Weekend with the Bradleys and the BBS...

What can I say about the Bradleys.  They are some of the coolest, nicest, most genuine, FUN, loving, sincere people I've ever met.  They would literally give me the shirt off of their backs.  Well, unless it was super cold, ha!  I've know Brad, a rep for DC shoes/clothing/snowboards, for years, but not all that well.  His wife, Marian, and I became fast friends at JJ's wedding last October, and have kept in close touch ever since.  They have three of the most well-behaved, sweet, spunky, and beautiful little girls I've ever met.  Marea is 8, I think. Kieran is 6, and little Leah will be 5 on April 7th...Payton and her share a birthday!  Payton and Kieran have very similar personalities, and instantly clicked.  Griffin, well he, as always, just liked showing off for the ladies.  JJ made the trip from Wilmington, and also stayed with us.  It was a reunion weekend, afterall....I'll get to that in a minute.  Brian decided to stay home, and get some work done around our house, and help a neighbor with some projects. It was my second solo trip, with kids (that I can remember) and we all survived, lol!

Friday evening, we headed out to dinner at Bellas.  I won't bore you with all the details, but it was a nightmare.  Orders took forever, food came out before drinks (and trust me when I say we all DESERVED wine that night), orders were incorrect, cold, and just a disaster.  BUT, we managed to have fun.  Our friends, the Cherry's, met us there, and the kids all behaved, for the most part.  Griffin had been coming down with a cold, and was very clingy to me. We left well after bedtimes.

At Bellas...from front:  Marea, Leah, Kieran, and Payton

So, this is funny.  See what's left of that caesar salad?  It was Kieran's.  Until Payton devoured half of it.  That boy?  That's Levi, Lynwood and Alyssa's 5 year old son, who is already an AWESOME snowboarder.  He was telling Payton and Kieran all about his tricks he was going to show them the next day.  Payton, we're going to have to discuss your manners.  HAHA!!

She really has a way of charming the boys.  Keep it up, honey!

Kieran and Payton's sleepover

Awesome people right here!  Marian, JJ, and Brad

This particular weekend was special.  Beech Mountain was hosting its second annual Banked Slalom ski and snowboard race (Beech Banked Slalom, or BBS), and the theme of the weekend was 80's.  Many of our old college friends, and snowboarding buddies, were heading up the hills.  We were looking forward to seeing everyone.  It's been YEARS since I'd seen some of these faces, and we picked up just like we'd never stopped hanging out.  I love that feeling of nostalgia.  Those feelings of good times with great friends.  Having everyone in one place was awesome.

JJ and me, decked out and ready to roll!  Thanks for the super cool 80's Neff glasses, JJ!

Brad, Blair, JJ, and Dieter...the G-Town boys!

So, back to this race.  My first obstacle was, obviously, that I wanted to snowboard...but how was I going to do that with both kids?  Beech has a nursery (I called it "camp" to intrigue the little guys).  We dropped them off, with Alyssa & Lynwood's daughter, Etta, at noon and they stayed until 4:30.  The kids had a blast and mommy got to ride.  Marian and her girls snowboard, so they stayed on the bunny and beginner slopes most of the day.  (I can't wait for that for Payton...maybe next year?)  So, then I had another challenge.  Everyone was pushing me to enter this race.  This banked slalom race....something foreign to me, and on top of it all, I hadn't even raced in boardercross in almost 20 years.  So, what the hell?  I signed up.  My only disclaimer was that I wanted to walk away in one piece.  After all I have a trip to Snowshoe coming up this weekend! 

While I was signing up for the race, Griffin found a new hobby...there was a half pipe and skateboard over in the other room.

Little Leah!

We all met up in the lift lines and made tons of runs together.  Some down through the course, and some on other slopes.  I was riding with the guys, as usual.  The course, itself, was a mess.  The berms, or banked turns, were icy, chunky, had holes, and the snow was so warm in places, it was like mashed potatoes.  There was little "flow" to the course.  It was hard, and too fast.  No time or place to speed check.  There was one berm that everyone kept wiping out on...they obviously knew it was a problem, as they placed a very orange net/fence there to keep us from soaring off the side of the mountain.  Sidenote...At one point, I did slide down the side of the slope.  I'm not sure how it happened, but I ended up tumbling head/board/head/board all the way down the side until a tree gave me a nice cushioning blow to the side of my head.  Don't worry.  I was fine.  A little shaken up, but it was enough to make me throw my helmet into my Snowshoe stuff.  It was a good show for a guy watching.  I gave him the thumbs up once my "acrobatics" had stopped.  Anyway...

