Carbecue!

I never thought that my almost six year old Mercedes Benz would ever catch on fire but that's what happened on Friday night. Hailey and I had just gotten out of the car five minutes before to head into her swim lessons. Tom was following about 5 minutes behind because somehow we forgot her swim bag with her towel and goggles in it. I was waiting for him inside by the door when I notice him park and then get out of his car and start running to the door. Jeez, I thought, it's not that important that she has her goggles in time for swim class, she's already got one of their spare pairs on. But, no sooner did I open the door did he blurt out, "Your car is on fire!" 

"What?" I said. I peeked my head out the door to see the entire hood of my car engulfed in flames! We ran back inside to tell the swim school to call 911 which they did and then I watched in horror as my car went up in flames. No warning. No gas smell. Nothing out of the ordinary when I parked it. Poof, it was just gone - along with my favorite hat and my good pair of gloves and a few other incidentals that we can replace too, but the shock of what happened kept my adrenaline pumping for more than 24 hours. 

No idea how it started or what happened. I guess we'll find that out this week when the insurance company investigates. The kids were traumatized. Hailey had to get out of the pool because they made the swim place evacuate (way to cause a scene! Now I'm going to have to switch my swim lesson time so no one knows me!) and she asked me what happened as she stared at the flashing fire truck and police lights. "A car was on fire," I said. "Not our car," she said. "Yes, I said, it was our car." She immediately fell apart saying she loved that car and that we needed to get exactly the same one (not sure how I felt about getting another Mercedes in that moment) but I understood her attachment to the car. We had it since she was 1.5 years old and likely that's the only car she remembers. Peyton was at her own swim team training less than 5 minutes away so I used Tom's car to go pick her up while Tom dealt with the firemen/police. She was surprised to see me pick her up in Tom's car since I had just dropped her off an hour earlier and told her I'd be back to get her. She was a little freaked out when I told her too not wanting to even stay in Tom's car while I got out and consulted with him when we got back to the parking lot where the carbecue occurred. She settled down a bit later that evening and was fine though. Hailey was emotionally drained and collapsed in bed later that night exhausted. Austen was at home the whole time and was only getting bits and pieces of the story through brief phone conversations and texts. He was concerned, I think, and felt better once we all got home. 

The important thing is that no one was hurt and no other cars were damaged (I had parked at the far end of the lot with space in between me and other cars). Even though I was so mad that I left Hailey's bag at home by mistake, it was divine intervention that he was there and saw it happened and could help deal with the aftermath. We're still reeling a bit from it all but we are reminded once again how blessed we truly are (Hailey said she was wearing her Maddox shirt that day and he was surely looking out for us!) and that this is a small thing in comparison to so many hardships that people have had to endure. We are truly blessed and were reminded of that this weekend.

The firemen gave Hailey a hat for Sparky

Be My Valentine!

It was a snowy weekend for Valentine’s Day this year which changed some of our plans but we still ended up making the best of it all weekend long leading up to Valentine’s Day followed by President’s Day and then a snow day (w/ e-learning).

First, we made giant heart-shaped sugar cookies and frosted them adding sprinkles of the eaters choice. Then Peyton & Hailey worked on their Valentine’s for school (which actually needed to be quarantined for a period of time). Hailey made fox Valentines with a cute pen or sticker for her classmates while Peyton opted to handout Valentines with dogs. Their teachers gave them a fun Valentine’s party and Peyton loved one of the candy heart stacking activities she did with chopsticks. She said none of the boys could master this task/game!

On Valentines’s Day, Austen had 4.5 hours of baseball and soccer practice and the snow was starting again and it was 0 degrees out so we opted to pick up Portillos, watch a swimming movie (Peyton’s pic to get motivated for her swimming time trials the next day) and play one of our newest board games we love called “Ticket to Ride.” We bought this one for home but we love Catan for our beach house. We’ve played many hours of these since Xmas and have enjoyed the family time and using our brains to figure out the best strategy. 

On Monday, Tom and I were going to head to dinner together but the 8 inches of snow we received that day made us cancel our plans. Hoping for a make up soon although things are starting to get busier again with sports as our COVID positivity rate continues to decline. For now, we’ll stay happily tucked in our family room with a blanket and a fire right next to Sadie who gives off the most amazing heat! 

Ski Season!

What else is there to do during a COVID winter where you can be outside? Skiing of course. The rental lines have been insane in Michigan and they have had a record number of skiiers this year already. The first time we went it took us almost 90 minutes to get through the rental line. This time, we investigated some ski rental shops where we could rent the kids skis for the season at a pro-rated rate. They were almost out too so lucky we got them when we did. On our way to the ski hill, we got a call from the ski school saying they were already out of rentals at 10am but if we needed them for the lesson, they could find them. We didn't need them luckily and were happy to just get a lift ticket and get on the slopes fairly quickly this time. 

And, what a more enjoyable experience it was with Peyton and Hailey in ski school. Austen, Tom and I took advantage of this time so we could get in as many runs as we wanted without the girls. We did that for an hour until the lesson was over then Tom and I took turns skiing with the girls. Our friends were also at the same ski hill so Austen took off with with their son and got in even more ski runs. He was happy and I didn't see him most of the day.

Hailey in ski lessons

The weather was cold but with our helmets on, it didn't even seem that cold out. We skiied for maybe 4 hours taking short breaks in between. Hailey was the first one to call it quits so we had to take turns sitting with her. She did well though and just needs to start straightening out her skis instead of doing "pizza" the whole time down the hill so her legs don't tire out so easily - that and getting more comfortable with getting on and off the chair lift which takes time. 

Peyton is doing well and skis slow and in control and is working up her courage to do harder hills. Austen skis very in control and is working on making tighter turns with his skis closer together which also takes practice. 

As for me, I have to say that I forgot how much I enjoyed skiing to make the winter pass more quickly. The snow covered trees, the fresh air, the exercise - the apres ski! It's what I loved about going skiing. I even brought up my "old school" skis to Michigan and got many compliments on them since they give a reflective glow off the snow on the bottom. I told the teens they were retro! 

Apres Ski!

Peyton on the lift with her friend

An Interview With Peyton

 Lately we've been looking at old videos of the kids. It's so funny to see them so little and so hard to believe that in some instances they were that little only a short time ago. One of my favorite things that I've done with the kids at certain ages is an interview with them about their likes/dislikes and other questions. I hadn't done this in awhile (and Hailey doesn't love to be interviewed anyway AND forget Austen, he's a total teenager now) so spur of the moment, I quickly interviewed Peyton on the fly (I mean during our tubing excursion). Here's what my 11 year old had to say: