Ski School

Caden loves to ski.

We've been trying to figure out the best way to really teach him to ski.  We found this awesome place in Boulder that teaches ski lessons indoors.  It seemed like a fantastic idea - no weather elements, a short lesson, and pretty affordable (all things considered).  We signed CP up for 8 lessons and he is having a blast!

One of my favorite parts of the lesson is that they teach him all about his equipment, how to move around in it, and how to put it on himself.  He spends a lot of time just walking around in his boots.

On Day 1 he OWNED the little mountain,

but the big mountain felt a little scary to him.  He still tried it though!

They skied for a solid 50 minutes before they finished up in the "hot tub."

By Week 2 he had made remarkable improvement

These people at Shredders are amazing.  Each week he just keeps getting better and better.  He is still LOVING ski school, asks daily when we can go skiing on "real snow," and is a fabulous student - he does everything Mr. Brooks asks him to do, even if he'd rather go play.  I couldn't be more proud of him!

Now we just finished Week 5, and he is already starting to learn to turn! 

We can't wait to take him out on the slopes this winter!  

Happy Halloween

I know. It's been almost 4 months since my last post.  I have no good excuses, life just got in my way.  I thought about giving up my blog completely, but I just couldn't.  Not for the 5 people that read this - you all are probably my Facebook and/or Instagram friends (or my friend in real life), and already know what's been happening in Team Zahrteland - but for my boys, especially Asher.  So, I'm back.  I don't know how well I'll be able to back track over the last 4 months, but I'm going to try.  For now, I'm going to start with today and work my way backwards.  And today is...

Halloween!

We started our Halloween celebrations a few weeks ago by attending The Prehm's annual Halloween party. I took the world's cutest trash man with me,

but had to leave a cute lion at home because he was sickie.  I'm just going to skip those pathetic pictures...  Poor Ashy!

The Prehm's always host a fabulous party.  The highlight of the night is getting to practice trick-or-treating at a few of their neighbors' houses.

This year, Josh dressed up as Sponge Bob instead of something scary.  Last year, he was some sort of scary animal and traumatized Caden.  At Brianna's birthday party 7 months later, he wouldn't go into the play house because he was afraid of the scary animal that lived in there...

The next weekend we hosted a pumpkin carving and chili dump party for our neighbors and a few friends.  Everyone had a great time, the chili was awesome, and the pumpkins turned out fabulously.

And then finally, Halloween arrived. One of us was super psyched about his costume. 

And one of us was not so psyched about his

Luckily, presents were involved, so he got over it relatively quickly...

...even if it was itchy

We stopped by school to show off the boys' cute costumes and to see everyone else's

Although he brightened up a little when he saw his friends and teachers,

he was still not really feeling the costume.  

I promise I took it off of him right after this - until it was time to go trick or treating, that is!  

He fought me a little bit to put it on, but once we got outside...pure happiness!

Despite how these pictures look, it was COLD and WINDY!!  We went to two houses in our neighborhood to introduce Asher to trick or treating 

This is the face of a kid that got to the end of the sidewalk and knows he's not supposed to go in the street.  What's a lion to do?!?

After a little coaxing and the promise of more candy, he came with us.

Tonight, we went trick or treating with a big group in the neighborhood across the street from ours.

It was even windier and colder than earlier in the night!  Notice Caden is wearing his ski jacket under his trash truck.  That's how we do it in CO!  No one can ever see your costume because it's always covered up by a coat!

Asher and I only made it about 5 houses before we called it a night, but JZ and CP stayed out another hour!  They are die hard trick or treaters! Before I left, I asked Caden if he was having fun and this is the answer I got...

I just got light sabered by a trash man - so, I'm going to take that as a yes?!?

Lastly, just for fun, here is a comparison of Caden and Asher in the same lion costume.  Caden is on the left in 2010 and Asher is on the right in 2013

Happy haunting!

Made In America

I hate to toot my own horn, but last week I had a brilliant idea.  After having to cancel our family vacation to Breckenridge in June, I decided we should go up to the mountains for the 4th of July.  It has been hot down here and the fireworks in our town were canceled because it's been so dry. At the VERY last minute (like Monday!), I booked a two bedroom condo on Lake Dillon for the 4 of us.  I couldn't believe anything was still available, but it was!  Honestly, neither of us had ever stayed in Dillon before - we've driven through a million times, stayed in the next town over, even eaten there, but we've never spent the night there.  We are Dillon converts for sure - we loved it!

On Tuesday evening we sent Belle to Nana and Grandpa's house.  She was pretty psyched for her own vacation with people who pay attention to her!

On Wednesday afternoon we headed up the mountain with 9 million other people.  We pushed through and ended up having dinner at a restaurant/brewpub in Dillon called Pug Ryan's

Our cute little place had a beautiful view of Lake Dillon.

On Thursday morning we threw Asher in the backpack...

...and rode the gondola down to the Breckenridge 4th of July parade

Unfortunately, we didn't last too long because Asher overheated in the backpack and then rubbed sunscreen in his eyes, causing them to swell up.  So, we abandoned ship and went swimming instead (excellent choice!).

That night we grilled out, ate lots of watermelon,

listened to the rain, saw a beautiful rainbow, 

listened to the boys giggle and play nicely together.  As cheesy as it sounds, JZ and I seriously sat on the couch watching our two shorties and said, "Wow, we MADE them!"

That night, we dressed in our finest red, white, and blue

and went down to the Dillon amphitheater to watch fireworks over the lake.  We snuggled and chased Asher while we were waiting for them to start

The fireworks were spectacular.  I wish I could show them to you, but we haven't mastered the art of fireworks photography.  You'll just have to trust me on this one.

The next morning, we had one more adventure before we left - we took Caden down the alpine slide in Breckenridge.  It was his first chairlift ride and slide. He was a little nervous about the chairlift and wouldn't get off of JZ's lap, but he LOVED the slide!

Two videos of his ride...

I promise that Asher was there too, but you have to be three to ride the slide, so he and I went to Starbucks instead

We had SUCH a fantastic adventure and time together!

On the way home we stopped for awesome pizza in Idaho Springs.  In case you're wondering, this is what a kid that has rubbed pizza all over his face and hair looks like...

I still can't believe how good the boys were.  We dragged them EVERYWHERE!  It finally got to be too much for sweet Bashy

I will always cherish the memories of this 4th of July.  We had such fun just being together and playing.  When we packed up to go home, Caden actually cried (sheer exhaustion may have also contributed)!  If that's not the sign of a good vacation, I don't know what is!

Happy Birthday, America!