Monday, December 28, 2009

Holiday Photo Album-Phase II

Since Jeff and I have been together, we have kicked off the kids' holiday break with a tobogganing trip. It's a favorite tradition we created for our new family. We rent a cabin, bring an assortment of goodies to eat and hit the toboggan run. The track is refrigerated, so there needn't be snow. This photo of Kate, Jeff and cousin Chloe was snapped before I realized my camera settings were all jinky. Sorry guys.

The boys were hanging out with me and Bobby during the first tobogganing session to serve out a punishment for in-car fighting on the drive up to the park. Yes, such behavior from these sweet, angelic faces. Shocking.

Nothing like waking up to a surprise snowfall! And it kept the kids busy as we packed up the cabin to head home.


Sam, on our walk down the path to the lake. Immediately after this was taken, Tyler launched a snowball at him, and thus began a hilarious snowball fight between those two and Chloe.



See? If I were Tyler, I'd have run. I think Sam and Chloe could totally hold their own against him. And, in fact, they did.


View across the lake on a cold, wintry morning.


Had to give some perspective on the toboggan run. The black dot in the left chute is a toboggan coming at us. That hazy black box that looks kind of like a tree house is the top of the tower where the trip begins. It's about five stories high. How do I know this? I counted every last one of the stairs we climbed the night before--as we carried heavy, wooden toboggans. If memory serves, it's something like a quarter mile track, completely iced, allowing for speeds up to 30-40 mph. Our highest speed was 32-34mph, I think. When you drive it in your car, it doesn't seem so fast. Try flying down an icy chute from five stories up at that speed. I promise. It's. Fast.

This is our Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Notice the absence of twinkly lights. This is because at approximately 6:50am, our power went out. It stayed out for the better part of five hours. Five. Hours. We had ourselves an old-fashioned Pioneer Christmas and opened presents by lantern. (Don't let this photo fool you... it was d-a-r-k. The flash on the camera is just doing its job.) Note that the photo is wide enough for you to enjoy a peek at the shelves in the kitchen and our DVDs. I'm sure this is largely due to the fact that when Jeff was taking the photo he couldn't see anything in the viewfinder. Remember? Because it was DARK. I swear there's a really groovy star on the tree (my 40+ year old family star) and gifts underneath, even though you see none of this.

And would this photo montage be complete without a picture of Bobby experiencing his first Christmas? Again, the camera flash did a super job of lighting him; although after about five pictures, we all but begged Jeff to stop for fear of permanently blinding the tyke. Here, he is opening a set of wooden alphabet blocks. Pioneer Christmas, indeed!

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