2013...Where are the flying cars?

 (Happy New Year!  This is a LONG one...enjoy!)

Well, here we are.  2013. Unlike the Mayans predicted, the world didn't explode, or implode, or any ploding, that I know of.  Life continues, and time moves more and more quickly.  In just 4 short months, our "baby," our first born, will be 3.  THREE?  That takes her out of the "toddler" status.  This momma is NOT ready for that!  No more cute little "bubble" outfits. Less and less will she need her mommy. (And hopefully less sucking her thumb!) More and more independent.  Ugh.  Anyway, back to the whole New Year thing.  2013.  Aren't there supposed to be flying cars, outside moving sidewalks, and houses in the sky, with robot maids?  I guess our technology is pretty cool, considering the coolest thing I grew up with was an Atari.  Now we can talk on the phone while looking at the person we're talking to, send text messages in milli-seconds, and research in seconds on this unimaginable "interweb" thingy. TV's hang on walls, and are crystal clear. Yep.  Things have sure come a long way since my day, when phones were attached to cords, and walls, and knowing who was on the other line was a surprise.  I wonder what life will be like in another 40 years?  One thing that's stayed consistent, is kids still like to build forts, play hide and seek, and use their imaginations which don't require a "network."  Oh, to be a kid again! (who am I kidding, I AM still a kid!)

The day after Christmas we went up to Granby and Grumps "Sugar Shack."  Santa obviously got my wish list because we GOT SNOW!  Maybe only 3-4 inches, (the first night) but enough for us to play in, and make everything super pretty.  Check it out:

Wednesday, on our way up, it started snowing in Boone, lightly.  By the time we hit Lowes, got our groceries, and picked up a pizza, it was blizzarding!  There was upwards of 70+ mph winds, and we certainly heard it in the house.  But IT.WAS.AWESOME!  Exactly what I'd wanted.  Thanks Santa!

Payton got to use her snowboard, and my old sled.  She and I played and played in the snow until Griffin FINALLY woke up, after 11am!  She did INCREDIBLE on the snowboard, and really liked it, but really LOVED the sled.  Check her out:

Okay, I couldn't resist!  Check out that cute bootie...this was right before we put her snowsuit on.

She's ready to shred!

Listening to instructions....

GO PAYTON!

Uh oh...

BOOM!

But she's back at it!

 So, here's a video of this TWO and a half YEAR OLD...shredding!

High five for a GREAT job!

Making her first ever snow angel

Mind you, this was all while Griffin was still sleeping.  After our breakfast, clean up, getting dressed, etc.

Look at that red nose and rosy red cheeks!

She would switch between sledding and shredding!

And FINALLY, little Bubs wakes up.  It was around 11:15.  Quick breakfast, change of clothes, and out we went.  Things weren't as pleasant with him.  I'm guessing it was a little too chilly for him, or he didn't feel well (we'll talk about "that" later).  Either way, he didn't want anything to do with the snowboard...THIS day, anyway.  I think he was embarrassed about looking like (and feeling like) a marshmallow!

But, he came around, at least for a little bit.

My attempt #1 to get him on the board.  No bueno.  Snot pouring out his little nose.

I was able to get a quick shopping spree in while the kiddos were napping...a very successful trip, I may add!  And then our friends, the Watsons, came over for dinner and drinks.  They have 2 girls, Shelby (5), and Rankin (3), who our kids LOVED playing with!  We had a great dinner (thanks Chasity, for helping!) and were able to relax for about a whole minute ;)

DAY 2:  Payton was gracious enough to wake me up in time for the sunrise...here, it's not as early as you'd think.  It was about 7:40am, and I was lucky enough to enjoy the snow covered mountain views...

For you coffee drinkers, you would have loved relaxing, sipping, and looking.  For Payton and me, we enjoyed a bowl of cinnamon Life, and went about our day!  We ran some errands, which included stopping at Edge of the World, the snowboard shop I used to ride for when I was at Appalachian, back when I was "good!"  They had tuned my board, and Payton wanted some goggles.  Soon after, we got geared up and Payton went snowboarding and sledding again...before the snow started to melt.  She ROCKED it on day two, and she loves it.  I think she's ready for the bunny slope!

Cranking her bindings, and getting her goggles ready to ride!

I asked her to jump.  Look veeeery closely.  She got about an inch of air :)

She also got to sled...she's a crazy woman behind the wheel!  She loved to try to "wreck" herself off.

In the meantime, we got Griffin up, only to discover he had puked in the pack and play.  He was acting completely normal, eating and playing, and being happy.  It was so strange.  Nothing else that day, so we didn't think much about it. But, this was the unfortunate beginning of a very ugly bug. We'll get to that in a minute...That afternoon, Brian took Payton to meet our friends, the Watsons, at our favorite winery, Grandfather.  I kept Griffin at home, to be on the safe side.  On Friday evening, our friends, Terri and Walter, came to join us.  With them they brought more snow!  It ended up dumping another 4, or so, inches on Saturday, into Sunday.  Out to Beech Mountain we went!  "Wally" and I went out on the snow in the morning,and met my dear friend, Celeste up there...check out the morning sky, and why the Blue Ridge Mountain's name is appropriate:

 Brian brought the kids up around lunchtime.  I took Payton snowboarding on the actual bunny slope at Beech, then Brian went skiing that afternoon, with Wally. Payton did awesome!  Her friend, Kyler, met us out there for his first time on a board. We got SO many compliments on how the kids were awesome.  Lots of "oohs and ahhhs!"  The terrain on the bunny slope is much flatter than our driveway, so it was a lot of work to get going...the kids had fun, and are hooked!  Payton even tried the J-bar lift, and did pretty well (with my help).  She was asking to go on the chair lifts.  I told her she has to be 3 before she can go up there!  Wow.  Lots of fun!

