Colorado Ski Trip February 2011

Krzysztof and I took a ski trip to Colorado in February. Because of being pregnant 2 years ago and nursing last year, it had been 3 years since I had been on the slopes, so I was really looking forward to this trip! And this was the first time KZ and I had planned to go away together without Brandon for more than one night his whole life! And we were going to 2 of our favorite places: Vail, where we got engaged 7 years ago and Copper Mountain, where we had an amazing trip together several years ago. We were so excited about this trip.

All in all, it was fairly good...not amazing as we expected as I'll explain later.

First of all, we left Brandon with KZ's parents at our house. There is a blog post about that prior to this one, or you can go to it here. Actually, this is one of 4 blog postings that I've done today (I know...I'm a slacker for waiting so long to do these!), so if you are interested, you might want to check those out too.

So we left on Wednesday late morning for our drive to Colorado. After driving 5 minutes, KZ's parents called us to let us know one of our cell phones was on the kitchen table. Better to know 5 minutes in to the trip than 5 hours! Once back on the road we had a minor car issue that led us to stop after only an hour drive in Topeka, KS at a Ford dealer for them to check it out. Luckily it was a quick fix, and we were on our way, only to realize once on the interstate that the hood was not closed all the way.

Maybe we should have taken some hints from that first hour of our trip that the rest of it was not going to be smooth sailing.

The drive actually took us less time than we expected. We had planned to stop in Denver for the night but decided to cancel our hotel reservation and continue on to the mountains. We drove to Dillon, CO and ate at the Dillon Dam Brewery which we've both been to separately before. It was great to finally be there, but it was COLD! The temperature was 12 BELOW zero when we got to the restaurant. We stayed at a hotel in Frisco.

Thursday we skiied at Vail, and the coldness continued. I didn't even ski much in the morning because it was so cold, and I felt very very rusty in my skills. The afternoon was a little warmer, and we were able to get some pictures where we got engaged.

Here's where it all happened! At the top of the Mountain Top Express right here by this tree.

And here's a picture from the actual event 7 years ago! This was not staged. We were on the trip with a couple of my girlfriends from grad school, and they got to be photographer and videographer during the proposal! Notice we haven't changed our clothes for 7 years...we do both have newer skis, and we wear helmets now, though.

Thursday evening we drove over to Copper Mountain where we stayed for the next 3 nights. We stayed right in the village, which was so great and convenient. Many of the units there have kitchens, but we opted to just get a regular room so we wouldn't feel obligated to do grocery shopping and cooking.

Our room was really cute.

This is the view out of the main window. This is Central Village. The lift is just beyond the left border of this picture.

In the above picture of our room, this is the window above the couch. It was great to be able to lay on the bed and look at the slopes, which I ended up doing more often that I wanted to.

We had a good day skiing on Friday. I was feeling much more confident by the end of the day and excited to have 2 more days to ski.

Friday afternoon we celebrated Apres Ski at JJ's, one of our favorite places at Copper that has live entertainment.

That's all the pictures we have together. I was really sick by the following morning and spent the next 2 days in bed most of the time. It was a combination of a sinus infection, bronchitis, and altitude sickness. Ugh! The funny thing is, I got this on the trip when we got engaged! I guess this island girl can't take the altitude!

It was great to get away, but we wished we would have been able to have more fun skiing and hanging out together as I was not the most fun person to be around those last 2 days!

Survival of the Grandparents

While Krzysztof and I went to Colorado for a ski trip in February, Krzysztof's parents graciously came to our house to watch Brandon. This was the first time that BOTH of us were away from Brandon for this long. We were gone for 5 days. And this was the first time that Brandon's Dziadzia and Babcia had ever been with him for that long without one of us around! Here's a few things they did:

KZ's Uncle Martin came in for a 2 day visit from Boulder while we were gone. The 3 of them took Brandon to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

Here's Brandon and his Dziadzia.

And Brandon with his Babcia.

Having a snack at the museum. That's Brandon's great uncle Martin.

They also took Brandon to this mall we have near us that has quite a few of those ride on cars. Fortunately for all of us Brandon doesn't know that they move, and he's quite content to just sit in them.

I love this picture. But I hope I never see Brandon looking at me through the windshield of a real red convertible unless he's sitting in the passenger seat and the convertible belongs to me.

