It's not often that you get two holidays in a row, but this past week we lucked out. And, really, are they holidays? Well, I guess that depends where you live. But, we'll start with the first...Koops 2nd Annual Ski Holiday, otherwise known as Presidents Day. We did get the day off from school, and we didn't go to Springfield to see Lincoln, we didn't read about Washington, and we sure didn't go to Chicago to celebrate Obama when he was a humble "community organizer!" No, we headed to Wisconsin to Wilmot 'Mountain'.
It's been such a weird winter weather wise, so to even think about skiing felt a little out there. But, we went anyway and sure enough, in the middle of the brown landscape was a white 'mountain' ready to be skied on.
The boys went through 2 hours of ski school to refresh. Jacob spent about 5 minutes on the bunny hill and then was off to the chairlift. On the other end of the spectrum was Jeb, who spent about 1 hour and 55 minutes on the bump of a hill. Aiden landed in between. But, they wanted to keep going. Thank goodness I was with a friend who was skiing and took Jacob off my hands while I tried to help with the tow rope. Running up the hill holding Jeb and Aiden up and then running down trying to make sure Jeb didn't take anyone out. After awhile Aiden took off with Jacob to the chairlift and I was left with Jeb. I got a work out and he somewhat mastered the tow rope. It was memorable and the boys loved it. It's their favorite sport. Which will probably bankrupt us since it's the most expensive. If you are reading this and want to sell some skis, call me!
Jeb, a little off balance, but getting down this 'steep' hill
Jacob on the right, loving every minute.
Aiden making it down the big hill! Thank you to Heather who trailed not far behind!
There was no rest when I got home, off to the grocery store to buy pancake supplies and bacon for PANCAKE DAY! This one actually deserves a day off or at least some acknowledgement at the local schools. Oh well, I took care of it for our friends.
After school, we had 16 kids over for pancake races: flip your pancake while running. First one to the end wins! Jacob had a severe advantage from his time in the UK, but he lost in a photo finish. Everybody won after when we sat down for pancakes, bacon, sausage, and fruit salad. We went through 50 pancakes, 2 lbs of bacon (we needed more!) and 3 lbs of sausage. There were a lot boys there!
So glad we can bring a beloved English tradition across the pond!
Jacob vs. Jake in the first round
Aiden vs. Teddy. Lost in the first round, which he said he allowed because Teddy is younger. ;)
