Winter Wonderland Vacation

This winter our school calendar has been plagued with snow day after snow day.....I can't recall when we have had a full week of school.

Now, for those of you who don't know me, I don't like the cold weather....in fact, I HATE it. The only reason I like to live in the northeast is because I do enjoy the change of seasons.....which makes me appreciate the warmer weather - Ha!

Anyhow, this year we decided to spend our winter break with my husbands family....and where, you might ask, did we go????

Well, why not the snowy mountain tops of West Virginia at a ski resort called Snowshoe Mountain.

What?! No way am I going somewhere cold...

....... fine, so that my children can play with their beloved cousins, I will take one for the team....*sniff sniff.

We were all pretty much set to go on Thursday Februrary 13th when the emails and text messgages starting buzzing.....WINTER STORM WARNING - the worst we have seen this yea, starting on none other than Wednesday, February 12th.

Perfect.

Just perfect.

I immediately called up my dearest hubby, who was in NC on a business trip, and told him to forget his flight home and rent a car and meet me in West VA.

I dropped off the dog, pulled my kids out of school, packed up the car and started out for what turned into an eleven hour road trip to West Virginia....and yes, we were driving into the oncoming storm system.

hmmmmm....maybe that wasn't too smart ~ but if we stayed we would have never gotten out.

Now, I'm not afraid to drive long distance and I'm not bad driving in the snow....BUT after driving for nine hours straight with three kids in the car along a winding mountain road, flanked with bottomless cliffs, one starts to get a bit jittery.....then when you add the lack of cell service, 8 degree inclines and heavy snow fall paired with darkness.....you get the comment "wow, you look like you've aged five years.".....SMACK!

Well, the good thing is that we made it in one piece - maybe not mentally, but physically. Three families drove in on the night the snow began while the other two groups drove in later.....one taking 2 hours to drive 30 miles from Winston-Salem and the other getting stuck in the snow due to the lack of 4-wheel drives at the rental place.

Needless to say, the children had a blast with their cousins. The slopes were fantastic and my children who have never skied before really enjoyed themselves. We stayed at a Ski-In Ski-Out unit with a hot tub that apparently can fit a whole lotta cousins.

I, for one, will never ever drive up the mountain during a snowstorm again.....my vote for the next reunion ..... let's go to the beach!

What did you do this winter?

One of the dads remembered that it was Valentine's Day.
He brought flowers for all the Moms.....So Sweet!

Did you do anything for Valentine's Day?

Don't Pass on Family Time

Originally,  I was going to post a segment on my ever so adorable and well behaved (cough..cough) kids. Well, at least that was the plan as of yesterday morning, but as the day went on and I realized that soon I would be getting into a car and driving into the neighboring state for a short getaway with the family, I had a feeling that I would need to vent....just a little...a teensy weensy, itty bitty vent session.

Now, before I go on, let me say this loud and clear.... I love my husband and I appreciate all the sacrifices that he has made to provide for our family. (The poor guy works all the time and I am damn lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life. I love you, hon.) But, why...shake, shake, shake of the head... when planning a "family" vacation break.... do I now find myself sitting in a casino in the Poconos?

Yes, we took our kids to a gambling establishment.

Is it too early to register my kids for Gamblers Anonymous? Seriously.

All 3 kids had to wear bands so people knew they were under 21
Is it really that hard to figure out?

I know, we are not the easiest to please - with two young teenagers constantly bickering with each other, an energetic eight year old (who always forgets to use her indoor voice) and a wife who secretly (okay, maybe not so secretly) wishes she could just run away - how would one find the perfect solution to a short getaway?

My poor husband took on this very task of trying to get us all excited about the break. Unfortunately for him, we were not cooperating. He asked each of us what we wanted to do and we all responded with the same generic, "I don't care." Which, by the way, really means...

"I don't want to do anything, I'm perfectly happy staying at home, in my pjs, insert your favorite pastime."

Answers:

Oldest kid - vegging out in front of the TV and sleeping
Middle kid - sitting in front of the computer and watching Youtube
Youngest kid - sitting next to my brother, in front of the computer, watching Youtube
me - sleeping...just let me sleep!

With our complete apathy for this "coveted" break, we left my poor husband, who's in dire need of a vacation, feeling...well, needless to say, and rightly so.....a bit annoyed.

So annoyed, he decided to take a Groupon deal to a nearby resort and casino and voila! Here we are.

.....hmmmm.....thinking...thinking...thinking.

Okay. It's really not that bad. In all honesty, it wasn't a totally ill conceived plan. We are staying in a nice hotel with spacious rooms and the food has been good (I totally pigged out - chocolate milkshake, california burger and fries) and apparently there's skiing and snow tubing nearby.

It's really not where we are, but rather who we are with (ugh, that sounds so cliché - but it's true).

So, kudos to my dear husband, who was only trying to get us to do something together.

This only makes up for the fact that we are not somewhere warm.....YUMMY!
The best chocolate shake I've had in years.

Family time is family time!

Next time, when you find yourself somewhere that just isn't your cup of tea, remember this:

It doesn't matter if you are sitting at home in your comfy pjs or out in a smoke filled casino, with the lights flashing and the constant ringing of the slot machines...this is valuable time you have together as a family. Embrace it.

....now, if you will please excuse me, I need to show the kids how to play the pass line.