Feelin' Smugg.

Over MLK we went to Smuggler's Notch, Vermont...this has become somewhat of a tradition. It is our fourth annual trip. This year held new adventures for the kids...Ruthie is skiing unbelievably well...she has excellent control in her turns and more importantly, she can control her down-hill speed as well. Rusty is a good skier also but he loves the speed and approaches it all more matter-of-fact...like, yea, I can ski. He sort of heads straight down the mountain with very little side to side motion (which is what the instructors teach them to do to control there speed) and he get down safely and quickly. Flip, however, looks at skiing like he looks at most things in life...it's a race. We only got to ski with Flip for a very little time but each day when we picked him up from the kid's camp, he would inform us which "place" he came in on each of his runs down the mountain. We would then hear a blow by blow of who "wrecked," who "wrecked him," and who had the "pole position." I would repeatedly explain to him that it is not a race and that Miss Naomi who taught him last year and remembered him and Grant was trying to teach him to be safe. He of course replied logically, " I know that's why I wear this helmet!"


This year, My uncle Rick joined us as did my cousin, Cherri and her new little guy Ricky. Each day Cherri and I took her little one and my little one to the day care center they call Treasures. When I walked in the first day, I recognized one of the nannies in Ellie's room and I told her I remembered when she had Flip. She remembered him! How funny. She said, "Who could ever forget Flip?" Who indeed. Ellie really looked forward to going over there each day and took all the cold weather and bundling up in stride. Next year, she will be on skis too.

Other high lights include: Parent/child races in the play zone, tubing (which Ellie didn't like at first but then loved!), getting to know Mogul Mouse and loving him, toe warmers, Jacki's crash into the trees, flight delays and turbulence (which makes me sick to even think about it was so bad!)