That evening, we went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant, where Griffin decided he LOVED salsa.

I got a margarita.  Just one.

Don't worry, I didn't drink it all, thanks to my shoulder.  I turned to play with Griffin and over it went, glass breaking, and margarita spilling all over Terri and Walter.  (Sorry, guys!)  Terri also had a margarita. Yum!

On Sunday, we woke up to a winter wonderland.  The guys went over to Sugar in the morning.  The snow was AWESOME.  Bluebird day.  Not a cloud in the sky.  I waited on our friends, Julie and Mike (and their girls) to arrive.  Payton, Griffin, and I played in the snow...again.  The kids LOVE it!

She's getting good at snow angels now!

We gave out little seedlings of these trees at our wedding, August 8, 2008.  This is the only known one that's still alive.  We kept it in a pot on our front porch for years, then my dad planted it in the yard in the mountains, where it's MUCH happier, and now growing!

Julie, Mike, Megann, and I went down the mountain in the afternoon, but Megann hurt her wrist on the way down, and we decided to be safe and call it a day before she injured herself really badly.

Me, Julie, Megann (14), Mike...our first, and only, run that day.

We got the girls (then Griffin) bathed up, and off to dinner we went...

That evening, on the way to dinner, Griffin puked again :(  We went to dinner anyway.  Other than him wanting me to hold him during dinner, he seemed fine.  I got a call from Chasity that morning that her 5 year old was puking.  The next day Chasity was sick, then their 3 year old the day following.  Still, we were fine (with the exception of Griffin, but he was still acting fine). We got back to the house, and started getting the kids ready for bed.  Payton was about to have her first official sleepover, so I was anxious to see how she'd do.  Mattie, Julie and Mike's 5 year old, was going to sleep in Payton's bed with her.  We put the girls in bed with a DVD player and Cinderella. I went down a little later and turned the movie off, and unbelievably, they went to sleep with no problems!

New Year's Eve, Julie, Mike, Megann, and I headed back to Beech for a little riding.  They also brought Mattie, their 5 year old daughter, for her first time on skis.  Brian stayed back with the kids, as I was just doing a morning half-day.  I met up with my friend, Celeste, and her brother, and we had a fun morning, before the crowds arrived. That night we had dinner plans with a large group, but the Watsons were sick :( and the others didn't make it.  We did meet up with the Killars (Celeste, Chris, Kyler and Knox) and the McKinneys came with us, to Zuzda's.  Griffin was fussy, had fun running around, but would not sit in a highchair.  Would only settle for being held, climbing up and down the stairs, and running around.  Wouldn't eat.  So, we knew he still must be sick.  Poor little guy.  We got everyone to bed fairly early, and we were all beat!  We barely made it to midnight, but did get to see the awesome fireworks Sugar Mountain puts on.

Mattie teaching Payton how to put a puzzle together

CAH-RAZY New Year's Eve, lol!

Well, after many loads of laundry and cleaning up, we were on our way down the mountain. We were excited to see our girls, after a week away from them.  My sweet friend, Kim, graciously kept them (and actually WANTED to keep them longer!  They were good girls for her, and her kids adored them. Chocco, her chihuahua, was in heaven, being the "man" of the house).  Here's a picture of them, obviously, being very "uncomfortable" in their surroundings:

So, all is good.  We stop for Payton to go to the bathroom, and for us to get some lunch at Wendy's, in Boone.  We're loaded up and on our way.  Kids are eating, we're eating, and Brian is weaving his way around all the "Floridiots" who can't seem to understand that wet roads don't equal icy roads (especially at 45 degrees!)  We get a text from Julie, that Mattie had puked on their way home.  OH NO.  Not FIVE minutes later, Griffin pukes everywhere in the car.  We pull over, change his clothes, and clean the best we are equipped to do.  Luckily I had hand sanitizer in the car, but you can imagine.  Griffin asked for a french fry within 5 minutes of him puking. SO bizarre.  Anyway, we get going again, and Payton starts coughing.  A LOT.  She spits up a little, then a lot.  Not quite puking, but enough for us to pull over and clean her up.  In the meantime, Griffin is SCREAMING and kicking the seats.  My nerves are shot, and I'm just thinking how I'm sitting in an incubator, and my turn is coming soon.  Onward we go, trying just to get home.  I feel incredibly bad for both kids, and all the other people we affected.  Griffin finally settles down, and falls asleep, briefly.  We picked up some Pedialite and finally got home.  The kids got in the door and RAN to their new toys, like nothing.had.happened.  I got Griffin bathed, all the laundry started, unpacked, and ran to pick up the dogs...knowing my turn was coming any time now.  The kids slept great, and I made it through the night.  Knocking on wood that I'm going to be spared.  In the meantime, Megann has puked, and Kyler is sick.  Ugh.  What a NASTY little bug this has been.  So, we're ready to RE-DO the start of 2013.  Here's to HEALTH and HAPPINESS to you all this year! 

xo
The Kuglers