what a difference a year makes

That time of year came again. Samuel's Christmas program. After last year, just the thought of the program made me all nervous.

But this year went great. Notice the teacher right behind Samuel at all times. Good to know that they know him as well as we do.

Decked out to sing "Mele Kalikimaka."

That happy face lets me know that it was all worth it.

While the kids were waiting for Santa, Samuel ran over to me to tell me that we forgot to bring his pictures of all the toys he was asking from Santa. On his way back to the line he randomly sat by this guy and said, "I'm staring at you." The guy was a good sport and stared back. And won.

The line was hectic and long. This kid in front of Eva and Samuel gave Santa a treat. I thought that was cute.

Here is Santa happily and intently listening to Eva. So sweet.

Samuel whispered his "orders" to Santa. Then after we made him get down, he went back and "ordered" some more.

(I need to fix his tie. It is out of control.)

Samuel's (much better) Christmas program: recorded.


Added this later, just because it makes me laugh when I watch it.  What motivates him?  Really?

cristina's

Another one of those places that I think of when they say, "Close your eyes and go to your happy place."

Cristina's Restaurant in Sun Valley.  

Not only do we have a name in common, we have a love of food.  But man oh man, she does it so so so well. 

I didn't do a great job ordering this time.  Ordering is a skill.  I usually do a pretty good job at it. My chicken dinner was a little too manly for my pre snowboarding meal.  And I couldn't help but be jealous of the people across the room from us that had delicious salads.  But this bread basket always makes up for any meal.  See the bread with the purple stuff.  Grapes.  We sat there and tried to guess what fruit it was.  Like something that good had to be all exotic or something.  So we asked.  Grapes.  The hot chocolate is as good as it looks.  

hi, i'm christina...

...and I blog about food.

There are a few things that help me survive the road trip to Sun Valley:

-naps

-stopping at Jakes Over the Top somewhere in Nowhere Land (It's gone now, though :()

-books on tape
-naps

-knowing that a beautiful meal awaits me 

For whatever reason, when I think, "Idaho" I don't think beautiful food.  Nothing against Idaho  (Well, except the time when my family went to visit Idaho when I was a little girl and I slipped in the mud and fell and my entire side got coated with mud.  That and there was a mean girl that thought she was cool just because she had that lipgloss in the little tin with the slidey lid.  But other than that, I have nothing against Idaho).  

But that is all different now.  CK's Real Food changed my mind.  This really is real food. 

Oven roasted artichoke (my favorite), roasted local beet salad (my favorite), salad with snow crab and grapefruit (my favorite).  

Never mind that the waiter thought it was funny that we looked so haggard from the long drive.  I did a great job ordering at this place.  

Sometimes you live 25 minutes away from someone but you don't see them unless you go 5 hours away.  Then, you arrange to meet up with them.  Vacations are special like that.  

Karl's cousin, Michelle and her husband and daughter were up there at the same time.  So, we met up for breakfast.  That means we actually left the hotel before noon.  Minor miracle.  

Breakfast at the Kneadery.  Hearty, heavy, tasty, classic.  Pancakes (with, according to Megan, stale blueberries), waffles, bacon, eggs, and, for me, a cobb salad.  A really good cobb salad.  Yes, for breakfast.  I was happy, they were happy, my stomach was happy.  

I left my scarf there, they caught me on my way out the door and returned it to me.  Nice.

We hit the slopes.  Felt so early.  We said something like, "Whoa, it's so early."  Karl waxed the boards.  Made a huge difference.  I thought I was so funny when I took a picture of Karl by the "slow" sign. 

 I am getting older.  I am getting whimpier.  I liked riding the gondola instead of the lifts.  It meant a warmer ride up the mountain and an easier run.  Karl was getting bored so he rode fakey and kept spraying me with snow.  He did this by riding really close and then shooting the snow up at me with his board somehow.  It kept freaking me out because he would get so close.  The last time he did it (I say last because I wouldn't board in front of him after that), I caught an edge and totally ate it.  Good thing for helmets.  The fall made me even whimpier.  If that was even possible.  I want to take some lessons.  To de-whimpify me. 

So here is the amazing part of the day...lunch on the mountain.  The Roundhouse is amazing. So amazing that the owner guy that loves to eat there had a gondola built so he could get up there in his wheel chair.  

We loved every bite of this meal.  The salad, (descriptions straight from the menu) warm baby spinach salad with pan-sauteed chevre, caramelized walnuts, crisp bacon, olives and a balsamic vinaigrette.  Every bite had so much contrast with flavor and texture.  Some things I eat and I know I am going to crave them later.  This is definitely one of them.  We also had elk (elk!) and the best fondue we have ever ever (two evers) had.  We keep talking about the fondue, it was that good.  The fondue pot was a nice one so the cheese formed this crust on the bottom that we chiseled off and savored.  

And what is a meal in a mountain lodge without a jolly accordion player?

Since we had a mega-breakfast, and a late huge lunch, we just had a dessert that night.  We think it is funny when people say, "I'm not really hungry, I'll just have a (and then fill in the 700 calorie item of your choice)."  And that is what we did this night.

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight at Rico's is just that, a delight.  It's a hot, fresh baked cookie, topped with ice cream.  For whatever reason, it is so so so good.  I've tried to recreate it, but it is never this good.  

I was so tired while we were waiting for the Delight.  So tired that I kept falling asleep right there at the table.  Just propped my head up in my hand and snoozed.  That is what happens when you exert yourself only once a year.  Or maybe that is what happens when you whack your head on the ski hill.  I am sure Karl took a picture with his phone.  

