Bowers take on Colorado!

This past week was winter break for the kids. We decided this year that they all 3 were old enough and ready for a ski trip. We packed our bags and headed to Keystone Ski Resort in Colorado. It was SO much fun! It was Mack's first time flying, and the kids and my first experience skiing. The kids (and I) learned how to ski, and now Ellie is better than her dad.

We had a few sicknesses while out there. The first night we were there, Worth, Ellie, and I came down with a mysterious headache and extreme nausea that we chalked up to food poisoning. In the middle of the night, Worth realized that it was actually altitude sickness. Mine went away by the next morning, but Worth and Ellie still had some mild symptoms for the next couple of days. Our hotel room sat at 8000 feet above sea level, and where we were skiing was 11,000 feet. Coming from Valdosta, it is no wonder we all had altitude sickness. On day 2 of the trip, Emma decided to come down with the flu. I stayed in with her Sunday and got us a bus ride to the resort's medical clinic to have her checked for strep, since that is usually her MO. I thought it may have been flu since Ellie had the same symptoms the week prior to us leaving. She was negative for strep (thank goodness!) After a day or so of rest, despite still running a fever, Emma was determined to get back out there and enjoy the freezing cold mountain. It probably prolonged her symptoms, but since she seemed to be doing ok for the most part, we let her ski.

I have experienced some pretty cold temperatures in my life, but never done an outdoor activity in it for over 5 hours. It was freezing!! One day we went out there, the temp was 0 degrees, but the "feels like" temp was -16degrees. Any body part exposed immediately would freeze. The pictures are sporadic and there aren't as many as I would have liked, but pulling off my glove and getting my phone and hand to cooperate in -16 degrees was a challenge. (Not to mention my complete inability to concentrate on anything other than my skis when I was skiing.)

I have now only been to one ski resort, but I would highly recommend Keystone to anyone. It was amazing! Everything is kid friendly, there is plenty of on site transportation, the medical clinic was on point, and everyone there is BEYOND friendly and kind. You can tell they all love working out there and love life.

We made it through security at the Atlanta airport without a hitch.

We represented the Dawg nation well. 

Mack's first flight. He was excited and a little nervous. 

While Mack sat with Worth on the plane, the girls sat with me. I think they were more excited about having movies to watch for 3 hours than flying on the plane. 

After landing in Denver, we took a 15 passenger van for a 3 hour (turned 4 hour) drive into the mountains to our resort. This was the view from the van as the sun set on the mountain range we were driving into. About 2 and 1/2 hours into the van ride, Emma looked at me with tears in her eyes saying she needed to go potty "real bad." I knew it was an emergency, but looked up to see mountains on either side of the road, no exit signs and us sitting in stand still Denver 5:00pm Friday traffic. I attempted to get her to go in a water bottle I had, but she flat refused. After contemplating, I yelled to the driver from the very back of the van LOADED with people to drop off at various resorts, that we were going to have to stop somewhere because we had an emergency bathroom situation. Once I said something another family with kids in the van quickly agreed with me as one of their children was silently suffering as well. There were no stops for at least another 30 minutes, but we finally made it to a very small gas station with 1 toilet  and Emma sprinted inside passing gas the whole way in. (Now I knew why she wouldn't pee in the water bottle.) We all came out ok though and all children on board had relieved bladders and bowels. I just felt sorry for the other 20 somethings on our adventure that were just trying to make it to Breckinridge. 

A long day and Mountain time zone made the Bowers kids very tired on the first night at dinner. 

I had to document Mack asleep at the dinner table, as he has NEVER in his 5 years of life done this. Asleep at a dinner table? With people talking all around and food in front of him? I am still in disbelief that this occurred, but here is the picture to prove it. 

Good morning Keystone mountain. Our lodge was directly beside the Gondola. Very convenient. 

Day 1 on the slopes ready. This was before Emma fell ill. 

Mack was doing a great job on skis. It amazed me how easy they caught on with no poles. 

I was a nervous wreck the first day, but got it down after my second lesson a few days later. 

Every now and then one of the kids would just drop into a snow angel. They were mesmerized at the snow. We don't see that here in south GA. 

Instead of skiing, this is what Emma and I did on the morning of day 2.  Fever, chills, unable to eat. It was the flu, but thankfully not strep, so I didn't have to deal with getting an Uber into the local town to find a pharmacy. 

