needed was a really good family night together. We made pizzas from scratch and had the kids help by decorating their own pies. Hubby got to have fun practicing his dough flipping technique. Fun was had by all, nothing like some pizza to help you feel renewed!

Hear ye! Hear Ye!

From here on out, I will be referring to my children by their favorite foods....Noodles (my daughter) and Chips (my son). This is mainly for safety reasons, but also because my kids are so cute and delicious. I haven't come up with a fun one for hubby yet, so for now, he'll be hubby.

I'm starting to notice a trend with food on my blog, I think I'm going to run with this...