Family « coffee with Julie

Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

March 7th, 2012

Love. Your. Body. Now.

When I turned 40, I had a celebration with my girlfriends. There were no gifts allowed, but a girlfriend gave me a gift in what she wrote in a birthday card. She wrote:

“Remember when you were 30 and looked back on the photos of yourself when you were 20, and thought – wow, I looked great. You will be thinking the same thing when you’re 50 looking back at yourself now.”

At first at thought … “Gee, thanks for the reminder of how much I am aging!” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was actually a lovely thing to say. And so very, very true. Because when I was in my 20s, I didn’t like the way I looked. Same for my 30s.

And now in my 40s? No, I still don’t love the way my body looks. But I have come to appreciate it and be so very grateful for its relative perfect health. Because that’s what it’s all about: relativity. Perspective.

In fact, I use perspective all the time to slap myself out of negative mental spirals. For instance, when my babies were young and up in the middle of the night and I was so tired that nausea was kicking in, I would hold them in my arms and feel grateful that all they had was a dirty diaper, or a stuffy nose, or even a bad fever. Because my dear friend had lost her dear baby due to serious illness at 8 months old. See? Perspective, right.

All this to say, that I thought this video clip was really worth sharing. It is a visual rendering of the words my girlfriend shared with me about aging. I’d love to know what you think about it this video too.

It’s called “Love. Your. Body. Now.” The photos are of a woman named Shannon Bradley-Colleary, who writes for a number of online publications including her own blog A Woman Formerly Known as Beautiful.

9 Comments »

February 29th, 2012

Oh the Babies!

There is a huge influx of new babies arriving at our office. The first arrived last week. A beautiful little girl, who arrived early at just over six pounds. And I saw her. I touched her little toes. Oh my …

And there are more babies arriving! Three more on the way, to be precise.

I can clearly remember being a young 20-something gal and rolling my eyes so hard it hurt when the women at my office would rush out to greet a colleague bringing in their new baby. You could hear the oohs and ahhs from all the way down the hall. I’d sit at my desk and keep working. Come on, people! It’s just a baby. Don’t lose your mind!

Now, I am one of these silly women losing their minds over the little babies. It must be my age. Or the fact that I know we’re not adding any more children to our brood. Or at least my head knows this. Because if the way these babies are making me feel is any indication, maybe my body hasn’t been informed of this decision yet.

I feel clucky. This is an expression I acquired in Australia. It’s perfect, don’t you think? It goes well with the “nesting” phenomena, and all those other metaphors for the somewhat inexplicable behaviour brought on by female hormones.

So when I came across this video via Design Mom made to announce the arrival of a new baby (side note: some people are way to clever, aren’t they? I didn’t even do regular paper announcements, let alone a video announcement!) I nearly melted into a puddle on the floor. I challenge you to press play and not feel at least a modicum of misty nostalgia.

But really? It this whole baby-craziness related to me actually feeling “clucky” or is it just me getting closer in age to those people who get all kinds of desperate to have grandchildren? Goodness only knows. But it sure tugs at the heart strings. Do you ever feel like this?

And Everything Nice from John Jensen on Vimeo.

5 Comments »

February 20th, 2012

Day 2 at Smuggler’s Notch Resort, Vermont

This is a post is a continuation of a short series on Smuggler’s Notch. To catch up, you can find the first post in this series here, and the second one is here. Our family’s accommodation and activities were provided by Smugg’s, while extras like food and whatnot were paid for ourselves. (Image below, credit: Smuggler’s Notch, Vermont.)

Gooooood morning Smuggler’s Notch!

In contrast to the first morning, when the kids had been up early and racing about the condo, this morning was far more quiet. They’d had a big day and evening yesterday, and we parents got to reap the benefits with a little sleep-eye. However, it didn’t last long because Hubby and Stella were so keen to hit the hills again that they were insisting on squeezing in a few runs before Snow Sport University started up at 9 am.

Breakfast was a quick bowl of hot porridge and fruit (and coffee for Mom and Dad!) in the condo. Too quick, in fact, for even a photo. And with a blink of an eye, off they went out into the snow!

