This year we did something new as a part of our Easter traditions...a Resurrection Garden. I've seen these in the past and really wanted to try and get one done this year. We had a great foundation to start with...a super cool terrarium the kids got as a birthday gift. We combined the crazy plants that were in the kit with the tools we needed to recreate the Risen Lord's tomb!
We added more soil, planted the seeds and added water to get it started. Then came the job of making the "tomb" stick, which proved to be a little tricky, but water helped the dirt stay in place. Timo made the crossed for us out of popsicle sticks...he was very proud of them. We talked about why there were three, why Jesus was buried in a tomb and tried to connect Easter to Jesus.
We searched everywhere for a rock that would cover the tomb and Cameron came up with the perfect one. Ta-dah! We built it on a Thursday so on Saturday morning Timo went running downstairs to see if the rock had been rolled away...guess I should have been better about "three days starting on Friday"', huh?
I didn't get a picture of it, but when they woke up Easter morning, the garden was in the kitchen with the rock rolled away, much to our kid's excitement...our Lord is Risen indeed!
Of course, when dealing with dirt and water, there is always a mud hole that evolves. And where there is mud, there are mud balls, mud pies and muddy kids. Timo drew a target on the fence and they had some serious target practice. I love that Spring is on it's way!
Now that Easter is over, our terrarium is covered and hoping to see some crazy eyeball plants and fly traps growing soon!
Here's another installment in the Frozen music for your entertainment...Love Is An Open Door. It's a little duet with Cameron and Timo but Timo was too shy to be shown on the video so he's sitting next to me. (But make sure you watch all the way till the end for his cameo.) Cameron kept moving all around singing, my camera was having a hard time keeping her in focus, but you get the idea! Enjoy a little Anna & Hans!
We started our second morning off with breakfast by the fire, Cameron comfy enough to stay in their jammies.
As soon as breakfast was over we dressed and hit the slopes for some sledding and snow ball fights.
Daddy joined us a little later in the morning and they got started building Olaf! I'd say they did a pretty good job. It happen to be at the top of the ski lift drop off and I could hear kids saying "look, it's Olaf!" as they were getting off the chair lift.
Olaf was missing a nose so I ran into the restaurant to see if we could have a carrot...they happily obliged and when I came back out they were working on an even bigger Olaf. I scrounged around for arms and hair while they put the finishing touches on him...Ta-da!
We headed in for lunch which turned into a good two hours of game time. The front desk has lots of games and we made a good dent in their selection. We started with Battleship then CandyLand, a puzzle and wrapped up with Scrabble. It was our first Scrabble game because the kids are just learning how to read and spell but that really different than taking a bunch of random letters and making a word. As you can see from below, we had very short words and kinda had to modify the rules. But it was fun to see them really using their brain power.
We're never ones to miss 4 o'clock s'mores!
The weather had been calling for snow all day, we kept looking at the snow coming on our phones weather apps and in the sky but it just didn't seem to make it over the mountain. We could literally see the snow storm in the distant but nothing fell over our mountain...so frustrating!
We loaded up in the gondola to head down to the Village to go ice skating...um, roller skating. Turns out they had a heat wave two week earlier that melted the ice rink so it was roller skating now.
As soon as I put my skates on I felt like I had been transported back to 1983, 12 years old, roller skating to Thriller! Wow, flashback city. Cameron, like her mom, took to it like a fish in water. She has been practicing on her skates she got for her birthday but these were real roller skates that go real fast. She hung in there and got the hang of it. Timo, on the other hand, gave it his best shot but decided he like running in his sneakers better. And, as we had been waiting all day, it started snowing!
We went out for some warm udon soup and sushi for dinner before heading back up the mountain.
Snowman building, gaming, rollerskating and eating our way through the day make for some very tired, sleep kids! I think they fell asleep as soon as they layed down because they aren't in their usual sleeping positions and I didn't hear a peep after "good night!"
Daddy was in charge of the kiddos on our last morning so Mommy could have some time in the spa's steam room and relaxation room. Guessing learning how to take pictures with Daddy's phone was on the agenda. I love that Cameron like to have breakfast in her jammies.
They were taking one last dip in the pool when I finished up. Timo was starting to get a bad cold so I didn't want him in the pool...we compromised with sticking his feet in the hot tub but not getting his hair wet. He such a good spot, laying out seemed to be enough fun for him (you could tell he was starting to feel sick). But all good things must end, as did our time swimming, and it was time to pack up and go home. We had one very upset camper...can you tell who?
A quick video game in the new game room on our way out to finish off our vacation. We're already counting the days until we can go back! It was so nice to get out of the city for a few days and breath some fresh mountain air...
With all the rain the first few days of Spring Break, the news kept covering how much snow was falling in Tahoe. I looked at Young Tuesday night and told him he looked really tired and thought he should take a "personal day" so we could all escape to Tahoe and enjoy the last snow fall. After a little more whining about being stuck inside with the kids for days and days, in the rain, etc... he gave in and we packed up Thursday morning to head to Tahoe. We left early and got there by lunch. We love going back to our favorite hotel...we get Thank You cards and wine from them!
Timo and Cameron kept telling us all the way up there that they wanted to learn how to ski. Once we got there I told them we had to go register for ski school happening the following day but once they looked out at all the snow they decided they just wanted to play the next few days and learn to ski next time. OK, works for us! We grabbed our sleds and hit the hills. Young had a conference call once we got there so I was alone with the kids...sorry, no video, watching them on sleds kept me busy! (like the embellishments blogger adds to photos now? It was flurrying all day but not snowing this hard.)
We stopped at 4pm for the afternoon s'mores...look who is first in line...hmmmm.
Next up was the pool and hot tub! Timo always makes fast friends with other kids and his new friend Charlie pretty much followed us around the whole weekend. The best part of the pool, other than it being heated, was it started snowing while we were swimming!
But it was a cold walk back to the room...
From one outdoor hot tub to one indoor hot tub in the room! Easy way to kill time until Daddy got done with work and dinner time.
It was really snowing by the time we at supper, the kids were so excited! I'm glad I talked Young into going and I'm glad he figured out a way to make it happen!
