Ski Trip 2010: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Our fourth annual ski trip to the great Salt Lake (and then a jaunt to WA) was eventful as usual. I'm sure these travelogues are a tad dull, but report it I must, for the sake of posterity if for nothing else. So, for those of you who are dying to know, here's the break down of our 2010 ski trip: the good, the bad and even, I'm afraid, the ugly.

The Good:

• Josh, Nate and Bard got to ski the beautiful Utah mountains almost every day (I only skied once. Where's the love?)
• Will got to go skiing for the first time and LOVED it (he kept saying, "More skiing!" and "Ski powder!" and "More M&Ms" since we bribed him on the chair lift with M&Ms).
• Plenty of trips were made to the brand-spankin' new and scrumptious Corner Bakery (operated by sis-in-law's dad) --I counted at least 5 times. If you're in the area of Red Butte in SLC, you've got to check it out.
• Fun trips to the Children's Museum in SLC and the JUMP and BOUNCE House in Spokane.
• Visits with some of my favorite people: my Granny, Marsha, Jim, Peggy, Erin, Nikki and her girls! Plus in Spokane, I got to visit with some old friends and my grandparents.
• Girls' Night out at the ballet, viewing Swan Lake. Loved it, especially the swans and the beautiful music. (I especially loved the over-enthusiastic cat-caller present at the ballet. Seriously, he was "whooping" at the ballerinas' performances. Classy).
• Lots of cousin time--Sam, Beth, Tanner, Katie, Nixon and Garret. We miss our cousins already! Plus, all the aunt/uncle/brother/sister time. Boy, were we spoiled.
• Even more Granny/Gus and Grammy/Pompa time. Will was in grandparent heaven. I was in grandparent heaven. In Spokane, when Will woke up in the mornings, I just sent him up the stairs to find Grammy and Pompa while I snuggled back to sleep.
• Watching the Olympics with my dad--he cried, twice. In his words, "I'm a sucker for a good story."
• Of course, "bonding-time" with both our families. We have the best families ever!

The Bad:

• Three separate airplane flights with Will on the lap. Two of those rides sans a helpful Josh. 'Nuff said. (Albany to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to Spokane, Spokane to Albany. Fun times, no?)
• The twenty pounds I gained, thanks to the many trips to Corner Bakery. Little, yummy cookies--how I miss you.
• The lack of time to do/see all I wanted to do/see whilst on vacation.
• The post-vacation depression that settles in, realizing that I am now solely responsible for cooking, cleaning and attending to my child's needs. PLUS, the post-vacation depression from realizing I am far too far from family.

The Ugly:

• Will's viscous sickness that spread across four states, six families and sadly even landed one person in the hospital (sorry, Michelle!). Let me tell you, he was so sick--it wasn't pretty (though, fortunately for me, his night of sickness coincided with our Girls' Night Out, so Josh was the stellar guy taking care of our sick little boy). Poor guy is just fine now, though I'm not so sure I can say the same for everyone else.

Ski trip, how we love you! Can't wait 'til next year. Enjoy the pics.

Will's first attempt at skiing.
The Mad fam skiing. And what would skiing be without some lovely mad-hat hair from yours truly? One day I may get a flattering shot of myself on the blog.

Will at the museum in the cute red truck.

Will and Beth on the horse at the museum. Sam was there, too, but I didn't get one good shot of the two of them.

Will at theJump and Bounce house. He loved it.

I had to show this one of Will's darling "cheese" smile.

The Spear family boy cousins. From left to right: Will, Garret and Nixon. Guess who's the youngest? That's right: Nixon. And one would think that it would be fun to have three boy cousins so close in age. If by fun you mean constantly breaking up fights and enduring lots of crying due to one another's brutality, then yes, it is fun.

Katie, Will and my cousins' kids, Jasmine and Emoni. Aren't they darling?