Reading books with uncle Martin.
Brandon will sit with you for hours if you'll keep reading to him. This just blessed the hearts of his grandparents, who are both librarians! Brandon, however, gets obsessed with certain books. We call them "books of the week" because he rotates which ones he's obsessed with each week. He wants the same 1 or 2 books read to him over and over and over and over and OVER again! I think the librarians even tired of it after a day or so!

When we called to check in one of the days we were gone, Brandon's Babcia asked us, "Does Brandon usually push his chairs into the kitchen so he can read books in there?" Ummm....no. I'm glad they took a picture. What a silly little guy.

That wasn't the only thing out of the ordinary that Brandon did...

His Dziadzia told us straight out that he planned to spoil Brandon while we were gone. We didn't mind. That's what grandparents are for, right? But Brandon really took advantage of them.

While he is very mischievous when we are home, there are certain things Brandon knows he is not supposed to touch. The big ones are the trash can, the stereo, and the blinds. When we got home we found all of the knobs off of our stereo. We asked KZ's parents what happened to the knobs! They were like, "Oh, Brandon kept taking them off and playing with them so we just took them all off and put them up there on the mantle." We honestly had no idea the knobs even came off! So obviously Brandon got in lots of time pushing stereo buttons to make up for all the days he's missed out on it while we are home.

And we were horrified to find out that he constantly tried to play in the trash can! He reportedly especially loved to take out the empty cereal and cracker boxes to add to his toy collection. He must have been in that trash can a lot because KZ's uncle said he was like "a little raccoon!"

These last few pictures are from the Kidscape exibit at the Johnson County Museum. This is such a great place to take kids.

Our little farmer.

Brandon loves hats! Apparently one fireman's hat wasn't enough for him. Don't you want to give this little firefighter a kiss on those puckered lips!

Brandon says, "Don't worry sir, I'll fix your leg right up...and I'll try to put all your organs back in their right places too."

All in all Brandon's days with his grandparents seemed to go really well. Brandon was happy most of the time, and KZ's parents told us they would love to do it again. I don't think they have to worry about not getting that opportunity again sometime soon! We missed our little man, but it was nice to get away knowing he was in trusted, capable hands!

Random Winter PIctures

Here are some random pictures from January and February at the Z house:

This was the end result of Brandon eating a bowl of oatmeal all by himself for the first time. I was actually pretty surprised that it wasn't any worse than this. He's even better at it now. If we could only get him to eat something other than oatmeal and his other 10 or so "Brandon approved" foods...

Here's Brandon with Krzysztof's friend Andy who travels from Michigan to Kansas City for work frequently. Brandon really likes Andy (who he calls "Ah-mi").


There is a famous restaurant in Kansas City called Fritz's Railroad Restaurant. It is basically just a burger and fries joint, but they have a pretty unique way for you to order and receive your food. Each booth has a telephone in it, and you order your food through that telephone. There is a little train that frequently travels around the restaurant on a track close to the ceiling, and that train brings you your food. Somehow the train is programed to drop off your tray of food onto this elevator thing high above your table. Then the elevator lowers down so you can take off your tray. The funny thing is that the train drops that tray off so quickly that it looks dangerously close to sliding right off onto you or your dining partner.

We went to Fritz's with Brent (a guy KZ works with), his wife Kathy, and their son Mitchell who is a little younger than Brandon. I had a 2 cars in my purse that I pulled out for the boys to play with. Brandon wasn't too happy about sharing.

They give all the kids (and boy do they have a lot of kids in this restaurant!) a conductor hat. Brandon loves to wear hats. He's feeling mighty studly right now.

Here's the elevator bringing our tray down. The food is definitely nothing spectacular, but I would definitely go to Fritz's again if for no other reason than it would allow KZ and I to have a conversation because Brandon was constantly entertaining by the passing train.


These next few pictures are from a snow storm we had several weeks ago. We got quite a bit of snow, but the crazy thing about this storm was the wind! It blew the snow into some really neat formations - almost like desert sand.

Preventing Cabin Fever

Winter can get kind of long here in Kansas (but not as long as in Michigan...), and it seems even longer when you have a toddler hanging on your leg and whining because he's bored. You can't play outside, and sometimes it's just too cold or potentially hazardous to leave the house.

The only good part about winters like this is it forces me as a mom to come up with creative things to entertain Brandon at home. He gets so tired of his toys and books on long days at home, even with my toy rotation!

The following are some pictures from January with some activities we did to help prevent cabin fever!

I wish I could say I did fun, creative activities with Brandon everyday. It really should be my goal to do one novel, creative activity with him each day, but I honestly don't put the mental thought and energy into that as often as I should.

