Alyeska Resort

 Awhile ago, my honey and I stayed the night at the Alyeska Resort for a getaway. I'm so blessed to have family in town to watch the wee ones. Girdwood is such a great little getaway, not to far, but far enough. The drive along Turnagain Arm was so beautiful.

  
 The hotel itself is really pretty, lots of cool Alaskan items to look at. The staff was amazing! They had a hard time finding our reservation, but they worked with us and were so polite. There was actually a couple of things went wrong, but they made it all happen without stress. We did not have ANY negative attitude from ANY of the staff there. Which I loved. The staff all had that mountain-laid-back attitude with professionalism.

 The last hotel room I stayed in was at the Bellagio in Vegas, which was newly remodeled so my bar was pretty high. The Aleyska Resort rooms are quaint and older. I don't really think most hotel rooms compare to the Bellagio, but I really enjoyed our room at the Alyeska Resort. It was clean and calm. And hey, I didn't have to clean it so it really was amazing!

 The hubs and I love sushi, so we wanted to try out Sakura & Sushi Bar for dinner. I have to say this was our only disappointment. Um, I would never eat there again. The service was great but the food was not up to par at all, especially for the price! Very bland. I think we will just stick to our favorite sushi spot in Anchorage, Jimmy's Sushi. Try Jimmy's, it's amazing!

 We headed to Chair 5 Restaurant for some yummy dessert. Great local place with cool Alaskan memorabila and facts. Someone gave us tickets to a show at the Sitzmark. After gorging ourselves, we went to the Sitzmark to have a couple of drinks and a good time. Locals, Alyeska staff, and out of towners were dancing to the beat of the band.  It was so nice to be able to stay out and have some fun. Of course, my idea of fun was sitting, drinking some Malibu and coke, and watching the hubs play Foosball.

 We woke up to a room service breakfast, which was very good! Packed up really quick and hit the slopes! I used to snowboard back in the day, but I wanted to try skiing again. Hadn't done it since 6th grade! Okay, so can I just say that I actually learned a lot about myself while skiing! Well, I guess it just reconfirmed what I already know. I am a CONTROL FREAK!!!! I did not want to go to fast, I didn't like people speeding by me, and I did NOT like Jason telling me how to ski. We had to separate a little bit so I could regain my composure. My husband is an amazing snowboarder, but I did not want to hear what he had to say.

 I finally relaxed and just tried to go with the flow. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery. You can see Turnagain Arm in the photo above. It was snowing and raining off and on. I never made it to the top. I just stayed on the greens that were less traveled.

 After awhile I went down to the Sitzmark to sit and relax. Loved watching the kids come down. Fearless. I'm way to fearful, sigh. CONTROL. Jason met up with me for some yummy lunch at the Sitzmark. Something about eating and drinking hot items after skiing/snowboarding is so soothing.

 We did a couple more runs before night skiing started. Of course, I started getting more comfortable with skiing towards the end. Need to start skiing more. Cross country is more my speed though.

  All in all, it was a great one night getaway. I highly recommend going and staying, even if it's just for a night. They have some great Ski and Stay packages that are affordable. Next time I'll have to go for the spa package, sounds so relaxing. Oh, there is a pool there if you can't get a babysitter for the kiddos. We were tempted to take Kaden with us, but figured we needed some one on one time. It was great to spend time with my honey.

IBN Jeans Giveaway (closed)

 Who wants to win a pair of cool jeans for their son? The only thing I ask is that you try out the pants and let me know what you think! IBN Jeans sent several pairs of jeans to give to you to try out! Wasn't that so nice of them? They sent us reflective shirts last time for a giveaway.

  The pants are reflective on the front and back. Perfect for these long, dark winters up here in Alaska. The waist is also adjustable, which I love. I tried these size 8's on Kaden but they were to big. Sorry for not giving you a cute model for the jeans, my floor had to do.

  So who wants to try them out and keep them? I have three pairs of size 8, two pairs of size 10, and a pair of size 12. The only rule is you have to live in Alaska. Please leave a comment as to which size you would like to win. The giveaway will close this Friday night. Good luck! Please be sure to leave an email address to contact you with or you will not be counted.

Alaskan Kids Play with Ice?!

  I love Pinterest, have I said that enough? I might need an intervention. I check it at least once a day. But if I did not check it, where would I get all these cool ideas!!! That's what I keep on telling myself at least. So yes, this idea was not my original idea. Play with ice. Why didn't I think of that? Better yet, what will someone think of next to play with! I did not pin the idea on a board so I can not link it back to the original pinner. Sorry.

