Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tradition...Tradition...

So it's that most wonderful time of the year "with the kids jingle belling" and "caroling out in the snow".  Call me a wimp, but with the temps only reaching the upper teens the last week or so, I won't be going out in the snow for any reason, especially carolling!

This time of year does bring some favorite kids moments.  Almost every year one of the kids says something cute and funny that I swear I will never forget (and yet somehow I do).  If only I had written down the funny comments...Oh well, it does seem like a good topic for a book.  "Classic Christmas One Liners From Kids".  Who knows, perhaps it already exists.  Anyway here is the latest Rowe kid Christmas funny, brought to you by Bella.


Bella-(While listening to the holiday classic "Santa Baby" on the radio...) Mom, who sings this song?
Me- Oh I don't know honey, it's pretty old.
Bella- I'm pretty sure it's Santa's Mom because she keeps calling him honey and cutie.

Other than experiencing precious moments like the one detailed above, us Rowe's have started our whirlwind tour of the holidays.  We spent Thanksgiving at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells and another cabin.  The pictures below show that fun was had by all at the waterpark! 




Due to Harry's birthday occurring December 2, it always feels like someone says "START!" the week of Thanksgiving and it is a mad dash through the month of December.  This year Harry turned 12.  Harry has always put a lot of thought into what he wants for his birthday.  I guess when you have Christmas and your birthday in the same month, it feels like a lot of pressure to make sure you "get it right" because you have to wait a whole year to ask for something again.  Anyway, Harry's request this year was for a drum set.  Now those of you who know Harry or have read about him on here, know that he is very musical.  He already plays the piano and guitar, and he said he wanted to teach himself the drums.  Well, long story short, drum sets were out of the price range for a birthday gift, even a birthday/Christmas combined gift.  So we went a different route.  We entered the world of Snowboarding. 




Now my reasoning for the Snowboard started off sound:  There is a skiing/snowboard club at his school, he's always wanted to do it,  snowboarding would be a good source of winter exercise, etc.  What I didn't anticipate in my reasoning was the true cost.  After the snowboard, boots, helmet, goggles, gloves, bags, and lessons, we were verging very close to the drum set cost.  Oh well, it is good exercise and I don't have to listen to all the practicing, right?

Last Friday, he had his first lesson.  It came in the middle of a good 'ol Minnesota snowstorm.  Driving to the ski hill took 2 hours (should be a 25 minute drive).  FYI, they don't cancel snowboard lessons due to a snowstorm...it's kind of what they live for.  Well, I hate driving in the snow.  The highway had about 8 lanes of traffic and the roads were not plowed.  The good news is that I was gripping the steering wheel so tight for the drive, it was like getting an upper body workout. 

Harry did great at his lesson and his instructor told me he was a "natural".  He even got off of the bunny hill and went on a big hill the first night!  He was pretty exhausted from the experience and both he and Bella fell asleep on the way home.  Great for me, because the drive home was no better.  Frozen snow on windshield wipers + snow falling at the rate of an inch an hour + roads still not plowed = Major headache and 1 hour 45 minute drive home.

But as the skiers/snowboarder instructors said on shuttle bus, "The snow is beautiful!"

1 comment:

  1. Hearing about the storms and driving in the snow stirs up a conflict of sorts for me. There is a bit of nostalgia for all those snowy drives I've done as a Minnesotan, but the sense is combined with a sort of glee at going out this morning to (relatively) warm temperatures and a little drizzle.

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