The race!  The categories were kind of funny.  There were age groups for both skiers and snowboarders, and a cash prize for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in each.  There were about 140 guys and only 20 girls who entered.  My chances looked way better than the guys!  The categories were 13 & under, 14-17, and 18 and up.  Seriously?  18 and UP??  I'm 41 and racing against local girls who are 18?  Whatever.  I can do this right?  Just.Don't.Get.Hurt.  I made my first run.  This was going to be my slow, don't fall, make every gate, "safe" run, then I could turn it on for run #2.  Well, it didn't go that way.  I went fast.  I wiped out in that bright orange netting (thanks net!), but I popped right back up and finished.  Whew.  In one piece.  In between my runs was when I tumbled off the side of the mountain, had a knot on my head, slight whiplash, and was a little shaken up.  So, looks like run #2 would be my "safe" run.  And it was.  I went slow.  I made all the gates.  I didn't fall, and I jumped the last hit at the finish like a pro.  But it was slow.  Just so you have an idea, here's my friend, Dave Collier, on one of his runs:

First gate and berm of the course to the right (by the Edge of the World sign)

Before run #1

The bar, 5506, at the top of Beech Mountain...PACKED.

Fierce...Brad before his first run.

It was a gorgeous, warm, bluebird weekend.

It was time to go get Payton.  I wanted her to have some time on her board, with the other girls.  I went to get her at 3:30, but they said she had JUST fallen asleep.  Damn.  So I went back and made a couple more runs before picking both kids up.  I did get Payton on her board, but she was cranky (she had less than 30 minutes of sleep) and wanted nothing to do with the snow. 

Marian, JJ, Kevin Rudoph, Alyssa Cherry, me, and the very tired kids...it was time to go!

I had already packed Griffin's snow stuff in the car, so we left.  I missed the awards ceremony, but I figured I didn't win anything anyway.  We all headed to an after party at Edge of the World.  The shop I used to ride for back in college.  They were having beer/pizza for everyone.  Marian, Alyssa, and I got to relax!!  The guys were reliving their glory days, telling funny old stories...the times before ibuprofen and Icy Hot were necessary. The kids were running around, trying on snowboard clothes, eating pizza, watching snowboarding videos, and hiding in the racks of clothes.  NO ONE CARED.  We knew we would clean up before we left, and they were happy and having fun.  All our buddies finally started piling in the shop from the awards ceremony.  Guess what?  I found out I finished third!  Cash prize.  Whoop!

That's my empty spot on the podium :(  Congrats ladies!

We have all decided that this will be a traditional annual trip, until we can't ride anymore.  But then it will be our kids entering the contests.  Next generation shredders, for sure!

Sweet Etta...she is about 9 months younger than Griffin and already snowboards!

Marea, Kieran, Levi, Payton, Etta, and Leah...our future of shred.  (Griffin was taking a personal moment during this photo, ha!)

Griffin (2.5) and Levi (5)

Mmmmm...pizza!

Silly, silly kids!

The crew arrives!

We still missed many, many of our old friends this weekend, but this was a solid, core group.  It was awesome to see you all, and we'll do it again in 2015!

Okay, so keeping no naps and attending a party in mind, almost 20 of us decided to head to the mexican place for dinner/drinks WITH the overtired kids, around 8pm (that would be bedtime).  Guess what?  It wasn't bad at all.  BIG thanks to Brad and Marian's girls for sharing their iPads with our kids.  We didn't get home until 10ish.  It was a long, but super fun day. I can't wait to do it again next year!!  (HINT:  the kids need iPads!!)

Backing up a bit, it was pretty warm in the mountains...thus the mashed potato snow.  But, that Thursday afternoon, before the trip, it was REALLY warm.  Like 76 degrees warm.  Here's Payton and me, trying to get a head start on some color!

This is what we call a dilemma...G threw his BB up.  It got caught in the fan pull.  Payton and Griffin both used multiple ideas to try to get it down, from standing on the ottoman and jumping, to standing on a stack of books, to throwing things, then finally using a bat.  But they succeeded.  The BB was once again safe.  Our little problem solvers!

What is it with kids and umbrellas anyway?  Or is it just my kids?

I hope everyone is doing well!  Thanks for keeping up with our adventures...up next:  My annual trip to Snowshoe.  On-snow product demos, lots of snowboarding, and good friends.  Many of the people I saw last weekend will be up, including the Bradleys!  That makes me one happy girl :)