Another Year Older.

We knew Jen had to work on the night of my birthday, so in an attempt to make it up to me (and perhaps I took advantage of this), we decided to go south for the weekend to St. George taking the kids and hanging out while I road my bike.  Sadly, as the weekend approached it looked like it would rain and ruin the sunny bike riding weather I had hoped for.

So instead, we canceled our little road trip and skied with the kids Saturday afternoon. While out on the mountain my daughter had the idea of going to dinner at the resort and then continuing our fun with a little bit of night skiing.  It sounded great to me and with a little bit of coaxing everybody agreed.   It turned out to be great fun and the dinner at the Aerie Restaurant was delicious.  I have always worried about the Aerie being too expensive or too formal to bring kids but Jen and I ate there a couple of months ago and the prices weren't bad and it's not overly formal at all and the food is good.  (Though they don't have a lot of choices on the menu).  Night skiing was a fun experience on its own. The kids have always love going at night for some reason, and I don't get it because it's always colder with less places to go but still, we had fun and they skied like little maniacs.



Also of note, during the day both kids hit the small terrain park for the first time and they both loved it.  They hit the jumps again and again going a little bit bigger each time.  It makes me worry that they'll turn out to be park rats, and I contributed to that, but a least they'll be up there I guess.

In the Gadzoom lift line.  Notice the Girls new helmet & goggles.

Sunday night brought fresh snow just in time for my actual birthday which was Monday so Jen took me up to do some powder skiing Monday morning.  We had to wait a while for the rope to drop on Mineral Basin but if there is one thing I've learned over the years skiing at Snowbird is that it's worth it to just wait.  Nothing beats the feeling of untouched powder and the only way to get it (on a sunny day) is to be there when the rope drops, which is what we did and it was heavenly.

Patiently waiting for the rope to drop on Mineral Basin.  Beautiful, untouched power! 

After Mineral I saw that they had just opened High Baldy so I convinced Jen to make the hike with me (thanks Jen, though it was my birthday) up the traverse.  There is something about High Baldy that makes it one of the best places I've ever skied on a powder day.  The snow is always so deep and it has the perfect pitch to make it feel like your flying.  It takes some work to get there but I think it was the highlight of my ski day.

Loving the snow on High Baldy

Jen is in this picture somewhere.  Can you see her?

Another year older but is was a great birthday despite our canceled plans. (Turned out, from reports I saw, the weather was just fine down south.)  I've made Jen promise that we'll still do our St. George trip in the next few weeks so it'll be a win, win anyway.

Into the Sun.

 We got up to Snowbird on Saturday for some much needed sun therapy.  We arrived mid-day to find people barbecuing in the parking lot soaking up the rays.  It was warm and beautiful but you could see why it was so crowded.  Everyone had the same idea.  Coming later in the day was a good idea as it would've been a nightmare trying to park.  As it was, we were able to park close and the slopes weren't that crowded.  The snow was in good shape, though icy in spots.   The kids had fun until the sun got lower in the sky making in cold in the shade.  We were glad to get out of the soup of the valley.  It's suppose to last for another few days then a storm may be coming just in time for my birthday.  We'll see how that turns out.  

Mom and the Boy having a deep conversation mid-way down Gad II.

Discussing where to go. 

Mom and the Boy getting off the lift.  First time ever on Gad II for the Boy.

I'm just happy to be up there.

The Pie and I taking in the view.

Another one of the Pie.  She's outgrowing her helmet.  We tell her that must be why she's so smart.

So Cold Outside!

It's been so cold.  High's all week haven't been much over 20 degrees.  Low's are 0 or below.  It's just not appealing to get outside and ride my bike in temps like this.  But I wish I could because I miss it.  I've been trying to stay somewhat healthy riding the rollers down in the basement but even that seems miserably cold in the mornings.  I don't know how Jen runs outside but she does.  No matter what, she does.  I thought that getting her a trainer would encourage her to stay inside on the worst days but it hasn't.  She's crazy.

We did get to ski last Friday.  It snowed hard the night before but it was a weird kind of storm without very much lift so the snow was much better on the lower/mid section of the mountain vs. the upper mountain.  Jen wasn't feeling so good but she muscled her way through it like any true skier would do on a powder day.

As a side note, while putting away the Christmas decorations it motivated us to clean-up the basement too.  It's now functional as far as basements go.  I've got the workout area on one end and the band area on the other.  If only it weren't so cold.

Band Side.  

Work-out side.  The heavy punching bag is a new addition.