Snow days aka SNOPOCALYPSE 2012!

Posted: January 20th, 2012 | Author: Marissa K. | Filed under: Eli, Family - Kaisers, Marks, and Ngs, Snow/ skiing | Tags: 2012, Eli, Outlaw, Pregnancy | No Comments »

Some of the Seattle area got hit with snow over the MLK weekend. Ballard was given a pass except for a few flurries… until yesterday. To be perfectly honest, I showed up for work on Tuesday feeling a little left out. North of Seattle in Everett, folks were hunkered down. In South Seattle, Beacon Hill was complaining of treacherous sidewalks. Even a few miles east of Ballard, there was plenty of snow on the lawns and sidewalks. Heck, even Downtown Seattle had more snow than Ballard… Sunday we ventured Downtown for our friend’s 27^th birthday dinner by REI and saw snowmen on the side of the road!

Ballard didn’t even have a trace of white. But that all changed on Wednesday, early in the wee hours of the morning. Outlaw woke me up around 4:30 in the morning (one thing this pregnancy has plagued me with is insomnia), and after a second of lying in bed wide awake, I realized that there might be something to see outside our window.

YAY! SNOW!!!

I sat and watched the snow flurries accumulate while feeling sorry for the all news reporters on the highways and overpasses who were broadcasting with up-to-the-minute, inch-by-inch tallies. And then I went back to bed, strategizing how we might sneak away to go skiing the next day…

I have never in my life played hooky from work to go skiing… until yesterday. And it was SO. WORTH. IT. My legs still ache from all the powder tele-turns. Very rarely does one experience fresh powder at the Summit at Snoqualmie, but we did yesterday. And I’m blissfully dreaming of the terrain at Mission Ridge that we’ll get to experience this weekend. YAYYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!! Can you tell I’m stoked?!?!

Even better? Next weekend, we’re going to Whistler with some friends. Thanks, Mom! For a perfectly timed condo reservation, cuz the snow is falling hard, and I can’t wait to take advantage of it! Eli is going to spend the weekend with his Grandpa and Grandma (Nate’s folks), and I’m going to enjoy a kid-free, winter-wonderland weekend to the fullest.

But what of Eli and the snow, you ask?

He LOVES the snow.

Wednesday, he walked around all day saying, “SNOW!” which sounds a bit like “no,” except with a very nasally “n.” You can easily tell the difference between “SNOW!” and “no” by his body language: finger pointing outside with joy on his face vs. adamantly shaking his head from side to side. It brings Nate and I never-ending joy to see how much Eli likes playing in the snow.

Today, with the help of my dad (Eli’s Gung Gung), we all walked to the park and did a little sledding. Eli liked sledding on Nate’s lap much more than on my dad’s lap.

 

The snow is STILL falling after 2 solid days.

Seattle is getting restless with cabin fever. We never have snow that continues to fall for more than 2 days. Seattle isn’t sure what to do with itself, and the city has literally been reduced to pedestrians, snowmobiles, and cross-country skiers.

We may get a lot of crap for the entire city shutting down, but I’m still enjoying myself.

And who knows, maybe Snopocalypse 2012 will continue a bit longer. It doesn’t matter to us though, we’re off to the cabin tomorrow in our sturdy 4WD truck.

 

 

 

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2012 begins

Posted: January 15th, 2012 | Author: Marissa K. | Filed under: Christmas, Eli, Family - Kaisers, Marks, and Ngs, Holidays | Tags: 2011, Christmas, Eli, Family, Hazel, Outlaw | No Comments »

I should say that 2012 has begun! It’s nearly mid-January, and I have so many words in my mind… it’s been a wild ride just to break through to this new year, and I’m looking forward to things to come. In the meantime, I’ll cheat and give you some joyous highlights from the holiday season.

The day after Thanksgiving, the Kaisers ventured to Bellevue Square Mall in order to take pictures with Santa. Thanks to Susie, we’ve done this for as long as I’ve been associated with the Kaisers. This year was especially sweet, because both Hazel and Eli are at an age where they can interact with Santa. As we waited in line, the Kaisers enjoyed each others’ company. (Please forgive the repeat of some pictures, but they’re just too great not to share.)

OK, I said “sweet” but maybe I should have said “hilarious.” For the second year in a row, we set the two cousins by Santa, and for the second year in a row they HATED the entire experience. Hazel definitely leads the charge on loathing Santa. See how Hazel’s disdain for Santa has grown from one year to the next? Side-by-side here are 2010 versus 2011.

Fast forward to actual Christmas when we opened presents with Eli on the morning of Christmas Eve. Eli was a little hesitant about ripping off the wrapping paper, but I think he liked the end result.

And his favorite present by far was his new microwave. He found multiple uses for it… drum set, weights for strength training, and the actual microwave features. (Anything food-related makes this kid happy.)

We reseted up after opening a few more presents, and made our with to Keith and Susie’s house for more Christmas Eve fun. The plan was to celebrate Brian’s birthday, enjoy a light buffet, open more presents and head to church. We made it through all but the last activity.

Now that I look back on it, there’s no wonder Eli put his head down at 6:30 that night completely ready for bed. After starting his day with waffles and presents, and ending with Kaiser family Christmas chaos, I should have seen an early bedtime coming. But I didn’t.

We spent Christmas Day with my folks, Eli’s Gung Gung and PoPo as well as his Uncle Josh. It was small, intimate, and lovely. The best part was that we still had some time in the latter evening just for us.

Our New Year’s holiday, errr,  pre-New Year’s since it was the day before NYE, was spent in Lake Joy with Mike, Shannon, and Alison Swift, and Shannon’s folks, Neil and Mary Lou. SO relaxing, and we absolutely adore the Swifts. Going to Lake Joy has always been a bit of a time warp, and this visit was no different. We had a great dinner on Friday night, enjoyed a NYE brunch on Saturday morning, and a lovely crisp walk around the lake. We ended our visit by heading to Woodinville for some wine tasting. Eli and Ali especially had fun, getting all the adults in the room to adore them.

And finally, as a parting note, a picture of “Outlaw,” Eli’s little brother. Outlaw grows, as my belly grows, and I hope he’ll be as sweet and wonderful as his brother!

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