We wrapped up the summer with Parker and Ansel going to Camp Kanata. The kids had a fun time as always. The rest of the summer was consumed by trips to the U.S. National Whitewater Center where Parker enjoyed racing in their slalom racing series. When he wasn’t racing, he was ripping it up in every play hole and wave on the “river.”
The summer drew to a close and it was time to start fifth, seventh, and ninth grades. Kristie made a transition as well and started a new job at Radiology Partners.
Always looking to explore, we made a day trip up to Galax, VA to take in the award winning movie Fiddlin’. Old time music would’t stop there as we also journeyed to Knoxville, TN a few weeks later to see the king of err old time music Garth Brooks at Neyland Stadium. We enjoyed the concert with 84,000 of our friends in low places. We enjoyed seeing our friends Ben and Ginger on the trip.
We also enjoyed hosting G-Daddy and Martha when they came up for a visit. We had a great time showing them around Winston-Salem. Ansel was kind enough to cook us dinner one night and Parker stoked the fire for us to make s’mores.
A few weeks later, we drove up to Roan Mountain and took in the fall foliage. We enjoyed a nice hike on the Appalachian Trail and braved the high winds as we hiked to Jane Bald. A few days later was Halloween, and Ansel designed her own jack-o-lantern costume.
We wrapped up November with a trip to Delaware for Thanksgiving. We had a great time seeing Mom-Mom, Paul, Kyle, Dana, Landon, and the newest addition to the family, Stella. Parker enjoyed hanging out with Uncle Paul. In addition to celebrating Thanksgiving, we also celebrated Stella’s first birthday. Ansel made the cakes for the party.
Ansel has started taking gymnastic lessons at Salem Gymnastics and Swim. She also participated in the Girls on the Run program at her school. The program culminated with the Mistletoe 5K Run where Parker and Ansel both ran and Ansel set a personal best of 27:04!
Our holiday season always starts with Parker’s birthday. With any teenager (can you believe that Parker is now a teenager?), it revolved around food. Parker’s first request was sushi at Mizu on the day we designated to celebrate his birthday. Knowing that we were heading out of town the day after his actual birthday, we decided to head to Parker’s other favorite Newab for Indian before heading out to Colorado.
The next day came early. We were on the on the road at 3:30 heading to Charlotte for our flight out to Denver. Once we arrived, we picked up our rental car, a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (fitting, don’t you think?), and headed out to Steamboat Springs, CO. We arrived, took a quick hike to Fish Creek Falls, got our skis/snowboards from Christy Sports and groceries, and checked into our lodging at the Trailhead Lodge. The next day, we hit the slopes of Steamboat Resort. Already an accomplished skier, Parker decided to join the snowboarding revolution on this trip. Jay showed him the basics on the Preview slope. Parker took to it quickly and then was ready to head up the mountain. Ansel enjoyed ski school with her instructor Loyd. She really turned the corner with her skiing. Nothing was too steep or technical for her. After learning the basics, Parker enrolled in snow sports school and started to really progress under Caroline’s instruction. At the end of the week, he was riding blues and blacks on his snowboard. At one point Kristie and Jay found Parker sitting in the snow on the High Noon trail with no one in site. Later, he was reunited with Caroline. She spent subsequent lessons, trying to convince him that she really didn’t hate him. Both Loyd and Caroline were awesome instructors and it was very clear that the kids were learning from the best. Santa found his way to Colorado, and on that day Parker rode with Kristie and Jay while Ansel was in ski school. On Saturday, 12/28, Parker decided that he wanted another day while Kristie, Jay, and Ansel decided to take a day off. After all, it was a cold snowy day. Kristie, Ansel, and Jay decided to head to Strawberry Park Hot Springs. Knowing that the road to the springs was treacherous, our original plan was to hike in. Unfortunately, the trails were closed for the winter. Lucky for us, the Eclipse Cross was intrepid. We drove to the springs and enjoyed our soak in the pools. The last day we skied/rode together and enjoyed seeing what all the kids had learned.
We enjoyed the scenery on the drive back to Denver. We stopped by Red Rocks on the way to the airport and walked around. When we checked in at the airport, Parker and Jay’s tickets said to “see agent” for seat assignment. It turned out that they didn’t have seats on the plane. At the last minute, the airline had no choice but to put them in first class! They enjoyed the free drinks and food all the way back to Charlotte.
2019 was good to us and we are looking forward to what is in store for us in 2020. We already have two really cool trips planned. Stay tuned for more details.
