friday

we woke sometime after 7. chris's dad had breakfast mostly ready. he always makes the BEST breakfasts. after the kids demolished their meals they began getting ready for the slopes.
"whose gloves are these"
"where's your hat"
"hold still while i pull this on you."
by the time we were done we were soaking wet in sweat wondering if we were going to need all these layers.
the kids waited on the balcony while we got the finishing touches together. and as always- with skiing and kids it's a lesson in "hurry up and wait"

we drove up the mountain and parked in the top lot. the emptiness of the lot added to our excitment because we knew that this meant that the hill was mostly empty. the conditions were perfect. freshly made snow. sunny. no wind. it was going to be a nice nice day.
chris' dad sat at a picnic table outside with mary jane. the older kids were processed easily enough and while i waited for chris to run about getting things in order and looking for a locker i talked with george about getting on the lift. it was to be his first time skiing.



george and chris on the lift to the blue square slope.

max(taken from the lift).

chris and george - his first ski.

henry, jacket open- it's starting to get warm. it gets to about 60 before the sun starts to get low.
people were skiing in their t-shirts with their lift ticket stickers just stuck to their shirts.

samantha on the lift.

max, david, and henry.



niko. he came early with the boudreauxs. denise caught up late friday night with christina and mike.

henry and max



david, sitting on his snowboard. no warnings for this action today. sunday would be a different story!

jerome's first attempt at snowboarding. he did really well at going. stopping eluded him..but sunday holds a different story.

grandpa has that magic touch. franky enjoyed the sunny day and fresh air.


george and i- he's getting better- so much better i can let him go for a bit.

"did you see me mommy?"


in case you are wondering, she's looking at niko- she loves him the bestest.




franky and aunt leslie.

henry, kolbe, and samantha- resting between the backside 360s and fakey 280s.

anthony, jerome, and kolbe- the boudreaux force.

we got off the slopes and headed home sometime after four. margaret was at the condo waiting for us with peter and recouperating matthew. christina, mike, and denise joined us in time for spaghetti dinner. after dinner the boudreauxs left with the new arrivals and headed to their new condo to set up camp. the kids played wii and chris drank beer on the patio with his dad. he stepped in and announced that he saw a black bear. he saw a black bear down where the kids played yesterday!!! this is strike two in neglectful parenting. when we were in florida last summer we stayed at a golf resort. they played in a grassy field by a little pond(one of the course's water hazards). we learned on the last day there that it was the home of a 7 foot gator.
back to gatlinburg. we ran out on the patio and looked over the ledge. behind the pavilion we saw the head and ears of a black bear. then, much to our surprise, we see chris in the parking lot, moving quickly toward the bear. he must have realized that the bear was rather large because he started acting alot like a school girl at a jonas brother's concert. screaming and clapping. he scared the bear. we yelled at him, "what are you thinking????" pause "you didn't bring the camera!!!" we had a laugh. chris got back into the room safely. he and jerome took some kids to the pool and hottub while david, max, and henry stayed back to play wii.
upon their return everyone changed into their pjs and retired. chris fell into the couch with a sigh, "skiing, seeing a bear, and sitting in the hottub- all in one day. tell me, how can a day be more complete?"