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| Trace doing the tow rope |
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| Birthday Boy Getting Ready for Lessons |
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| Romantic Skiing for Two |
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| Trace skiing between my legs |
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| Trace and Mommy on chair lift |
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| Girl Power |
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| Silly Boy |
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| Whole 30 Super Hero Fruit Trays for School |
Our baby boy is SIX, that is both sad and exciting. Sad, because he is getting so big and the time is going too fast. Exciting, because as the kids get older, Trevor and I are able to share some of our own hobbies and interests with the kids. This weekend was a perfect example of that. Trace decided that he wanted to go skiing again for his birthday, so skiing we went. We drove up to Cadillac, MI which is three and a half hours northwest of us. We went to a place called Caberfae Peaks. We found an AMAZING deal that included two days of skiing, two days of rentals, two days of lessons for the kids, and a hotel room for less than what we paid for one day at Mt Brighton. Not to mention, there were double the hills and the hills were steeper and longer. It was a win, win situation!
The first day, we skied for about two and half hours. The kids all practiced getting on and off the chair lifts, which was a first for Kaylee and Trace. The attendants were nice enough to slow the chair lifts down making it easier to get on and off. Once at the top, Trace was positioned to ski between my legs. He snow plowed down the hill while I guided us. He LOVED being able to go so fast! The only problem with that, was when we let him go down the bunny hill on his own he had forgotten how to stop and almost hit a tree. Yikes! The girls did a great job snow plowing down the hill all by themselves. The rest of the night was spent having dinner, swimming in the outdoor heated pool and hot tub, and opening a gift or two. Swimming in the outdoor pool was a really neat experience. At one point, it was actually snowing on us. We had fun trying to catch the snowflakes in our mouths.
The second day, the kids had a two and a half hour lesson in the morning, which allowed Trevor and I to explore the larger hills. We had a great time skiing and found some great hills. Caberfae Peak is in the middle of a national forest, so we were surrounded by pine trees. It was very pretty and has the "out west" feel to it. Following the girls lesson, we were told by their instructor that he would clear them for any blue hill they had. Following Trace's lesson, we were told that he can now do the tow rope without assist, but would benefit from a private lesson in the future to work on his control and turns. Trevor stuck with Trace and they practiced the bunny hill some more. I took the girls to explore some blue hills. I was amazed at their newfound ability. They are naturals! It is sad the kids are growing up so fast, yet exciting that we are able to share these adventures together as a family!
A few facts about our birthday boy:
- Trace is learning to read. He is on lesson 56 out of 100 in the "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". He gets excited when he identifies his sight words.
- Trace loves to play sports. He loves basketball, football, baseball, soccer, swimming, and skiing. He is super aggressive and hates to lose. He love to run wherever he goes. He just learned to pump fake in basketball and scored 8 points in his first game.
- His best friend is Abram Marlatt, but he has lots of friends. He is currently the Kindergarten heart throb from what we hear.
- He loves super heroes, Star Wars, and legos. He has a great imagination.
- He enjoys playing Minecraft with his sisters.
- He loves to be silly and make people laugh. He is a bit of a class clown.
- He is a really good brother. Kianna and he are good buddies and then sometimes they aren't...
- His chores are taking out the recycling, making sure there is toilet paper in all the bathrooms, cleaning out the bathroom sink, cleaning his room, putting his clothes away, putting napkins on the table before meals, clearing the table, and vacuuming around the table after meals.
- Trace reminds us to read the bible before bedtime. He asked Jesus in his heart again in December. The first time was at VBS a year ago.
- Favorite foods- macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and bananas, frozen mangoes, plantain chips, and bran flakes. Trace chose spaghetti squash with marinara for his birthday dinner. Dessert was frozen banana "ice cream" with almond butter and cocoa powder. It was quite yummy and Whole 30 compliant.
- Trace is a super nice boy and we are proud to call him ours! Happy Birthday Buddy!!!