And most of these activities are just silly ones with materials I have around here, so don't be expecting some revolutionary ideas, fellow moms! Here they are:

Digging for toys in the "rice and bean" bucket.

First attempt at an obstacle course. Brandon didn't quite get the point, but he had fun climbing around on things.

What do you do if you don't have a basketball hoop? Make one out of your Costco sized dishwasher detergent canister! Slam dunk!

Brandon's Mimi and Papa got him this awesome easel for Christmas. He loves it! He loves to watch us draw pictures, and he'll tell us what the pictures are. I'm sure you are all envious of my amazing artistic talent to draw a car and a train, right? He likes to scribble with the crayons, but on this particular day, he was way more interested in dropping the crayons through the paint cup hole. And why wouldn't he be?

We use the chalk side of the easel the most often. Check out that tripod grip! This handwriting specialist is very proud. No, 18 month-olds are not supposed to be able to hold crayons and chalk with a tripod grip....but they will if you only give them a tiny broken piece of crayon or chalk. It's the only way to hold something that small. Break your crayons and chalk moms! I know it's hard to damage a perfectly good crayon, but you'll be so glad you did when your child starts writing!

He definitely likes to erase too!

This was NOT part of my winter indoor fun...well not for me anyway. I found him like this after leaving the room for just a second.

Putting stickers on a toilet paper roll. Brandon hasn't had much exposure to stickers yet, and he was both amused and concerned about how they stuck to his fingers.

And finally, what is indoor play without an empty box?

We have seen a few glimpses of spring around here in the past couple weeks, and we cannot wait until we can get outside and play every day!

Snow Fun

We've had some decent sized snows in the Kansas City area in the past month.

I thought it would be fun for you to compare what Brandon looked like in the snow last year to what he looks like now. Here he is at 6 months old, last January:

Cute snowsuit, huh?

Well I'm glad you like it because you are going to be seeing a lot of it in this post. I have not gotten around to buy Brandon a new snowsuit for this year, so I was so pleased that this one still fits him (well...sort of).

Here is a video of Brandon (now 18 months old) going outside in the midst of our first snow of the year. I wanted to take him out this day rather than wait for all the snow to fall and then take him out the following day because we had wind chills of negative 15-20 the following days.




The next snowfall happened a few weeks later, and we got about 8 inches. Here are some pictures:

I love how perfect the snow looks before anyone steps in it, and I love when the snow piles on the trees like that.

Brandon was just not super excited about being outside in the snow. He just stood there and made this face for the first few minutes we were out there. I was expecting him to love it, so here are my theories for why he didn't:
1. He was cold.
2. He loves to run and wasn't able to move very fast in the snow without falling.
3. His crotch was numb because Mommy put him in a 6-9 month snowsuit.
4. All of the above.

When we lived in Michigan we had several sleds, some of which would have been perfect for toddlers. When we moved to NC, we gave them all away except for this one (because it was the most expensive...), but it is hardly toddler friendly because it only has a flat surface like a boogie board (I relate more to boogie boards than to sleds as a girl who grew up on a sub-tropical island). So I did my best to keep Brandon on and pull him around the yard (with some rope I found in the garage and attached to the handles), but it was only marginally fun for both of us. I think we need to invest in a Brandon-friendly sled.

He kind of liked playing with his cups and sand toys in the snow. I think he was wondering the whole time why we couldn't just play with all of these toys inside instead.

I made somewhat of a snow angel. Brandon thought it was funny to see me laying in the snow and flailing around.

So that was our snow play at home. Here are some other winter activities we've done.

We went to the Plaza where they had an ice carving contest. It was really neat to see the works-in-progress and then the final result.

There is a place in Olathe called the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm that offers horse drawn sled rides some weekends when there is snow, so we took advantage of the opportunity to do something so unique so close to home.

Here we are on the ride! Brandon was mesmerized by the whole experience.

So that is how we've been having fun in the snow this month! It's been fun, but spring can come anytime now... :-)

Christmas 2010

Hi! It's Brandon again. I want to tell you about my 2nd Christmas! This was a very special Holiday season because I started talking a lot more during those few weeks! And I got to spend some quality time with lots of family and friends.

Here is the tree we had in our house in Kansas. Mommy and Daddy thought I would want to touch all the ornaments and pull on the tree, but I was such a good boy! The only think I did was go up to it, point and say, "Tee!" I occasionally poked at a couple of ornaments too, but that's ok, right? None of them fell off...

