Vacation Movie

I finally sifted through all our footage of Mammoth, and got some shots from our friends to supplement my phone pics, so if it looks like it was taken without an iPhone, and you haven’t seen it posted on the blog before, I didn’t take the photo. Thank goodness someone documented it, or else the entire video would be instagrams. I tried to compile the video where there’s a photo of the kid before they ski or snowboard. Greta is easy to pick out because she’s in the polka dot jacket and on skis, but the boys are both snowboarding. You can tell it’s Sawyer because he is snowboarding in class, and the video of Gunnar snowboarding is with us. If it’s someone who is snowboarding very fast and looks like he could possibly incur injury, then that’s Aaron. I love the music for this video. In case you are wondering it’s Avalanche City, ‘Love Love Love’, and Mat Kearney, ‘Hey Mama’.

mammoth

I warned you I didn’t take many photos. And I meant it. Here’s the ones I took. That’s it. Hopefully as soon as I see the photos from our friends’ camera I can have a little more variety to share with you all. But for now, enjoy the brief post.

All set and ready to rock this road trip. On the way up Aaron introduced the kids to Napoleon Dynamite and then we listened to a few RadioLab podcasts. The kids loved them and I’m afraid we just created a new NPR junkie named Gunnar.

Red Rock Canyon. No matter how many times we drive through it, it always takes our breath away.

This next one was taken just a few minutes before I got pulled over for speeding. I really hate those little towns, Lone Pine, Big Pine, you go from a 65 speed limit, down to 45, 35, and sometimes 25, in a few seconds, then you may go back up to 35, and sometimes back down to 25, before boom it’s 65 again. Anyways, the cop was super nice and I asked him what the matter was, he said I was going 40 in a 25, I honestly thought it was 35, and I told him. I told him I have tried to keep it straight but the switch between all the signs is confusing. He agreed with me and told me to hand over my license. I looked at Aaron and wanted to cry. I mean if I’m going to get a speeding ticket, give me one on the highway where I’m going 85, not in this dinky town. After a few minutes he walked back to the car, handed me my license and told me to drive safe and enjoy our trip. He let me go!!! Love these dinky town cops.

After ski/snowboard school snacks.

I brought puzzles and crafts for the kids to do in the early evening, late afternoons, when I knew we’d be either conked out on the couch or trying to get dinner ready.

Heading home.

a few iPhone photos of mammoth

Here’s what is left of my iPhone Mammoth pics. I’m working on our video. That and taxes. Delightful combination. And there’s a lot more going on in this house than I even care to think about. Blog post for another day, another week.

Mammoth in Instagrams

We returned this weekend from our annual trek to Mammoth for skiing and snowboarding. This is our 4th year traveling with the same family and by now we have the system down pat. We divide up the meals, the kids get along perfectly. In fact, I don’t recall a single argument amongst the children. I do recall me yelling at my own children several times to stop getting too distracted and eat their food, or get dressed, or go take a shower. But when they are having that much fun it kind of falls to the wayside. We stayed in a different condo this year, but it worked out great, a little older, but an extra bedroom, all in all, success! I was so proud of my kids this trip. After day 1 of all day lessons, Sawyer requested he be put back in class the following day, for another full day. By the end of the second day his teacher had taken him on a chair lift and he had minimal falls. According to Sawyer he was the best in his class. Yay for my newly minted snowboarder! Greta tears up the mountain, a little too fast for my taste, and Gunnar is right there beside us. The kids all know that at least for the first day they will be in classes, then they know the second day they can choose class or being with us. It’s an exhausting trip though to say the least. Each night the adults all wonder how they will make it from the couch to their beds. And by the second night, forget it, advil is passed around to all. The kids crash between 7-7:30 each night after being on the lifts. We eat, we ski, we eat, we sleep. With a little crafting in between for the kids, and puzzles and games. If you can believe, I only took about a dozen photos with my big camera. It stayed pretty much in it’s bag all week. But I did take a bunch with my iPhone and another point and shoot that Aaron was in charge of. So I have video and some more photos to load as well. I’ll put a little video together as well to keep with my one video/vacation goal. But here’s my Instagrams from the vacation.

1.packed and ready to road trip it outta here 2. open road 3. driver 4. our kids are definitely getting older, we managed to drive 3 straight hours before our first pit stop in lone pine for subway 5. getting our rentals 6. checking out the mountain 7. hot chocolate in the lodge 8. dressing chaos, getting 5 kids dressed for lessons, fed, and out the door by 8:30am is a feat 9. first run of the day 10. oh crap 11. yep, the aftermath 12. my little hard core skier 13. crafting time while dinner is made 14. how greta likes to take a break, and my cute boarders 15. hams 16. adult time 17. time for the road again

My Kids in B & W

Here’s the rest of the photos from the Ojai photo shoot they indulged me in back in November. This winter break has been extra fun. This morning Gunnar told me that this has been the best break ever. I kinda have to agree with him. Just the right balance of things to do and not do. Down time and fun time. We have been busy watching movies, so far we’ve seen Chipwrecked, Adventures of Tin Tin and We Bought a Zoo. We’ve been sleeping in and staying up late. We’ve had sleepovers and playdates. We’ve gone Go Kart racing and miniature golfing. We’ve seen our best friends extra. We’ve baked a lot. Entertained our friends with a chili and cornbread night. Played at the park. Visited the library. We’ve had our teeth cleaned. Had a couple days of winter camp at the rec center. Done lots of organizing and crafting. Shopped maybe just a little too much. And still on the agenda? 10 year check up. Ballet. Another playdate. Golf day with Papa. Special mama/Sawyer date. Straight hair for mama (seems long overdue if you ask me). And road trip!

Romeo’s 10 Month Photo Shoot

While we were in Ojai we took advantage of the location and shot Romeo’s 10 month photos. Crazy that I was photographing Gunnar for his 10 year, and Romeo for his 10 month! And remember internet, I’m the younger sister! If you’d like to see more from Romeo’s photo shoot, head on over to my photo blog. While I’ve been on a break from this space I’ve been trying to update my photography site and get things current over there so head on over and take a peek of the rest of this boys’ adorableness.

wordless wednesday- family

around ojai

Some more photos from around Ojai.

Visiting our favorite horse.

This next series cracks me up. Greta was a little apprehensive about feeding the horse, so I’m trying to get her to pet him first.

After a little pep talk, she seems like she’s warming up.

She’s feeling a little more confident.

Less confident

No deal

Somehow she still insists one day she will be a horse owner. A few more Ojai photos to go from our trip to the zoo, and some black and whites from the kids’ shoot. And can’t forget Romeo’s 10 month old shoot coming up too. So much to blog, so little time.

My kids, boy are they cute

I know I’m completely partial and biased in the worst way. But my kids are a lot of fun to take photos of. And I take a whole lot of pictures of kids, let me tell you. I just love the personality and the relationship that my kids have. Without much direction from me at all. I mean I will direct them to sit maybe or stand up, but that’s usually about it. Sometimes I will throw something funny out there to get a laugh, but usually they take care of that all themselves, cracking each other up. I hope this puts a smile on your face as it did mine.

wordless wednesday- dog pile of the best kind