Where are my snow skateboards?

By Thursday the weekend was mapped out:
Friday - movie & dinner, Tangled in 2D, maybe a little Christmas decor shopping
Saturday - bagels, library, water park for Pritchard birthday fun, Storybook Island for Christmas lights walk, Spades & Cocoa with Jen
Sunday - Skiing, house cleaning and put up Christmas Tree

Ah...the best laid plans. Anything that was associated with Christmas didn't get accomplished. Mainly because we ran out of time or one of our plans took longer than expected. I guess making time for sleep is still a requirement....psssh.

Tangled is a cute movie, not our favorite but was appreciated. The only thing that really stood out for Pres was the "long hair". Additionally, we were treated to a dance troop in the theater lobby doing some advertising for an upcoming movie called Burlesque. Many a little girl are now damaged thanks to the flailing feather boas. One kiddo even wanted to watch the dancing ladies instead of Tangled. Not sure if this was a nation wide phenomenon or not...either way we scooted through the lobby so as to avoid the obligatory dollar bill tuck.

Waitiki water park is always a welcome idea but throw in a birthday party and Pres starts hovering with excitement! David and Lily Pritchard have birthdays exactly 1 month apart. Clever Jen splits the month and plans a party for 2. Fourteen kiddos have a lot of energy, I hope they slept as well as the parents!

Ski season opened here in SoDak. Operations here run a little different than what we are used to. The ski area land is owned by the park service. The lease dictates the operating dates, whether there are ideal conditions or not. Terry Peak opened this weekend although they have minimal snow and only 2 lifts and the magic carpet were open. Most folks out were not on the bunny hill or were trapped in the endless season pass line. We were greeted with wide open spaces and an eager kiddo.

Having set the bar so high Pres's first time skiing we were a bit worried he would not be as eager without having Ethan, Gondola rides or Olympic events to motivate him. Thankfully, Preston could not wait to ski and then do it all by himself. As we were gathering gear he must have asked 20 times where his "snow skateboards" were. We were pleasantly surprised by how well he did! Once he grows some leg muscles and we instill slowing down and stopping there will be nothing to keep him from the whole mountain. He wants to try it all... by himself! By the end of the 3 hour day he had started to get the hang of turning.

We may be holding him back though as we are fearful of letting him go (physically not mentally). We tried numerous techniques to let him perform on his own including playing catch and release on different terrain with different grades. Preston had a great time and we look forward to making the trek up the mountain a regular affair. Pretty sweet to see little guys out on the slopes. We understand Ethan is doing well, will be cool once Pres can keep up with him. Next generation of Halsted skiers coming to a mountain near you!