Flipping Fun!

Alli started 'shimastics' today. She was given the choice to do ballet or gymnastics first and she went with the latter. The class is in the same recreation building as ballet. They have the gymnastics classroom divided into three different stations - floor/tumbling, bouncing/vault, and balance beams/bars. She was very good at following directions. She seems to be more coordinated than she was last year when she started ballet. I did notice a little obsessiveness in her routine though. There are little hand and foot marker pads where they are supposed to be to test each skill. With all the kids running over them, they get moved from the correct spot. Before Alli would do each task she would have to put them back in the proper place and line them up just right. Hehehe, I wonder where she got that from. (Me) She did really well. It was fun to watch her. I am excited to see her skills and confidence grow.

Snowboarding at Snowbird

Greg and I were able to travel together to Utah on New Year's day for a business/pleasure trip. Greg's parents kindly kept the children for us while we were gone. We really appreciated it. We had a great time. Greg enjoyed seeing all of his co-workers and catching up with them again. I enjoyed getting out to see friends and family. I only wish I had more time to see everyone. Greg was mostly kept hostage at the hotel where he spent long hours in a conference room. Thursday was play day. We went up to Snowbird Ski Resort with most of his company. Some of us snowboarded while others skied (that looks weird) and rode snow mobiles. The day was beautiful and warm for being on the top of a mountain covered in snow. Greg and I were a bit apprehensive because we are less than experienced boarders and the last time each of us went we came away with our pride and other parts of us bruised. We started out slow on the Chickadee slope or Chicken slope as I called it. After a few runs down we were feeling pretty comfortable. We had a nice lunch and then headed to a little harder lift across the mountain. All went well considering it was four times longer and twice as steep as the chicken run. It doesn't mean we didn't spend a fair amount of time in the snow on our bums, but all in all it was pretty successful. I think our confidence has been restored and next time we head out we will surely "rip" up the snow. It was a short trip, less than three days, but fun none the less. We are grateful we were able to go together and feel like we were "home" again for a short while.