Quickie

A quick update from Mammoth. We do have internet access here in the condo and we really like this condo. There is a bedroom with a king bed, 2 bathrooms, a loft with bunkbeds, a full bed and one more twin. A washer and dryer! The living area is spacious with a nice dining area and kitchen. The kitchen has all sorts of nice surprises like a crockpot, rice cooker, espresso machine and toaster.

The only problem and it is a major flaw is that the condo is not near the parking lot. It faces the street (Meridian) and is exactly in the center from the parking on either side of the complex. This makes loading and unloading a huge undertaking especially with all our snow gear. Hector has to park on the side of the street, turn the hazard lights on and we begin the loading/unloading process. It is kind of hectic and hurried since traffic is zipping by and debris goes all over.

Other than that, this place is awesome.

Protection

The other week or so I was showing my cousin the helmets we use for skiing/snowboarding. She had asked if she should get one or not. In the beginning I wasn't too keen on them but wore one anyway. I got a pretty light blue helmet that stood out among the many black helmets. Hey I still wanted to make a fashion statement. Well, I crashed one day on Stump Alley when I caught a heel edge which sent me flying backwards downhill and BAM! I fell on my back and my head slammed against the ground. Later I saw that I cracked the styrofoam inside which did its job of protecting my head. Yeah, I was a little dazed but no injuries. So after that, I have no hesitation at wearing a helmet.


My cousin mentioned that a friend of hers bonked his head on slopes and ended up with short term memory loss. Yikes.







Then I saw Tyler's helmet...um when did this happen?
Above is the side view of his helmet which looks okay but...

it shouldn't have a crack...
or a major rip through the plastic and the styrofoam. On our last day, Hector and Tyler hung out on the slopes. Tyler did have a big fall and that is the only incident that I can come up with to account for the damage. So Tyler will be needing a new helmet ASAP.

birthdays galore

For some reason it seems that there are a LOT of January birthdays in Joshua's classroom. He was invited to 3 birthday parties over the span of 2 weekends which was overwhelming. I accepted 2 of the parties and declined the 3rd party because it was at Chuck E Cheese and I wouldn't be able to handle all that joy.

One party was at an indoor rock climbing place called Beach City Rocks. It had about 30 different levels varying from easy to expert. Since this was a birthday party for a 6 year old, we were at the easy level. Joshua wasn't too eager to try rockclimbing; he tried last summer and froze about 3 feet off the ground. I was hoping he didn't remember that time but he did. So like a good mom I pleaded and begged and when he wasn't going for it, I said you can climb to the purple rock (about halfway up the wall) otherwise you won't get any pizza. Hey, it worked. Joshua climbed to the purple rock and when he was on solid ground, he immediately wanted his pizza. Okay.
See that biggish purple rock , just to the right of Josh's head? That was his goal.

Then he needed help getting down. Josh didn't understand that he had to keep his legs in front of him so they sent someone to help.

See how much he loves climbing? He is frozen in place....yeah, we won't be doing this again for a long time.

Nature walk

I am trying to take more pictures so here is the latest batch...

Sunday

On Sunday, we stopped at a park to see the views. The park is hidden away in a hillside neighborhood that overlooks the city. Hector said he could see all the way to Big Bear but the haze settled in. I wasn't able to take any good city pictures plus the trees got in the way but the kids had fun playing in the playground. Hector thought this squirrel was eating a flaming hot cheeto. :)

Sunset at Redondo Beach

Wicked Cowl

I finished a pretty cowl last night. The yarn is a mix of green and purples plus it has some alpaca in it so totally soft and cuddly. It is KnitPicks Imagination Wicked Witch that is very afforable. I was originally thinking socks but the longevity would be quite short and all my hard work would be cut short. I saw a pretty cowl pattern on Ravelry so off I began.

It is an easy knit and took only a few days. I lightly blocked it this morning so now I want to show it off before I hand it over as a gift for Kat.

I have another skein somewhere so I might have to make one for myself. Yes, that's a great idea.