Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a really fantastic Thanksgiving weekend full of fun, food and friends.  The only negative is that I took very few photos (and the ones I did get weren't of great quality), so will need to wrap up the memories with words so I can remember the special weekend for years to come. 

We started off the 4 day weekend by spending Thanksgiving day skiing at Crystal Mountain.  The weather was a bit chilly and windy for my liking but we had the mountain almost to ourselves while everyone else enjoyed their dinners.  The girls were a bit nervous that they may have forgotten how to ski so we did one run on the bunny slope for them to prove that they were right where we left off in March.  The first half of the day had very icy snow conditions which isn't ideal for the first ski of the year but the girls did great taking it slow with lots of turns and made us so proud.  Then the snow began to fall which gave a nice top coat that made skiing easier and allowed the girls to be more confident.  Here's a video Tom took of them going down their favorite "cat track". 

Looking forward to a great ski season.  It is going to be so much easier this year with the girls beyond the beginner level.  I am just a little concerned that I am going to be the one holding us back and Tom and the girls will be leaving me in their dust (or powder). 

Friday we were lucky enough to have the Brown Family come down from Canada to spend a few days celebrating American Thanksgiving.  Dinner turned out well and the timing seemed to work out pretty well.  There were a few recipes I tried that I won't be doing again (green beans and apple pie) but the majority of things seemed to be good.  I tried a few new things with my cranberry recipe that was well received and the layered cheesecake/pumpkin pie was delish!!

Saturday we entertained the "dog crew" from our old neighborhood.  We spent a great deal of time with these 3 families living in the old neighborhood.  Our dogs brought us all together and we enjoyed many walks, dinners, births and more with them.  This was the first time we all were together again in probably 5 years.  The kids all had a great time playing and we enjoyed a good brunch and lots of catching up.  We promised it would not be 5 years again before we got everyone back together.  I can not believe that I did not take one photo of the reunion:-(

Having the Browns around for a few days was so enjoyable.  The kids entertained each other for hours on end and were really pretty amazing for being confined in the house for 2 solid days with no arguments or major problems, just a few minor tears.  A few highlights and low lights from the visit:

• Derrick finding the missing hamster in the bathroom garbage can after his shower.
• All 4 adults spending the first half of Apple Cup outside searching for a lost cat that ended up being in the house all the time. 
• Tom and Derrick showing off their criminal skills by getting the Brown's car unlocked when the keys were inside and cutting off a shoplifting ink cartridge from a shirt with great success.
• Watching our traditional horrible movie when the kids were in bed.  This time it was "Bad Teacher" and it was really awful, which is hard to say when it had Justin Timberlake in it.  But even he couldn't save this one.
• The girls having sleepovers and finding them all cuddled together in bed. 
• Sous Chef Madison helping in the kitchen
• MANY MANY laughs, way too much good food (diet begins NOW), lots of noisy/content children and plenty to be thankful for!

The Browns left this morning and I spent the final day of the weekend recovering on the couch.  I watched 3 football games in a row, didn't get out of my pajamas all day and ate the majority of Madison's Muddy Buddy creation.  Really glad I didn't take a photo of that.  A perfect end to a perfect weekend.  Now a really crazy week begins that includes someone in this house turning the big 4-0!!!!