Today was a good day...I did have to start the morning with a dentist visit but our dentist is really cool & gentle. He had to replace an old filling and it only took 30 minutes. Once both boys were in school, Hector and I went to Costco to spend out rebate check from American Express. For dining purchases we get 3% back and for everything else 1% which added up to a nice amount back. Let's just say we got a new BBQ grill and a few essentials with our rebate which is sweet. We unloaded our things and headed to have lunch at the Curry House. we hit the lunch crowd but only had to wait 15 minutes for a table and service is very fast. I had the chicken katsu curry with rice and Hector had the beef curry with spaghetti. Unfortunately they add green bell peppers to the noodles which Hector & I dislike but he picked them out and he was good to go.

This afternoon we picked up Tyler from school and walked over to El Monte RV to look at the different RVs. We are thinking of renting one this summer. It was fun. We got a price quote on the 30 foot RV and we might give it a go this year. Of course we have to decide where to go etc but it sounds like lots of fun. If anyone has any suggestions or experience to share, please leave a comment.

Back Home

Finally we're back home and it sure is nice. Overall, our trip was great. The weather was warm and sunny. Tyler advanced in his skiing from the bunny slopes to the intermediate lifts. We had a fun time with the our other friends but I think we'll get our own place instead of sharing. It was just hard to coordinate everything especially meals. Plus getting to and from the ski resort was such a massive undertaking for them which always had us waiting and waiting. Hector was getting really frustrated this morning when we were getting ready to leave. Last night I gathered up the kids' things and laid out their clothes for the next day and I do the same for myself. Hector takes care of his things and all of our snow gear. So this morning most of our things were ready; we just had to pack our toiletries, food and electronics. But out friends left everything to be done this morning. That made packing plus getting their kids' ready take much longer than we planned for. We wanted to check out and start driving home but had to wait for the others. The condo was in our name and we had to turn in all the keys etc so we had to wait for them to get their stuff out. It was just a frustrating end to our trip. Other than that, we had lots of fun.

Hector and I snowboarded all over the mountain yesterday. I was being careful the first couple of days and felt really relaxed yesterday. I fell more because I took more risks but we had so much fun. I have a huge bruise on my right knee from falling when getting off the lift. Oh well that was to be expected. Tyler was excited that he graduated to the steeper hills. One day we tried to find him on the beginner hill and Hector saw Tyler following his instructor off some small jumps! Cool! Too bad we didn't get any pics of it but it was great to see him concentrate and accomplish so much.

More...

Okay, I've been super busy since my last post but I have plenty to tell ya. Wednesday afternoon, we took the kids sliding. It was getting late and Tyler dragged his sled up higher than normal. When he started sliding, his sled took a different path right into some trees! He crashed into a huge tree sliding facefirst! Tyler got some cuts and scrapes on his face but he is OKAY. Of course he was very scared and crying but now 2 days later, he is running around like normal. It could have been a lot worse. He didn't want me taking his picture so I didn't. Just use your imagination.

Thursday was our first day on the mountain. It was a perfect, gorgeous day. Tyler started ski school and Josh went to the preschool. I made sure I stretched really well and it seemed to help me. Hector and I snowboarded most of the day down Stump Alley which is super wide and groomed. So much fun.

We took the kids sliding again. Here are the pics of their extreme sledding..

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more of our day...

I woke up this morning around 6:30am and dozed until 8am. I opened up the window and this is what I saw...

Snow flurries and the lovely storage building! I woke up Tyler to see the snow and he pointed out this.

A HUGE icicle...

We had breakfast at Base Camp cafe near the outlet stores. So when Hector took my snowboard in for some tuning, I headed over to Coach with the kids because gift card was burning a hole in my purse. Because the store was outlet or Factory as they call it, I got a lot for my money. I bought 2 purses, a cellphone lanyard and a Coach keychain. Did I mention the 20% discount I got in addition to the factory prices? Yippee!! At the retail store, my $500 gift card would not get me as much. So I'm a happy cheesegirl....here are my latest purchases to my collection.

Gonna go and play in the snow now...pictures later.

Safe Arrival

Well, we're in Mammoth and our trip was smooth sailing. I got up early to pack and get all the loose item together so by the time we left it was 11am. At least the traffic was light and the roads were clear after West LA.

