Skiing with Mace

I have really struggled lately with how to entertain Mace while Lyndsay is at work. Mace was sick off and on for the past month so we have spent several evenings just sitting around the house, usually playing Matchbox cars.  Today Mace was feeling good, the weather was beautiful, and the sun didn't set until 6:30, so we decided to go skiing.  We went a little ways up Grizzly Gulch by Alta.

We had to take a few breaks so Mace could stretch his legs and get a drink.

After a while Mace got really sleepy.  I felt bad that he has no head support.  I can't imaging sleeping like that.

When he woke up from his nap he made it clear to me he was ready to get out and walk around for a little bit.

He seemed a little scared when we started the decent as you can see in the video below.  I think he is biting his lip.  After a while he got into it.  At the end of the video it looks like he has a little smile creeping in.  He kept kicking me when I stopped almost like I was a horse.

We took one more break on the way down when I wanted to get some pictures.  This is what Mace looks like after he smokes and drinks (pretzels and water, that is).

I don't know if Mace enjoyed this as much as playing Matchbox cars, but I sure had fun.  For my own personal benefit I hope he grows up to be my little skiing buddy.

It was a pretty sunset.

Here is the sunset from back at the car.  It felt like the temperature must have dropped 20 degrees between this picture and the last.

Cardiff Peak

Greg and I went skiing this morning up Cardiff.  We got treated to a pretty cool view as the sun rose over the mountains.  Greg was nice enough to hold still as I tried a few different settings on the camera.

Going up the ridge towards Cardiff always makes you feel tough.

The snow was really great.  About 6" of powder on top of a sun crust.  It made for some fast skiing.

Here is a view of Alta on our second lap.

Greg took the camera for our second lap.

Patsy Marley

On the 18th of February I woke up at 4:30 in the morning eager to get out and ski and try to take some pictures.  I probably sped on the way up to the Alta parking lot (well, as much as a 1995 Geo Prizm allows).  When I got up to the Alta parking lot around 5:30 it was blowing like crazy.  I was guessing 30-40 mph winds.  I ended up just sitting in my car until 6:00 just hoping the winds would die down.  They didn't... it was the most powerful wind I have ever experienced.

I decided to try to go up to Patsy Marley, the ridge just to the east of Alta.  Here is a long exposure picture from the top of Grizzly Gulch just before the sun came up. 

 

It was so windy and cold on the ridge up to Patsy Marley that my eyelashes kept freezing together.  I estimated that the winds were 60mph or so.  The gusts were so strong on that ridge that I literally got blown over 7 times.  One of those times after I fell the wind kept pushing me on the wind crust towards the cornices on the leeward side of the ridge.  I finally got so fed up with the wind that I took off my skis and hiked to the big white cell phone reflector (or whatever that thing is) on that ridge and hunkered down behind the pillar for a half hour or so hoping that the wind would die down.  

When the wind died down a little I hurried up to the top and then back to my skis.  I was ready to get back to a warm car.  On my way down the ridge I saw a huge bus size cornice that I just had to try to kick down.  There was a large tree just above it that I could hold on to, so it wasn't dangerous.  To my surprise, it broke.  

I couldn't believe how big it was so I took a few pictures.  Some of those chunks down the hill were the size of a Smart car.

One more picture from the bottom

It was fun to feel a little eXtreme (with a capital X) and then still be able to make it back to a warm comfy house by a little after 9:00.

A treat for Tyler

Last Friday, Mace and I made Strawberry Cheesecake.

It was fun to have a little helper in the kitchen.

Mace got to lick the mixers for the first time in his life.

As you can see, you enjoyed it very much!

Valentine's Day

We decided to make Valentine's Day more of a family holiday now that we have started our family.

Mace went to daycare in the morning and had his first Valentine's Day party!

(I felt like a pretty LAME mom, because Mace came home with better Valentine's Day cards then he gave out.)

We went to the park after we came home. It was a blast! Mace absolutely loves being outside. It was a little cold so we didn't stay very long. Afterward, we went to Cafe Rio, which was the best part of the evening! (We even found a gift card that had $1.23 on it!)

I heard a quote on the radio that I really liked. It was by Hallmark, and it said something to like,"Valentine's Day isn't about saying 'I love you.' It is about saying 'I love us.'"

I feel so lucky to be married to Tyler. He really does make me a better person. I really do love us! 

Skiing up Patsy Marley

On the 18th of February I woke up at 4:30 in the morning eager to get out and ski and try to take some pictures.  I probably sped on the way up to the Alta parking lot (well, as much as a 1995 Geo Prizm allows).  When I got up to the Alta parking lot around 5:30 it was blowing like crazy.  

Pink Pine

On the 5th of February Mallary offered to watch Mace so Greg and I could go skiing.  Greg suggested that we go to Pink Pine, an area I had never been to.  It was a great place to go skiing.  It was the first time ever that I had done 3 laps.  Here are some pictures of Greg.

Cardiff Peak

Last week I really wanted to go skiing Friday morning but had no one to go with.  I had resigned to the fact that I wouldn't be able to go until I started reading "Crystal Horizon", which is about Reinhold Messner's solo ascent of Mt. Everest.  That night I decided I would not be a wimp and go up myself.

I am obviously not cut out to climb everest or anything even close.  I forgot my headlamp and was forced to go up the trail in pitch black.  Occasionally I took out the camera and took a picture using the flash to see where the trail went. 

This picture is a long exposure of Alta taken about half way up.  You can start to see some light over the ridge.  I wanted to make it up to Cardiff Peak by sunrise so I decided I wouldn't take any more breaks until I got to the top.

Here is the sun coming up over the Sunset Peak.

 

I was expecting a brilliant glowing sunrise but it was really just a dull pink and blue.  Really pretty though.

Really pretty!