But I'm really sick!

Annie was sick for a few days last week, just some puking the first day and then a few days of mild fever. She stayed home with me Wednesday and Thursday, then got sent home early on Friday. Olivia didn't like going to school without her. I'm pretty sure she was perfectly fine once she got there, but just thinking about leaving home while Annie is having a grand time at home, probably watching cartoons all day and feasting on popsicles was too much for Olivia. (She was right! Annie did watch cartoons all day, and ate a lot of popsicles.) So for the last few days, our morning routine has been sprinkled with Olivia saying "But I'm sick...I don't feel well...my nose hurts...etc." I knew she was bluffing, I just knew it. She wouldn't let me take her temperature to verify this mystery sickness that makes your tummy scratchy....that and she was more than fine playing and running around the house until I mentioned that it was time to leave for school. Today was different though. She was snack leader, which means she got to bring a show and tell. She was the first person in the car today, with no mention of any sicknesses.

Weatherman, Schmetherman

Over the weekend, Tim showed Annie how you can check the weather forecast on the web. She was so excited to learn that it was supposed to snow on Monday, 2-6 inches. Last night we had the news on the tube and Tim tried to turn it off, right in the middle of Kathy Sabine's weather report. Annie says "Hey! I was watching the weather report!" So you know she is big into weather now...or was. This morning it was hard not to notice her utter disgust at the lack of snow on the driveway. She was really ticked that she couldn't get out there with her shovel and go at the 2-6 inches that was promised to her! So very disappointing for her. All I could muster was, "Well, get used to it, weather reporters suck."

Peanut Butter Baby

She loves 2 things - Mac & Cheese and Peanut Butter

On the Ice

We spend the morning doing a bit of ice skating thanks to a nice Christmas gift from our friend Donna - thanks Donna! The girls started off a bit shaky, but eventually Annie really got the hang of it. The only way I got her to leave the ice was to tell her that we could sign her up for some ice skating lessons at the rink down the street from our house. Here is a video of Annie showing off her skills! I'm pretty sure we are looking at the next Michelle Kwan.

Ski Bums

Last weekend we stayed on the magic carpet, but this week we hit the lift! I'm not biased at all when I say that my girls totally rocked the bunny hill. Annie has finally gotten the hang of turning and as soon as she figures out how to really stop then I'll feel comfortable letting go of her reins. Olivia is still loving just cruising down, straight down, and fast. She did a few runs before her emotions got the better of her. Tim headed to the lodge with her where she promptly fell asleep. Annie and I took a few more runs and continued working on her turns and skiing in control. The last run we took, we headed into some trees, which Annie thought was a great idea. We came out of the trees facing a pretty big drop off, but Annie handled it well. We tried to go off some sweet jumps, but never really got up enough speed....next time, it's all ours!

Ski Day!

This morning we set Annie up in a 2 hour ski lesson at Echo Mountain which is not too far from Denver. Olivia is too young to be in a lesson, but we brought skis along for her to try out with Tim and I. We got Annie all settled into her class, and Olivia started to cry about how she didn't want to go skiing! So we sat in the lodge and watched Annie and the rest of her class. She is doing much better this year than last year and made it down the hill more than a few times without crashing. Halfway through her lesson the class came into the lodge to warm up with hot cocoa. After they went back out, Olivia got a burst of confidence and decided that she wanted to ski too! So we jumped on it and scrambled out to the hill so she wouldn't have time to change her mind. Let me just say that she totally rocked. She did so much better than we were ever expecting and she loved every minute! We stopped after about an hour to grab some lunch and I was sure everyone was done for the day, but both Annie and Olivia wanted to go out for more. Annie spent the rest of the day working on turning, an I think she has finally figured it out. We promised to take her up to Copper next weekend to ride on the lift which is what she was really hoping to do today. Olivia did great too, really good balance and maybe she did some turns, or that might have just been luck. She kept trying to push Tim away from her, she really wanted to go down on her own. Here she is in action, just push play!

Forgot to mention...

Annie and I stayed up on New Years Eve with her cousins Luke and Kyle. A few minutes until midnight the television started showing the mass of people in Times Square, and I said to Annie, "Can you believe it? All those people stayed up late to celebrate your birthday!"

Silence, followed by "How do all those people know about me??"

I got the feeling she was a bit weird-ed out by the whole thing, so I told her they were really there for the start of the new year. Then I couldn't help but get the feeling that she was a little disappointment by that news.