Dan's cousins have a lake house in New Hampshire and the are always telling us we should plan a visit. Over Martin Luther King weekend, we finally made it happen!
We don't get to see this part of the family often, but when we do, we always have a great time. Paul and Yana have a son who is a year older than Zahara, but they haven't seen each other since Zahara was four months old! The kids all got along well (for the most part), and had fun building forts, playing in the snow, eating yummy food, and snuggling their two GIANT dogs (120 and 140 pounds each!).
Speaking of snow, we were excited to get some good snow since we were planning on going skiing. We didn't bargain on an actual blizzard and polar vortex though. We got around a foot and a half of snow one day, and FREEZING cold the next. I'm not exaggerating when I say freezing. Wind chills were -25 degrees. Can you even??
Playing in the snow during the blizzard was really fun though. My dad always says the number one rule for playing in the snow is you must stay outside at least as long as it took you to get ready. This was a challenge for us, to be honest. It took forever to get a million layers on each of the kids, and it was pretty darn cold out. They didn't last too long, but we had a lot of fun. We especially enjoyed playing fetch with the dogs (until we couldn't find the ball in the snow anymore), and sitting in the hot tub while it snowed! That's such an amazing feeling!
Skiing was...cold. We don't ski often and we had been really looking forward to the outing. If not for the absolute freezing weather, it would have been perfect. The mountain (Gunstock) was really close to their house and had great, wide trails. We put Zahara in ski school while Asher was in day care. I think next year he'll be ready for school too.
Zahara did really well! She mastered her turns and was able to carry her own gear. The only downside was that it was so cold that you couldn't have any exposed skin. We tried our best to dress warmly, but there's only so much you can do with those temperatures. Both she and I had serious issues keeping our hands warm. The instructors were able to get her additional hand warmers and another set of gloves, so her second time out was much more successful. I think next year/lesson she'll be ready for the ski lift!
Dan and I did several runs together and a few with Paul. After a few hours, my hands were too cold to continue, so I hung out in the lodge with Yana. I was pretty happy with the skiing I did--minus the one giant fall that left me a bruised mess. We all had a great time and were ready for a nice afternoon nap.
We don't get to see this part of the family often, but when we do, we always have a great time. Paul and Yana have a son who is a year older than Zahara, but they haven't seen each other since Zahara was four months old! The kids all got along well (for the most part), and had fun building forts, playing in the snow, eating yummy food, and snuggling their two GIANT dogs (120 and 140 pounds each!).
Playing in the snow during the blizzard was really fun though. My dad always says the number one rule for playing in the snow is you must stay outside at least as long as it took you to get ready. This was a challenge for us, to be honest. It took forever to get a million layers on each of the kids, and it was pretty darn cold out. They didn't last too long, but we had a lot of fun. We especially enjoyed playing fetch with the dogs (until we couldn't find the ball in the snow anymore), and sitting in the hot tub while it snowed! That's such an amazing feeling!
Skiing was...cold. We don't ski often and we had been really looking forward to the outing. If not for the absolute freezing weather, it would have been perfect. The mountain (Gunstock) was really close to their house and had great, wide trails. We put Zahara in ski school while Asher was in day care. I think next year he'll be ready for school too.
Zahara did really well! She mastered her turns and was able to carry her own gear. The only downside was that it was so cold that you couldn't have any exposed skin. We tried our best to dress warmly, but there's only so much you can do with those temperatures. Both she and I had serious issues keeping our hands warm. The instructors were able to get her additional hand warmers and another set of gloves, so her second time out was much more successful. I think next year/lesson she'll be ready for the ski lift!
Thanks Paul, Yana, and Sasha for a wonderful family vacation! We can't wait to see you again soon!
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