"I'm in the no!!!"

This year we decided to really take some extra time when we went up for the boys birthday and play in the snow as a family.  Right outside of Sunrise snow resort they had about three and a half feet of snow so we decided to go play up there.  We got a cabin in Pinetop to have some really nice family time.  Deke had bought this cute penguin sled and Hunter had asked and asked about going snowboarding.  We really couldn't this year with the two little ones especially with Hudson so Deke had bought him a snow boogie board.  Similar idea just without bindings.  Hunter was ecstatic.  The tubing hill at Sunrise was extremely crowded so we drove around a little and found our own hill where only one other family was sledding.  We bundled baby up and piled blankets on him then loaded his carseat onto the sled.  Emma hopped right on and Deke pulled them over to the hill.  It was really cute.

Emma had talked about playing in the snow non stop all week.  When we got to the bottom of the hill Deke took her out of the sled and put her down in the snow.  It was really powdery so she sunk down in to almost her knees.  She gasped loudly and then tears started coming down her cheeks. "I'm in the no! I'm in the no!" she cried looking absolutely terrified.  I picked her up as she said, "it's cold, the no is cold."  I guess we really hadn't discussed that snow was cold and guess what, she was not a fan.  For the first two hours she would not leave the sled.  She just sat there and watched us.  We kept trying to get her to play but all she would do was dig with her shovel in the snow.  It was so funny.  Finally I patted an area down for her and put her on the snow to help build a "noman"  as long as she stood on the compacted area and didn't sink down she liked it.  She wouldn't leave her spot though other than just to bend down right around her little area and gather snow for the snowman.

I really wanted her to get an opportunity to sled down the hill so I got my daily dose of exercise and carried her up the hill and went down the hill on the penguin sled with her on my lap.  She loved it!!!! She giggled the whole way down and when we got to the bottom she said, "I love that, I want to go again!" So I would take her three of four times and then she would want more but then my legs would be like jello and I would take a break.  Then up the hill we would go.  She loved the sledding, building a snowman, just did not, would not, try to walk in the snow.

The snow was really powdery which made it awesome to boogie board but not very easy to build a snowman.  We were able to build a little one anyways.....

Hudson was a little angel and sat in his carseat for the vast majority of the day and just grinned at everybody.

We played the day away and had so much fun....

I even got Hudson out at the very end and pulled him around on the sled a little.  He was so cute and snuggly all bundled up.

Avery did almost as much eating of the snow as she did playing with it.  The kids kept telling Emma to try to eat the snow but she kept refusing.  Finally after watching Avery consume it all day long and tell her about how yummy it was she became interested.  "Dad I'm ready" she piped up.  "Ready for what?" Deke asked her. "Ready for a sample" she said and pointed to the snow.  We all were cracking up.  She sometimes has a little bit of a princess complex this one :) :) "Well Emma there is a ton of snow all around you so reach down and grab some and try it" Deke told her.  Emma's eyes lit up as if the idea had never dawned on her.  Then she reached down and grabbed some in her mitten.  She returned to her post on the sled and spent the last hour cheering everyone on and taking snow eating snack breaks.

I wish we could have actually taken Hunter snowboarding because I think he would have really done well.  Next year we will take Hunter and Ave alone and take them to Sunrise for the day so then can learn to snowboard and ski.  However Hunter had a blast all day on his boogie board.  He did awesome and it was really fun to watch him.  Avery just sled all day.  Up and down the hill with the penguin sled or the green disk.  On her rear, on her belly, trying to stand up any way she could think of.

Mom and the little guy.....

We played all day long until everyone loaded up cold and tired and headed back to the cabin for some tortilla soup, showers and games.  Then headed to see GG and Papa and the twins on our way out of town.  We had such a great weekend and made some wonderful memories.