Drop off to Snow Sport University

Like Day 1, both children were registered to attend Smuggler’s Snow Sport University. We were really happy to see that Stella would have Blake as her instructor again. One of the neat things about the program is that during the day you can bump into your child on the hill and say hi and see how things are going. In the photo below, this is what Hubby did with Stella and she is trying to avoid the embarrassing parental contact – haha! Also note the red device strapped around her leg. This is a GPS and all the kids have one strapped to them for safety reasons, but at the end of the day you can also log-in and see where your child skiing, for how far, and at what speeds.

Max, who the day before had put on quite a show at drop-off, quietly raised his hand up to the hand of one of the instructors and walked off to join his group. In contrast to Stella’s experience, during the two days that Max was in this program, his instructors were, for the most part, fairly unmemorable. On the first day, one of his instructors was a young man by the name of Justin who was charismatic and full of energy, but the others seemed like they were just going through the motions. Sure, working with the kids in this age group is probably the least favorite choice for the instructors (since three-year-olds are far more work than say, ten-year-olds), but I don’t care — it’s their job and they should at least pretend to enjoy it! (Hey, the rest of us have to, don’t we? )

Ski lessons for the adults

Starting at 10 am, Hubby and I were registered to participate in adult ski lessons. We were really looking forward to this since neither of us had ever had the opportunity to have an actual lesson before.

I had signed up for a Level 3 lesson, which would focus on “tuning your turns.” My instructor was Neal, and he clearly loved his job. He’s been teaching up at Smuggler’s for two decades, but you’d never know it by his youthful zeal. He was patient, offered just the right tips, and peppered our time with jokes here and there. From one lesson alone, I made huge progress on my turns and have almost mastered moving from snowplowing stance to having my feet in parrellel position.

My Smugg's instructor in action

Adult group lessons are two hours in length and cost $75 per person. I lucked out with a great group, and was able to meet some interesting people while we swapped partners on the chair lift rides. In total, my class had two couples and three women. One of the women was from England and she told me that she and her family have been coming every year, for more than five years, to Smugg’s because they felt comfortable there and because their children enjoyed the kids’ programs so much.

Meanwhile, Hubby had his ski lesson over on another hill. He was signed up for a level 6 class. (In total, there are 10 levels of classes offered.) When we caught up at lunch, he was raving about his experience. By chance, he ended up as the only student in his class and he said his instructor, Charlie, was fantastic. From just this one lesson, Hubby was able to move from skiing on blue hills to moving over to black ones.

I have to admit that left to my own devices, I probably would not have forked out any cash for adult ski lessons (but willing would do so for my kids). But now? I will happily pay for a lesson every time I get a chance. It really helps to build confidence and enhance your skills. Stella is also now a big fan of lessons. Although she’s had lessons at a local hill, she found her lessons at Smugg’s to be more in depth and far more helpful.

Zip-lining with Arbortrek

More first-time experiences were in store for us today! Hubby, Stella and I (Max was not old enough to participate) were heading over to Arbortrek Canopy Tours. Our tour was called the “Wild Winter Ride,” and involved 6 zip lines and 2 sky bridges in the gorgeous Vermont forest over a 2.5 hour period. None of us had zip-lined before, so we were feeling nervous and excited (or at least, Stella and I were!).

I’m not even sure how to describe the experience. It was all so exhilarating and fun! So perhaps I will let the photos speak for themselves. Our guides were Roger and Stephanie and from start to finish, they were perfect companions who also made you feel very safe.

Here is our full group: Hubby and I are on the far left (it was pretty cold that day, as you can tell!) and Stella is the smallest one, sitting down with the red helmet beside one of our guides, Roger, with the yellow helmet.

I will resist the urge to post every single picture available! But, if you are interested, they are posted from each tour up on Arbortrek’s Facebook page.

It was truly an experience of a lifetime. And I really want to go back and try it out in the summer now too!

Re-grouping back at the condo

Our Arbortrek driver, Ben, was kind enough to drop me off along the way back where I could pick up Max. So Max and I headed back to the condo, and were joined shortly afterwards by Stella and Hubby.

After a big day of big activities, this regularly sedentary body was aching! I decided to fill up the Jacuzzi tub in our ensuite bathroom and soak my bones.