While Emma and I were taking it easy, Mack, Ellie and Worth were on the slopes. 

That night,Emma felt up to it, so we went back up on the mountain for some night snow tubing. It was  SO fun, very cold, but fun! 

Day 3 we all took it easy and heading to the lake for some ice skating. This was a first for the entire family, and once again, I was terrified, until I realized how similar it was to roller skating.This is Ellie on a walker to help her balance. The kids looked hilarious with these walkers. 

Mack looked like a little old man. 

We decided to hit up the hot tub for the afternoon. The kids were being silly on the elevator down to the pool/hot tub (which was outside BTW.) 

Frigid outside, but nice and toasty in the hot tub. 

                             

The kids and Worth also played some foosball and pool for the afternoon in the game area of the hotel. 

A little fun in a big chair. 

goof balls. 

Day 4 was a much better ski day for all of us! Ellie and Worth hit the greens and a blue, while Mack, Emma, and I returned to our lessons with a new coach.

It was pretty funny to be in a place that you had to wipe mounds of snow off of a bench to sit on it. 

waiting on dinner on our last night there. 

Ellie played the huge chess game while waiting on our dinner. 

House Full of Sports

We have been grinding through basketball season with little opportunity to come up for air. The girls have had less than desirable seasons this year.  Ellie's team has won only 2 games, and Emma's team has won 2 as well. They are, at times, heartbreaking to watch, but the girls have improved over the season and have learned a lot. Worth can give you a dissertation on the problems on each team, but I will spare you details as he is NOT a coach.

I just signed Mack up for coach pitch. I can't believe he's old enough for coach pitch, but his t-ball team from last year is sticking together and we are moving up!

I rarely get my camera out at the right time. They usually are doing awesome if I put my camera back in my purse. Here is a free throw attempt of Ellie's. Hopefully I can get better videos of her in upcoming games.




I FINALLY got a video of Emma making her free throw. They won this game!





Mack hasn't started games yet, but has had some practices. Worth was able to get him the correct bat this weekend and they worked on some hitting.




We finally had a Saturday night off this weekend. It consisted of an outside fire, homemade pizza's, wine (for Worth and I,) an outdoor movie, and s'mores. It was fabulous to have such a relaxing night.

Disney January

It's hard to believe that the first month of 2019 is already over. We concluded our January with a whirlwind 3 day Disneyworld/Legoland trip and lots of basketball. It has been non stop fun, and I have lots of pictures and videos to show for it.

Two weeks ago we headed to Disneyworld and Legoland for the MLK weekend. The kids had received this trip as a Christmas gift and were so excited about it, since the girls (Ellie) could barely remember their last trip there. We hit the Magic Kingdom on day 1 and Hollywood Studios on Day 2. Day 3, we headed to Legoland, which is not a Disney park. It was about 30 minutes from our Disney hotel.

The Disney parks were crowded as usual. I was a little stressed trying to keep up with all 3 kids in the madness, so there are few pictures to document our time there. We only lost Mack briefly once when we were trying to find a table to sit down and eat our lunch. Worth had reserved it, while I had taken the kids to the bathroom to wash their hands. As we were heading to the table, we took a right and Mack took a left.  When we got to the table, I realized Mack wasn't with us. It scared me, because I knew he had been right with me. After a frantic search of the eating area, I found him just wandering around in the area where you order your food. He asked, "Where did you go?" I thought I might strangle him and hug him all at the same time. I knew his magic band shown to a park employee could get him back to us if he got really lost, but these days, there are so many weirdos, you just never know.

The rest of the time we were following Worth's app and our fast passes trying to wait the least amount of time in all of the long ride lines. We rode most everything in Magic Kingdom except Space Mountain and the Snow White Dwarf Train, which each had over a 2 hour wait. We also did most of the big stuff at Hollywood Studios as well. The lines were ridiculous and I couldn't even believe myself when I would say, "that ride is under a 70 minute wait, let's do that one!" The Magic Kingdom day was beautiful and it wasn't too bad waiting in line, but at Hollywood Studios, it got REALLY cold. We waited for the Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster (in Toy Story land) for 2 and 1/2 hours, only because their were no fast passes, and it was literally the only ride the kids really wanted to go on. It was so much fun, but I will NEVER wait in a line that long with all 3 of my children ever again. I thought I might get turned into DEFACS before we made it to the coaster.