So, we finish up the day in the in big, hot circle pool.  Sun Valley has kind of a small town feel, it is sweet.  So people talk to each other.   In the pool, a nice lady asks me if we were eating at Rico's earlier that night.  Turns out, they were, too.  Turns out while they were eating at Rico's the husband said to the wife, "Look, that lady is sleeping."  Faulty thought of the night:  Oh, I'll never see these people again so I will just fall asleep right here in the middle of the restaurant.  

THEN,

they asked if we ate breakfast at the Kneadery.  Turns out, they were too.  Turns out, the Kneadery people first asked the husband if he left the scarf, and he said, "No, but it would look good on me."  It was pink and gray and ruffly.   It was mine. 

This was a perfect food day.  I love those days.  This was a great day all around.  Head bash, public nap, scarf mishap and all.

sun valley, the end

Time is going fast.  This trip seems so long ago.  

Need to move on, need to take the Christmas decorations down, need to grasp that the holidays are over and that Eva's birthday is coming up fast.  Yikes.

The Roosevelt has been on Karl's list of places to eat for a while.  Tomato Basil soup is one of my favorite and the Roosevelt made a fantastic one.  The crab artichoke dip (if there is an artichoke dip on the menu, I almost always order it) was okay, I couldn't really tell there were artichokes in there.  The seared scallop salad was light and just right.  Karl said the trout was the best trout that he had ever had.

There was a tree lighting ceremony, with free hot cocoa and cider and a visit from Santa.  For a minute, I wished we had our kids with us.  The ice sculptures were very neat.  I had a wet bum for the rest of the night for the photo on the big ice chair.  

Karl always finds a way to get to the convenience store to get some ID lotto tickets.  

The Sunday brunch is always our final meal, here.  The chocolate crepe and the hot chocolate are my favorite.  I think I have blogged about this hot chocolate before, but that is just because it is so pretty.  

The goal was to have all the Christmas stuff done before we left.  Never quite happens that way.  Instead, I had hustle and bustle to get back to.  

But that is okay.  This trip gave me all the energy, plus some, to face the holiday mayhem (much of which is self imposed).

i love the library

Every once in a while, when I go into the library to pay my late fees and check out a few new books and DVD's, I notice cute activities posted for the kids.

This one was an "Iron Chef" with play dough.

Couldn't pass it up.

The kids got to hear a story, eat a treat, decorate an apron and make food out of play dough. All of this was (if you don't count all the money I pay in late fees) totally free. So much fun.

I should have snuck in a bunch of the kids' friends and called it a birthday party.

Samuel was hesitant at first but finally went in when his friend, Sara, showed up.

He really got into it, you can tell because his lips stick out like that when he is focusing.

He finished up pretty quickly and went and played.

Like the way his pants are held up? I had to roll them. These must have been made pre-adjustable waist time. He thinks it is funny to say, "My pants is too big!" and then jump up and down and his pants fall down.

Eva is very focused on her creating. Notice who is in the room with her. Oh, wait, nobody is. It is always like this.

I got a kick out of her apron. She chose some leaves, and a bird iron on and then sweet little Eva drew a skull and crossbones and a broken heart. Very Ed Hardy.

Eva's carrot blew me away. They reminded me of these little Japanese erasers that are in the shapes of food.

Samuel cracked me up with his. Pickles. Two different kinds, in fact.

Germaphobes beware. This is where the kids seem to end up while I am checking books out. Laying on the floor by the magazine. Usually they are looking at a book, this time they were checking out their "food." I have to admit, Samuel's bare stomach touching the floor kind of grosses me out. A small price to pay to be able to check out my books in peace.

keep feeling procrastination

I am sitting on my closet floor posting. I brought my computer into my closet so I could watch a little Hulu while I clean my closet. I have to play little games with myself to get myself to clean. Uh, I am losing this game. Because I needed to check some e-mail, and some blogs, and...

Now I must post this:

Dance sure has come a long way. But I haven't. Now I have a terrible urge to recreate this. How can you watch this and not want to?

So, we just need a few more people.

And a white, billowy, deep-v, blouse for Karl. I am sure those of you that know him could have already

guessed that he already has half of the moves memorized. He's doing them right now!

Who's in?

A later note: Ok, we just did the whole thing in his office. I think Karl is more cut out to be a dancer. So, the part of the male singer is open, and even more important, the chance to wear that fabulous shirt.

An even later note: Smart SIL pointed out that this is a recreation of Grease. Which, in my eyes, makes this even better. Something that I thought would be impossible.

if anything, they make us laugh...

Samuel likes to go outside. Seems like he always leaves the door open when he does is. "To warm up the neighborhood," as my dad would say. I didn't understand what he was saying until I became a mom of kids who leave the door open (and freeze Karl because his office is right next to the mudroom).

Samuel and Eva like to scrape the ice on our back patio.

What made us laugh? His choice of shoes.

Karl and I like to play pinochle (actually, I LOVE it and he humors me) with my in-laws. While we were playing the kids were keeping themselves entertained. Samuel playing games on his grandma's phone and Eva watching a movie on mine.

What made us laugh? The positions in which she watched the movie.

Karl took the kids up to a football game. I projected my fear of being cold on them and dressed them extra warm. Snow pants, jackets, boots, scarves, hats, gloves...

What made me laugh? The way they laid on the floor while they waited for their dad. (Can you say, "A Christmas Story?")

Blankets are never left alone. Whoever said to decorate with pillows, didn't have my kids. They double as toys for these two. Found these two standing like this. Ready to trap Karl when he came out of the bathroom.

What made me laugh? The way that they were so giddy, truly believing that they were going to trick him.