Hubby gave me this time of peace and quiet by happily whisking the kids off to the outdoor pool. From there, we gathered back to the dinner table for an Indian curry with chicken (the same one we made on this camping trip).

After-dinner fun

We decided to try something the Family Snow Tubing tonight, despite how tempted Stella was to head back to the Fun Zone. Just as we were heading out, we heard a huge “boom!” then a “bang!” We rushed out to find a full-on fireworks display! A large group of us gathered on the snow hill to enjoy the lights. Wow, it really felt like we were away somewhere special.

Once the fireworks finished, we resumed our regular plan to hit Sir Henry’s hill for Snow Tubing. After one run, Hubby and I quickly suspected that perhaps this wasn’t exactly a safe activity. The tubes were hitting really high speeds, it was difficult to slow or stop yourself. Add to that was that the two employees at the bottom of the hill, who I assume were supposed to help you stop, were pretty blase.

On my first time down, the tube had been spinning so much that I couldn’t see where the end was and I banged my head into a barricade (luckily, I was wearing a helmet, so no harm done). The experience spooked me though, and I decided then that I wasn’t comfortable doing any more runs. Before Hubby and the kids could even make their decision, a woman flew at high speeds on her tube right up and over the barricades. Another witness estimated she was at least 8 feet in the air before she hit the pavement. All of the parents quickly realized that the speeds were too fast and the barricades were not high enough and gathered up their children to leave. As for the poor woman, the last we saw of her, she was still lying on her back and a medic was checking her eyes for signs of concussion. I really, really hope she’s okay. So, consider yourself warned: I highly recommend NOT doing this activity unless some significant changes are made to make it safer.

We decided to cheer the kids up with a stop at Ben and Jerry’s. This time, with the memory still fresh of how yummy our treats had been last night, we all upped our sizes. Mmmm!

Good night, sleep tight!

Even with ice cream pumping through their veins, the kids were pooped and hit the sack quickly once we got back to the condo. Naturally, the adults weren’t too far off either!

Despite feeling shaken by the tubing experience, the day as a whole had been soooo fantastic. We’d made a ton of wonderful memories together and were no rush to go home. In fact, Stella had already announced that she wanted to live at Smuggler’s Notch forever. (This is high praise because she has done a lot of travel in her young life and has only ever said this once before, and that was when we stayed at Dunk Island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.) Hubby and I could understand how she felt though since we were wishing that we had a whole week to enjoy Smugg’s.

p.s. I’ve added a video of what one of the Green hills at Smugg’s looks like from top to bottom. It’s me skiing on the first day, so you can even admire my fancy snowplow skills. Hubby got a “GoPro” camera from Santa, so the video is taken from the top of his helmet as we skied down it.

8 Comments »

February 13th, 2012

Day 1 at Smuggler’s Notch Resort, Vermont

This past weekend, we were hosted at Smuggler’s Notch Resort in Vermont. The whole family had been eagerly looking forward to this trip — some family time is always welcome, and Hubby and I were very keen to share some great outdoor winter experiences with the kids. Since Smugg’s is known for its award-winning children’s programs, we thought this would prove to be the perfect place to be able to do so.

Below, I’ve tried to note down as many helpful details as I can from our Day 1 experience so that if you’re reading this post, trying to decide on a holiday, you’ll have the information you need. If after reading you’ve got questions, feel free to jot them down in the comments box and I’ll be sure to get back to you.

Morning has broken

We had arrived in the dark the evening before, so we keenly checked out our view from the condo as soon as we woke in the morning. We lucked out! The day ahead was destined to be a gorgeous sunny day and our condo was right at the edge of a green ski run that we could ski right out to from our back deck.

Breakfast in the condo

I brought about $100 worth of groceries with us because I thought it would be easier (and of course, less expensive) to eat in the condo for breakfasts and dinners. Breakfasts because it’s always harder to herd cats in the morning. And dinners because my son, a toddler, would be tired after a big day on the ski hill and a restaurant experience with a tired toddler is anything but relaxing. (Plus, my girlfriend had just returned from a weekend in Tremblant ski resort and her tales of a $150 dinner that barely got eaten with her two young boys had not escaped my notice!).

