LUTSEN

It has been a while since I posted anything on my blog.  You can chalk it up to sickness, busyness and never getting a chance on the computer.  Between homework, FACEBOOK, a few computer games, and papers...our computer gets A LOT of use in the evening.  Anyway, I hope that there are a few people out there still reading...

We took our first FAMILY VACATION this weekend.  We often try to get up to Lutsen Ski Area once during the winter months.  It usually happens over Presidents Weekend.  It felt different than other years, but it all went pretty well.  

It was very beautiful on the North Shore.  Our kids thought that it looked something like Narnia.  They were right.  We arrived after dark and the road to our cabin was deep in the wilderness.  It was almost kind of magical.  It made the trip seem like an adventure.  Here are a few highlights of our weekend.

The worst thing that happened was that Roselyn and Rodrigo got sick.  

The best thing was that on Sunday, all of us went skiing.  We split up to ski, but decided to meet for lunch.   That might have been our biggest mistake of the weekend.  It was quite the scene.  We walked into the ski chalet at the peak of lunchtime.  It was packed!  So... a few of us started walking around the room like scavengers looking for a table (for 10?).  What were we thinking???  It was SO awkward.  You don't want to hover over people, but there is no where else to go?? Anyway, we eventually managed to find a table and eat together.  After lunch, we all went our separate ways, but it was fun to all be there on the same day.

The funniest? thing happened at 6:45 a.m. on Friday morning.  Romeo came to our room to alert Allen to the fact that Rigo was very sick!!  Allen went down to the boys room only to find a very hot and sweaty little boy lying on the bed.  Actually, both boys were sweating profusely...and the room felt like a SAUNA!  After some investigating, it became clear that one of the boys had been playing with the thermostat the night before.  He had turned it up as high as it would go...thus a very HOT bedroom.  Thankfully, Rigo wasn't really sick.  He was just very, very hot!  At any rate, the two boys were up for the day and no one else was ready to be up.  The solution?  Ice Age 2!  I'm afraid that we used this little movie trick a few times over the weekend.  Is it bad parenting to let your kids watch Shrek 3 1/2 times in a 24 hour period??

The nicest thing was to bring along two very nice friends for the girls.  Jamey and Adelle were such good companions for Steph and Roselyn.  I would bring them any day!

The sweetest thing about the weekend was watching Lindsay and Bjork interact.  It was especially fun because we were able to celebrate Valentines Day with them.  (Probably not their first choice...)  Anyway, they seem to be very happy and in love!  It was great to have them along!!!

The saddest thing about the weekend was that Kristin was not with us.  She loves snow boarding and we missed her very much!

Allen LOVES to ski and we all appreciate all the work he does to get us ready to go.  Skis, boots, poles, snowboards, snow pants, gloves, hats, gloves, hand warmers... the list is endless and a bit overwhelming when you are trying to outfit 10 people!  I am glad that we have the chance to take our family skiing.  Mostly, it gives us shared experiences and memories.  We are planning to return next year sometime.