Legoland on Day 3 (MLK day) was a completely different story. We arrived early and were the first people in the park. There were no lines, and no waiting on all rides. It was so cold, but we knocked the entire park out in about 4 hours. The kids had a blast and came home with bags of Legos to play with.

We came back home to a busy week full of school, basketball games, birthday parties, and all the other "life" stuff that fills your week. By last Friday night, everyone in our house (me included) needed an attitude adjustment or just a really long nap. We finally settled back into our routine this past week and had a great week, ending with my birthday this Friday, basketball ALL day Saturday, and a sweet father daughter dance Saturday night.

Loaded up for Orlando!

Checking in at the Art of Animation Hotel

After checking in, and waiting for a restaurant in downtown Disney, we FINALLY got in. A 9:00pm dinner always brings out the best in everyone, especially Mack. 

We made it to Magic Kingdom bright and early!

Lightening McQueen ride was first. I just love how they get your best face on the ride cameras. I was coaching Mack on where to shoot his gun. Worth was just trying to beat us. 

This is just so funny to me. 

Mack started hanging on to whoever would let him early on. I know he was so tired, but it was so nice to NOT have a stroller to carry around. 

Dumbo was next up. 

Dumbo was the only ride Ellie could really remember, so this was on the top of her list to ride first. 

More line waiting shenanigans. I have TONS of these pictures. 

They can be sweet siblings. 

Mack tried to act scared on a few initial rides, but once he got the hang of it, he LOVED it!

More line waiting pictures. This was for the Thunder Mountain train. 

We had fast passes for Splash Mountain, and it was SOOO worth it! Mack had to be tricked into getting on it. He looks terrified in this picture, but when he got off, he claimed it was his favorite ride. 

"It's a small world" was a relaxing ride to break from the chaos of the day. 

They were pretty exhausted after day 1. 

We made it on a cold, windy day to Hollywood studios!

We rode a Star Wars ride first, but quickly headed to Toy Story land where we waited about 45 minutes for the Toy Story Mania ride. At least they provided entertainment while we waited. Mr. Potato Head put on quite a comedy routine. 

The Indiana Jones stunt spectacular was really fun to watch. Mack was mesmerized by all the fire, tricks, and car flips. 

Final Day: LEGOLAND!

While Ellie, Emma, and I rode a virtual reality roller coaster that Mack wasn't big enough for, Worth took him to driving school

and boating school. 

The girls got to do driving school later as well. 

While we waited in line the kids played on the Lego Wall

 

Mack was mesmerized by this lego mustang

Mack also liked all of the lego building areas. He would have stayed at these all day if we would have let him. 

There was a lego mini area that had replicas of different US cities and Florida cities. It was unbelievable to imagine the work that went into these. This is part of the New York exhibit, obviously. 

Daytona

D.C.

NASA

San Fran

Ellie and Emma worked on a LegoNinjago mission

They also got to practice their firefighting skills. 

Ellie won a panda at one of the carnival games at Legoland. Mack and Emma wanted to pose in the guillotine but I didn't do a great job of getting a good picture of it. 

We came back from Disney and got a call from the school that Ellie had won the  kindness award at school for January. They pick 2 kids per grade each month. Worth and I were able to go to the school to watch her being presented with this. I was beyond thrilled for this award above any other school achievements. Worth and I are so glad she is kind at school, since it doesn't always happen with siblings at home. 

December and January winners. 

Basketball is in full swing. Emma is learning so much this year. 

Ellie is too. 

She is so small, I worry so much about those big girls fouling her. 

Add caption

Yesterday, she wouldn't pull her shorts down. So, I took her picture. 

She looked hilarious, but she said it was more comfortable that way. They lost their game, but it wasn't because this tiny  high pants girl didn't play her heart out. 

They all looked great for the Daddy Daughter dance last night. 

We attempted a front door picture, but it was already getting too dark. 

Sweet Emma

Ofcourse their favorite part was the ice cream. 

Ellie, the tween socialite. 

This stray kitty has been hanging out a little too much at our house. He has been big trouble to our other cats.