The condo came equipped with full-sized fridge, stove, microwave, and dishwasher. These kind of amenities are soooo nice for families.

Checking into the Smuggler’s Snow Sport University

Max was registered to participate in the Discovery Dynamos program, which caters to children aged 3-5 years of age. These are all-day programs that run from 9am to 4pm and include ski lessons, indoor activities, snacks and lunch. Many of the packages for Smugglers‘ include these children’s programs, but if you register for this program separately, the cost is $139/day.

Since Max can often need coaxing to try anything new, I had been nervous about this when we first signed him up. But over the last few weeks, Hubby had gathered gear for him from Play it Again Sports and taken him up to a local ski hill several times. So, he was ready. Or so we thought.

He threw a full-blown toddler’s meltdown. Yes, we were “those” parents. Oh dear. We took the “tough love” approach and walked away, knowing full well that the counsellors had my cell phone and that we had a direct line to call them should we be worried as well.

Stella, on the other hand, had a perfectly easy hand-off. The group she was registered in was called Adventure Rangers and we were happy to see that there were a number of other children in her age and ski level. Off she went merrily. (In the photo below, we snapped a shot of her and her class on the hill while we were in the chairlift. Her instructor Blake, a great guy who really was really engaged with the kids, is in the front with the blue and red jacket.)

Picking up my gear

Hubby and the kids were all kitted out with full gear — some from friends, some bought second-hand, and some bought new. But me? I didn’t know if it would be worth the investment. As you might recall, I’m not exactly a cold-weather lover, so I thought I was better off getting rental equipment for our weekend at Smuggs.

They had a great system that was very efficient and everyone’s gear was adjusted to their specific level, height, and weight. After getting my rental equipment, all that was left was to actually ski!

Bunny hills here we come!

Despite being a total beginner, there was a very welcoming vibe here at Smuggs. At other ski hills I’ve been to, the other skiiers seemed to give off the vibe of “money” — sporting all the latest designer snow gear and equipment. Here, however, was a mix of cool and hippy.

As we took the chair lift up, Hubby and I realized that we couldn’t actually remember the last time we’d skiied together. It was nice sitting on the chair lift, with his arm around me, and the sun shining down on us and the bright white snow reflecting back. At the top of the hill, we had a picture taken with the two of us together as proof that we’d actually spent time alone together over the last goodness knows how many years!

While Hubby is comfortable snowboarding down black diamond hills and skiing on blue hills, I needed the bunny hills! He joined along with me and we had such a nice time on the runs. The conditions were amazing, the guys working the chairlift were cheerful, and I thought, “Maybe I could really get into this skiing thing.”

Lunch break

We really didn’t want to waste any time away from the hills to eat lunch, so Hubby and I decided to pop into the Green Mountain Deli. It was just a hop, skip, and a jump off the ski hill and was noted as the place to go for speedy service.

I thought we might end up with limited choice — hamburgers or hotdogs — but was pleasantly surprised. I opted for a grilled flat bread with chicken and pesto sauce, while Hubby chose “The Vermonter,” which was a sandwich with baked ham, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, apple slices, and honey mustard. All sandwiches come with fries or salad, and the price of $10.25 seemed reasonable.

We then hit the slopes again as quickly as we could wolf down our lunches!

Picking up the kids

The children’s programs follow a schedule of a morning session on the slopes, lunch, an afternoon session on the slopes, and then at 2:30 pm, all of the kids’ programs return to a central meeting area for indoor activities.

Hubby and I decided that at this 2:30 break, I would pick up Max and take him back to the condo for a nap, while he and Stella would hit the hills together. He was happy to see me, and gleefully told me how he had a good day skiing. Nevertheless, he looked like a tired little guy, so he and I caught one of the resort’s courtesy shuttle buses from the bottom of the hill back up to our condo.

But first, we stopped at the Treasures child care center for a tour. This center cares for babies as young as six weeks old! Shelley, who’s worked at Treasures for five years, welcomed us and showed Max and I all of the facilities. I was truly impressed and wouldn’t hesitate to leave one of my children in the center’s care. Like the Children’s Snow Sport University programs, childcare is included in many of the packages or you can choose to pay for it separately at the rate of $85 per child, per day, or $15/hour. (I’d like to share more details with any new parents out there, so I will try to do a complete post on this at a later point.)

