Vash's Birthday

The parents of Vash are so creative. They held an "UP" first birthday party for him. His grandma made these three fabulous cakes for him and his mommy made the sign, the scrapbook, and the cute poster in back with Vash posing as the Grandpa in the movie "UP". 

 Aunt Kim with cousin Alissa

 Mommy, Vash, and Alissa

 Vash with his Smash Cake

Field Trip to the Farm

Alissa has been going to a neighborhood playgroup on Fridays since January 2014. Today was the first scheduled field trip for this play group. During the field trips, the moms are all invited and other neighborhood kids are invited too. We went to a local Farm today. Here are some pictures of Alissa enjoying her fun day. 

Alissa standing by a Cow

 Alissa looking at an animal with her friends

 "Mommy, I'm going to go pick up a stick I found." This is her trying to pick it up. She soon realized that it was a bit heavy for her. Funny kid!

 Alissa determined that this stick was more her size

 Alissa on a tractor

 Alissa painting! A lady was painting some pictures of the cows and the kids asked her what she was doing. She offered to have each kid take turns painting on her picture. They all thought it was fabulous...

 Here is the picture of the baby and mother cow the women was painting

All the kids went inside this cute little playhouse they found 

 Here is Alissa looking out one of the Windows

 Alissa feeding the ducks with her friends

 All the girls enjoying the hayride

 Mother & Daughter on the Hayride

Skiing - "Hot Dog" & "Pizza"

I took Alissa skiing for the second time today. Our day started out to be very frustrating. When we arrived at Snowbird, around 10:00 a.m., the parking lots were mostly full. Therefore, I parked in the back of the lot near Chickadee (the beginner run). If I were skiing by myself, this would be no big deal, but it's different with a four year old in tow. Alissa was begging me to pick her up as she couldn't walk in the ski boots very well. In addition, I was carrying my ski's, her ski's, and my poles. I must admit that I was a little surprised when none of the big strong guys offered to help. We eventually made it to Chickadee only to discover that Alissa's goggles weren't going to work as they connect into her helmet and the connection piece had fallen off. Luckily, my dad was working as a Mountain Host on Chickadee today so he was able to help with Alissa while I skied down the hill and walked over to the store to purchase some sun glasses for her. But, when I returned to put my ski's back on, I discovered the heel of my left boot had broken off and would no longer fit into my bindings. Luckily, I was able to rent a pair of boots for only $13.00. By the time I was ready to ski with Alissa, it was after 11:30 a.m. and I was exhausted from running back and forth. I'm so grateful my dad was around to help out. I'm not sure what I would have done without him.

The good news is that the day greatly improved when I learned that my dad had been working with Alissa in a little ski area called the "Magic Carpet." This area is a small ski area located to the right of Chickadee. The hill is barely sloped so the kids can practice and ski on their own without any help. Alissa was amazing.  The "Magic Carpet" gets it's name from the conveyor belt located in the middle, which takes you to the top of the hill once you ski down.



Alissa skiing to the left of the Magic Carpet (conveyor belt)

 Alissa riding up the Magic Carpet (conveyor belt)

 Alissa looking back at me to see how far ahead she is...

After eating lunch with Alissa and my dad, my dad was assigned to a different ski area. Therefore, I decided to spend some time in the Magic Carpet ski area to teach Alissa how to turn better and to stop. She loves skiing fast down the hill, but ends up falling at the end because she can't figure out how to stop. So, Alissa and I played two games called "Red Light Green Light" and "Hot Dog Pizza". The concept was that she could ski fast when I said "Green Light or Hot Dog" and she had to STOP when I said "Red Light or Pizza."

 

In the next two pictures, Alissa is doing the Hot Dog, which means

that her ski's are parallel to each other and she can ski fast.

Alissa's form in this picture is perfect. Her knees are slightly bent and she is leaning forward.

In this picture, Alissa is doing the Pizza, which means that she makes a triangle shape with her ski's and this slows her down or allows her to stop (when the Pizza is very wide).

Alissa loved this game and after a few times, she decided she was ready to ski down the big hill by herself. So, I took her back to Chickadee to try it out. I was nervous at first because I wasn't sure how much control Alissa would have. I skied backwards with her behind me the entire time so I could be sure she wasn't skiing too fast or out of control. She was amazing. She didn't need my help at all. In fact, we played a new game where I skied from side to side and Alissa had to work on her turning by following me to one side; turning, and following me to the other side. I am so proud of her. I have a new ski partner and cannot wait to go the next time.

 

Frozen Birthday Party

Alissa went to the funnest Frozen Birthday party on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 for her cousin Zoe. Since Mom and Dad couldn't get off work in time to take Alissa to the party, Grandma and Grandpa S. offered to take her. Grandpa ended up dancing with Elsa at the party. Alissa made a bracelet, a Snow Globe, and a Melting Olaf the Snowman. She also ate Fluffer Nutters (Marshmellow & Peanut Butter Sandwiches) and powdered donuts. Here are a few pictures:

Grandpa dancing with Elsa

 The group of girls wearing their white dresses and sitting with Anna and Elsa

 Alissa making her bracelet

 Zoe opening her present from Alissa with both girls sitting next to Elsa

Alissa Learned To Ski

Today was a very exciting day for me because I was able to teach my four year old daughter to ski. Alissa was amazing. When we first got to Snowbird, she was cold and scared and she started to cry. I was wearing a neck gator so I took it off and put it on Alissa and covered her face with it. I could tell she was smiling because her eyes started to squint and her cheeks bulked up. She said, "Thank you mommy, this is warm." Then I told her that it was o.k. to be scared because I was scared my first time too. I explained that once I started to ski, I had so much fun I didn't want to stop. Therefore, Alissa agreed to give it a try. Guess who was right? Mommy was! Alissa had so much fun that she kept saying, "I want to do it again." Alissa liked the chairlift too. She thought it was so much fun. After about 2 1/2 hours of skiing, Grandpa and mommy were tired so we decided to leave. Grandpa said, "Helping Alissa is more tiring than a full day of skiing?" Mommy agreed. But, it was definitely worth it. Here are some pictures:

 

Grandpa helped Alissa down the hill for her first time while Mommy took some pictures. Grandpa held her tight so she wasn't afraid. She did very well. 

 

 Grandpa even helped Alissa get on the chairlift for her first time.

 Look at my big girl on that chairlift. Isn't she amazing?

 Next, mommy took a turn at helping Alissa down the hill. She got better each time she skied.

 After Alissa gained more confidence, we allowed her to ski by herself while we held on to some short ropes. The short ropes were very challenging for Grandpa and I since Alissa's ski's got in the way of our ski's.

 Here is a picture of Alissa getting off the chairlift. Grandpa spoils her and lifts her off. But, she does pretty good on her own too.

 

 

 We finally moved to the long ropes so that Alissa had more freedom to ski the way she wanted to ski. We kept reminding her to lean forward, make a pizza with her ski's, open the back door to her ski's while keeping the points together, etc. With a little counsel from us, Alissa was amazing on her own.

 

 By the end of the day, Alissa was turning by herself, but she still needs some work learning to stop. What a fun day. I think we will go again next weekend.