On December 22 (Daddy's birthday) we flew to SC. Unlike our trip down for Thanksgiving, we didn't get bumped to 1st class because the planes were too small, so it was a pretty exhausting day for all of us - especially me because I didn't even get a nap! Mommy was sick too, so she was miserable on the flights, but we made it.

This is in front of Mimi and Papa's Christmas tree with my monkey that I sometimes call "Gigi."

Here I am with Papa. I love to say "Papa!"

and with my only cousin, Drew (who is 18). I can also say, "Drew." I learned to say almost everyone's name over the Christmas break.

That's Biscuit. The one on the right, I mean. She doesn't like me and pretended the whole 2 weeks that I wasn't there. Apparently this pig is better company. Even though it was difficult, I left her alone (after being told several times that I should not bother her) and we all got along just fine.

Here are some pictures from Christmas Day!

I loved taking things out of my stocking! I kept wanting to put them back in, though.

This picture is kind of dark, but don't I look cute in my Christmas hat? Mommy and Daddy figured out that I was happy sitting in my booster seat to open presents and play with them, and that kept me from running around the house getting into everything else. That tractor was in my stocking, and I started saying "tractor" after playing with it.

This is my great uncle Tim (Mimi's brother). He got me this cool wooden stacking toy for Christmas that I just love! Who needs toys with batteries? Keep it simple people.

Here is part of that toy! I really loved all of the presents that I got and spent a long time playing with each one. I think that made everyone who gave me the gifts feel good. What can I say, I am a gentleman.

Here I am all spiffed up for Christmas dinner (holding part of my wooden toy).

Here are most of the ladies that I love: Cioci Kalina (Daddy's sister), Mommy, Mimi, Aunt Kiki (Mommy's sister), and Aunt Fer Fer (Kiki's sister-in-law). Unfortunately my Babcia had the flu the WHOLE time I was in SC. She couldn't even hold me or spend much time with me, and it was so sad not to get to be with her! That's why she isn't in this picture.

Here are some pictures from the days after Christmas:

On December 26th, we all met up with some of Mommy's friends from high school for brunch. This is Shelley, Cori, and Rebecca. Shelly and Rebecca are both going to have a baby this coming summer! I was such a good boy at brunch...the best I've ever been in a restaurant. I had whole tables of people come up to me and tell me how cute and good I am. Ha! They should see me at home!

This is my wujek (uncle) Stefan and Daddy. We celebrated their birthdays at Babcia and Dziadzia's house the night of the 26th with a dinner and beer tasting. My Cioci Kalina made a great dinner (well so I hear...I only wanted to eat graham crackers and peanut butter...one of my staples). The crowns on their head were from those funny little party "poppers" that have prizes and a crown in them.

I did a good job of keeping everyone entertained during dinner.

By the way, have you seen all my teeth lately?

Here are all the different beers that were part of the beer tasting.

Can you believe they drank all that beer?

Here is everyone who was there.

On December 28th, some people got together at Mimi and Papa's house. It was a beautiful evening, but really cold!

Papa wanted to have an oyster roast because Stefan had never had oysters before, and everyone in the Lowcountry has oyster roasts throughout the fall and winter. Usually you do it outside, but we stayed in the garage because it was so cold!

Here they are! Hot out of the steamer. Yummy! (well that's what they all said. I didn't try any. Maybe next year.)

Mommy's friend Cori came to hang out with us! I really like Cori. She makes me laugh.

Papa! What's all over your face?! It's Cheerios! Give me one of those!

I love my Mommy and Mimi! I was pulling their necks into me in a double hug and wouldn't let go, so they just had to get a picture because I'm so lovable and cute. Even Biscuit looks like she wanted in on that action! Actually Biscuit was probably just concerned because her mommy (Mimi) wasn't paying attention to her.

Here's my Dziadzia!

On the 29th, Mommy and Daddy went to Savannah for the night and left me with Mimi and Papa. Here is where they stayed, the Planter's Inn.

This is the fountain in Forsyth Park.

Here is one of the many Squares in downtown Savannah. The Spanish Moss hanging from the trees in the Lowcountry is so neat and beautiful.

This is on a walk on Pinkney Island. We went with Dziadzia.

New Years Eve! This is Chris & Shelley (Mommy's friend from high school), Cioci Kalina, and Mommy & Daddy.

Daddy and his sister.

Well, that's about it! We had a great time hanging out with family and friends! We just wish Babcia had been feeling better so we could have seen her more, and we wish we could see all these great people more often!