I lost a couple of hours somewhere …

Once we got back inside the condo, it didn’t take Max and I long to cuddle up in the massive king size bed at the condo and doze off to never-never-land. Hubby and Stella skiied until the chair lifts shut down at 4pm and then went back to the condo as well. When they got there, I was snoring so loud that he was able to walk right into the bedroom and get his swimsuit without me noticing!

The two of them then went swimming in the outdoor pool. That’s right: OUTDOOR! The Mountain Laurels, where we were staying has a pool open year-round. Hubby dared Stella to lay in the snow with her bathing suit on in exchange for an ice cream, while she countered back to him for a back scratch. (I’m quite sure that both would have done it without any bribery needed anyhow.)

Dinner

Hubby had made an extra large batch of spaghetti sauce during the week before we’d left so that we could bring the leftover sauce up with us. Everyone was happy to eat some good ol’ fashioned pasta after burning so much energy during the day!

After-dinner fun

We had two things to do before we would declare the day complete: ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s and a visit to the FunZone.

With more than 15 flavors to choose from, it was a tough choice! The kids and I each had a kid-sized cup, while Hubby had a small adult size, totaling under $20. It kind of makes my mouth water just looking at the picture.

After the ice cream, we quickly packed ourselves up and headed over to the FunZone to catch some of the action before closing time. The FunZone is like an indoor fairground! There was a massive blow-up slide, bouncy obstacle course, air hockey, shuttle boards — you name it. Plus, a gated-off area for toddlers where they could play safely while toys and blow-up activity zones sized just for them. There is no cost to enter, you simply show your lift pass.

I couldn’t get Stella to stand still long enough for a photo — she was just was zipping around the place from one spot to another non-stop! So, this picture of the back of her while she was climbing up the giant slide is about all I’ve got.

Bed time!

Bed time was a breeze since the kids were thoroughly spent from all the day’s excitement. The condo had a room with four single beds in it, each with its own built-in drawers underneath as well as a wall-mounted night-light for reading. There was also a large, flat-screen tv in the room, which we never turned on, but I would imagine that a family with teenagers could make great use of.

Normally Max and Stella enjoy having their own rooms, but in this new, unfamiliar setting, they liked the security of having each other in the room with them.

The day is done

As Hubby and I settled into bed ourselves, I watched some trashy reality tv programming with a glass of red wine before turning out the lights. Then we read for a bit before falling fast asleep.

Day 1 was now done. We couldn’t have asked for more, really.

7 Comments »

February 13th, 2012

Dear Grammys: What message are you sending?

Dear Grammys,

I’m not sure what message you’re trying to send. But I can tell you what message I received from your show last night.

For all the young and impressionable young people watching the Grammy’s yesterday, one thing was made clear: If you can dance and sing, we’re willing to turn a blind eye. Well, at least if you’re a man. Dancing and singing trumps all, people.

Chris Brown, who in 2009, was brought in on criminal charges (and pleaded guilty) for beating his then-girlfriend Rihanna, and released on $50,000 bail was hailed as a glory boy at last night’s Grammys. He was featured in a stage performance to what looked like a standing ovation from the audience. And then walked away with a Grammy award, a much sought-after award in the music industry in which members of the Recording Academy have the final voting rights.

Rather than shun and publicly speak out against Brown’s violence, the music industry has embraced him in one big giant, protective hug.

According to Amnesty International, one in three women worldwide is a victim of beating, rape, torture, or attack. The music industry is highly influential. But clearly, it will not use its influence to help stop violence against women.

And this, just days after Whitney Houston, is found dead in her hotel room. I can’t help but see an eerily similar path for Rihanna, with the rumour mill reporting that Brown and Rihanna are dating again. Houston, widely known for her problems with drug abuse, also shared in a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey that her ex-husband Bobby Brown used to “slap” her.

I find it very disturbing. All of it.

It makes me think that I will need to work harder to protect my children (both male and female) from your industry’s influence. But I’m willing to do that. With what little influence I have, I’ll do it.

Signed,

A concerned parent