We stopped a couple of times to eat and once to figure out a mystery noise in the back seat. At first I thought it was the speaker but it turned out that Joshua dropped a Gameboy down into the doorwell. It was making a feedback noise so that was a relief it wasn't the car.

We arrived at Holiday Inn & Suites around 5:30pm. We loaded all our stuff onto a bellhop cart and went to our room. The kids were excited because there was a popcorn cart that was free and an indoor pool. Hector and I ate our sandwiches from Schatt's and the kids had spaghetti. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep so Hector took the kids to the pool. Later he said some ladies were oohing and aahing over the kids and one of them is a swim instructor so she put Tyler through some exercises. Then she said that Tyler listens very well! Ha. Sure that time he did.

That reminds me I saw that there is a Coach store in Mammoth which got me excited. Earlier Hector went out to get the kids' takeout and when he came back he was carrying 2 Coach bags. HUH?? He explained that he slipped while walking back and the spaghetti overturned in the bag so he ran into Coach to get another bag. While he was there, he got me a gift card!! What a sweetie! Hector said that he didn't give me a Valentine's day present. So cool...later I can check out what they have at this location or hold on to it for later.

So last night I think I must have slept about 10 hours and I feel so refreshed today. We're gonna grab some breakfast, check out and do some errands. We need to get mula at the bank, rent skis for Tyler and check into the condo (which we can do early). :) Gotta run now...more later!

Packing Time

We leave tomorrow for Mammoth for about a week so I spent most of the morning folding laundry, sorting socks & picking out all the snow gear. Hector is a darling and doing the vacuuming which I detest. Every time we go on a trip, my mom comes in and cleans. In a perfect world, we'd love it but she tends to put things away where we can't find things or decide to decorate. My mom means well but it is our house and she thinks we would like whatever she chooses to hang on the wall. We had to tell her (nicely), "How would you feel if you left and we rearranged your furniture?"
Plus my mom hasn't feeling too well so we're trying to clean up so she won't feel the need plus we turn off the water to discourage her! She just needs to take it easy. I think the condo will have internet access so I might post some pics here or there depending how tired my old bones will be from snowboarding. I'm gonna take it very easy so I don't hurt myself...it'll be fun just to get away. Laters....

Rough Day

Today is a total eclipse of the moon. I heard an astrologist on the radio mention the total eclipse and how life changing events happen on these days. She mentioned that Princess Diana got married on a total eclipse, had one of her sons on a total eclipse and died on a total eclipse. I remembered all this while waiting in the ER tonight with my mom.

It all started this afternoon, my mom agreed to watch the kids while we go the Kings game. Hector took his usual time so we left at 12:45pm for a 1:00pm game. The traffic was slow and we were almost to Staples center when my mom called Hector saying she didn't feel well (her high blood pressure). So we park briefly to try and offload our tickets. The 1st period was already over but Hector found some guys who were in the upper levels who bought our tickets for $20 each. At least they got to upgrade their seats and have a better view of the game which the Kings lost. We drove home to pick up our family car and picked up the kids.

So then we thought we could catch the Ice Dogs game at Long Beach tonight which is an IHL team. We called Tyler's friend, Glenn & parents if they'd like to join us and they agreed. We said we'd swing by their house at 6pm and carpool. I had the kids all ready at 5:30pm and called my mom to check if she was feeling better. It wasn't good..she sounded awful. I told her that I would take her to the ER and she said okay. So I had to back out of the hockey game tonight and told Hector to go.

I took my mom to the ER and it was packed! Everyone and their extended family was there and it was almost like a party on one side of the room. Good thing I had the foresight to bring my knitting so I got a lot done. We arrived at 6 pm and I waited until 7:30pm to head out for some food (In-n-Out...so good) to bring back. My mom was feeling a little better but she gets these spells where her BP shoots up for no apparent reason. She feels weak and shaky. By 9pm my mom asked them to check her BP again and she decided to go home. We were almost out the door and they called out her name which we told them to cancel. Whew...this night got me thinking of the full moon/eclipse. I'm just glad my mom feels better.

The good news is that I finished Tyler's hat last night! Yeah! I finished a project! I started Josh's hat tonight so maybe I can finish it by Tuesday for our trip.

I am really happy how the hat came out. It's a little big on Tyler (heck, it fits my big head) so I'm on a mission to finish a few more. I still might add a little pom-pom on the end.