Isabella goes skiing

 We went up to the ski house again. This time, no babysitter but Isabella took a ski lesson while Ian went to day care. She was soooo excited about it - she's been talking about it all week. We got her a helmet and goggles, and some waterproof gloves. She wanted to see movies of Eitan skiing, and kids taking ski lessons. She told us all about how you take the Magic carpet, and how she wasn't going to have problems with the ski boots.
She was tired, but very happy, at the end of her ski lesson. She apparently didn't want to stop in the afternoon - up and down. We heard about the snow plow ("pizza slice!") and how she fell down but not too many times.

Ian just wanted to climb the deck at the house (it was so nice out that we almost didn't need jackets - good for hanging out, not so good for snow!) He's still not that keen on snow, although he played in it a bit more than last time.

Ian went sledding on Sunday with mom while Isabella practiced skiing some more with dad. Ok, sledding might be a bit of an exaggeration - mom dragged the sled up the hill then ran down with it. But Ian seemed to think it was fun. But not as fun as pulling up the sign posts. There was also a bouncy castle (go figure?) to keep him entertained. Dad ended up chasing after Isabella on foot, since trying to do it on the snowboard was a disaster. Apparently Isabella got off at the top and basically gathered speed until she fell over....

As always, Ian loves water. This is a random picture from the Discovery museum, where he go himself soaking wet, even with the plastic shirt, but playing, and playing, and playing in the water. It's one of his few words - he always wants to stick his hand under the faucet. The first thing he does when we drop Isabella off is run to the sink at the back and wash his hands.

Isabella is always very helpful when we leave the two of them together. When Ian cries she figures out what he wants (this time it was raisins) and tells the babysitter. Gives him hugs, distracts him with toys...

This weekend they were playing with blocks together. Isabella would tell Ian which blocks (big legos) to put where. They made several towers while mom was off snowboarding and dad drank his coffee.

Balloon chasing is another favorite - the daycare had helium balloons. Isabella asked for, and got, one, and we tied it to a slinky (the ceilings are pretty high) and the two of them ran around in circles playing some version of chase and tag. They played tug of war with the scarf/blanket in the car. They really enjoy doing crazy talk (where Isabella spouts random nonsense, with lots of "toodies" and "eyeballs" thrown in).