   I'm homeschooling Kaden for preschool to see if homeschooling will work out for us. So we used the ice for science experiments as part of our schooling. It's been cold enough where we can fill ice trays and put them outside. Kaden kept on checking on the trays to see if they were frozen. Ah, the innocence and excitement of youth. When they were ready, I put one in a bowl by the fire and one in a bowl in the kitchen. He kept on checking on them and noticing which one was melting faster. We talked about the reason behind this. His excitement excited me!

  I put a bowl of water and the bowl of ice on a cookie tray. I doubled up a tablecloth under the tray so I wouldn't freak out and nag about them spilling water. We counted to see how many ice cubes it took to make the water in the bowl overflow. Then, I let the kids at it. I kid you not, they spent an hour playing with the ice! Even Kora got in on the action! I gave them spoons to transfer the ice. They loved putting their hands in and grabbing the ice. I had to make sure I watched Kora though because she was trying to put the ice in her mouth.

 Kaden then added more ice to the bowl next to the fire. I thought it was going to be messier, but they kept the water and ice contained pretty well. It was great for Brooke to work on her motor movements as she transferred the ice cubes with a spoon and then the spoon to her mouth. She likes to pretend she is eating a lot. The kids loved grabbing the ice with their hands. The nice part is that we were in a warm home so when they got cold, they went and sat by the fire. If you are brave, try food coloring in the ice cubes. Not sure if that would stain or not. I'm proud of myself for letting them play with water in the living room. I am going to try colored ice cubes in the bath though! Saw that on Pinterest!

Sunny Vacation

 We spent two glorious, SUNNY weeks in Pasadena, California for Christmas. EVERY day was sunny and warm! It's amazing how good you feel with sunlight! This was the first time Snugglebug actually got to walk outside since she started walking and she loved it. She asked to go for a walk everyday. In our free time, we would walk through the neighborhood and collect pinecones.

We were visiting my husbands family, who lives several blocks from the Rose Bowl. We walked there several times, played at the playground, and flew helicopters. It was so hot one of the days we had to get ice cream! Get this, the children's museum there was doing snow days. I was so confused seeing kids walking around in hats, gloves and snow boots and it being 70 degrees. But then I saw the sign for "snow."

 

 We were in a household of a lot of people. Seven grandkids running around. Lots of sweets that I continued to eat. Something always going on. We visited the LA Zoo which made me really appreciate our non crowded Alaskan zoo. I don't have to worry about losing a kid at the AK zoo. I was constantly counting the kids and making sure they were the right ones! There are way to many people in LA for my liking! We also went to Medival Times for one of the kid's birthdays, lotta fun! Where else do you get to eat with your hands, watch jousting, and cheer/boo knights?!
 

 The adults had their fun as well. We hit up the Ice House Comedy Club and ran into Wee Man. There was a lot of Guesstures and Cranium going on at the house when the kiddos were in bed. Laughing so hard that I was crying and peeing my pants. I learned how to play Guitar Hero, I suck if you were curious. The ladies had lunch at a cute little cafe and what's a vacation without manicures and pedicures?! My sister in law talked me into getting flowers on my hands and toes. They turned out great! I also got to visit the fashion district in LA! I about lost my mind! So much fabric and not enough time!

 

 

  My husband and buddy went to the Rose Bowl game and watched the Ducks beat the Badgers. Buying scalped tickets is the way to go! While they were at the game, I tried my hand in driving LA's crazy traffic to visit two high school friends! I would give myself an ulcer trying to drive that traffic daily. I'm thankful for Anchorage's traffic.

 

 We boarded the plane with our 3 car seats, double stroller, 5 checked bags, and 4 carry ons with sunny and warms skies, then unloaded to snow and cold temperatures. Oh, as we were landing, Brooke starting throwing up, luckily her blanket was able to catch it. That blanket has since been trashed. Husband cleaned her up and as she was standing in the chair, she told her surrounding audience that "I threw up" several times." It was so gross yet so cute. Can that even be in the same sentence? Then Kaden threw up in the car on the way home. Kids got their motion sickness from me, poor guys.

 Had a great time with family. Glad to be home in our beds. Now getting back into the swing of things. Next up on the agenda, registering Peanut for special ed preschool! Oh Boy!