Vail - The Pictures

Tonight I finally had time to update all my Vail posts with the corresponding pictures. Enjoy!

Zoey and Zidane

Last night Zoey and Zidane finally came home with us. Last minute Lionel was freaking out about brining two dogs home, but I convinced him to give them a try. I just didn't think it was fair to leave one behind. They will be with us for a week, as part of the trial period the shelter offers, and once the week is up we will decide if one of them has to go back to the shelter, or if for both of them we will become their forever home.

The Rock

It was about 1:00 pm in the afternoon when I got the phone call from daycare letting me know that Bella had stuffed a small rock in her right ear. I was in a meeting with a few of my co-workers, so I had to step outside. When I first heard about it I just had to laugh. "Who does that?" I kept asking myself, kind of incredulous, and highly surprised.

As I left work and headed to get Bella I thought I would pick her up from daycare, take her to the pediatrician, get the rock out of her ear, and go home to finish the work day. Well, not so much … the rock was stuck kind of deep, and Bella wouldn’t stay still even when both a nurse and I were trying to hold her. So we were sent to the Children’s hospital ER - not before picking up Sofia early from school since I knew we would never make it back before the end of after care. At the hospital the doctor said they were going to have to call the ENT (Earns, Nose, and Throat) team. They gave Bella something to relax and stop moving so much, but that didn’t work. They had to heavily sedate her and after several tries, and like 3 hours later, they finally got the rock out.

During the entire thing Sofia was a wonderful, patient little girl. The people at Children's gave her paper and crayons, and there was a TV in the room, but the wait was long, the accommodations were not the most comfortable, and she didn't complain. I think she understood that Bella needed help, and we needed to be there for her. I was so proud of her.

By 7:30 pm we were finally on our way but since she was so out of it, it was like taking a drunk, stubborn 3 year old home. She insisted in getting up and walking, even though her legs wouldn’t support her. At one point - once we were home - she gave us a scare, fell down, and ended up with a bloody nose. When we finally managed to put her to bed she kept trying to get up, so I had to lie down next to her until she fell asleep. By then of course I fell asleep too, until 11pm when Lionel woke me up and I moved to our bed.

That whole afternoon was quite the experience but at least we did have funny moments too, like when we were finally in the car and Bella, completely out of it, looked at us in a moment of clarity and asked: “Did they get the rock out?” When she said that Lionel and I just had to break into a giant laugh.

The Return

Usually coming back from vacation means going back to normal, to the routine. However, our first week back in Cincinnati was anything but normal.

On our drive home from the airport Lionel got a speeding ticket - one of the last things we needed with two tired kids in the back. Then, since Bella came back with a nasty cough and was running a fever on Monday night, I decided to stay with her on Tuesday and work from home. By Wednesday she seemed as good as new -mostly, so I went back to work. However, later in the day I got a phone call from daycare because Bella stuffed a small rock in her ear, so all four of us ended up spending all afternoon at the Children's hospital. On Thursday night I was supposed to host Friends night, but Lionel needed some quiet time. On Friday night, to close out the week, we went to pick up our two new dogs.

Needles to say, by this morning we were all kind of wiped out.

Vail - Day 6

Today we head back home. We had a great vacation, but we are excited to go back to our own beds and get some rest. We haven't been sleeping very well, and Bella has now picked up a nasty cough in the last couple days. It will be a long day, but hopefully we don't experience any delays. We'll land in Cincinnati at 7:00pm, which gives us enough time to grab a quick dinner, and put the girls to bed. Once they are asleep Lionel and I can quickly unpack, and put the suitcases away. Too bad we have to go straight to school and work the very next day.

Vail - Day 5

I am not nearly as exhausted as in the last few days, which makes perfect sense considering that I didn't ski today. While Sofia went to ski school, and Lionel enjoyed his freedom in the slopes, I had a massage and then walked around town with Monique and Bella. Luckily I got a refund for Bella's lesson and my ski pass for today, which felt really good because otherwise it would have been wasted money for us. We had luch, bought a few souvenirs, and then it was time to go back to ski school so we could try to see Sofia in action before the end of her class. We got to see her take the lift, go down the hill, and she even got to take the lift with Lionel, who by then had met us there.

After skiing we all came back to the hotel, went to the pool/hot tub for a little while, and came right back to the room to take a shower before dinner. We had dinner at a restaurant called "Bol" that is a short walk from the hotel, which was nice because by then it was already somewhat dark and the little downtown is also very pretty at night. The restaurant has some bowling lanes in it, which according to some reviews can make the place somewhat loud. I though this would be good for us because in the event Bella started screaming probably nobody would even know.

It was good to have a mellow day, given that tomorrow we are heading back home to the routine. The only downer was that Bella was somewhat cranky all day, probably because for the last few days none of us - except for Sofia - has been able to sleep through the night. Luckily for now she is already down. I hope she stays that way, because otherwise it is going to be a very long travel day.

Waiting for Sofia's class to end

 

Vail - Day 4

I am exhausted once again. I skied my little heart out with Lionel and his Dad, and even made it to the back bowls before lunch. I did fall couple of times, but nothing happened other than the struggle of getting back up. I didn't even get embarrased at all. In fact, it is actually nice to just lay there in the snow for a few seconds, taking a well deserved break.

Tomorrow Lionel and his Dad were planning on taking me to new places, and even to ski an easy black, but instead I am staying behind and spending the day with Bella. She was not happy staying at ski school today, and really hasn't made much progress in the last few days. Sofia has jumped a level every day, but Bella has stayed the same. And since she is so little, there is no need to keep her there. We will give it a shot again next year, but for now she is spending the day with me and grandma. I actually think that is a good thing. Monique has spent the last few days by herself while we were all skiing, so it will be nice to keep her company. That also gives Lionel the opportunity to go skiing wherever he wants, without having to baby sit me the entire day. And that gives me time to walk around town, which I was hoping to do anyway. Sofia will still go to ski school, because she is liking it a lot and tomorrow at lunch time she may even jump another level up. Lionel is also planning on catching her before the end of her class, so they can ski together for a few minutes and he can see first hand all the progress she has made.

So the plans for our last day in Vail have been laid out. We will enjoy the activities and the scenary before it is time to get back home.

Sofia's accomplishments

Done for the day with ski school

Waiting for our table

Vail - Day 3

I am exhausted once again. Lionel said I did well, even though he could tell my body was still tense. Of course it was tense! He has been doing this since he was Bella's age, but I learned to ski as an adult which means fear will most likely always be there. The girls, on the other hand, don't seem to be plagued by fear. Sofia moved another level up, and although Bella did not, she also did well. The teachers said she can't move up because she doesn't know how to stop yet. When we learned this my and Lionel's first thought was that she probably doesn't care to stop simply because she likes speed.

Tomorrow Sofia gets to take the lift for the very first time. Bella still gets to ride the "magic carpet", and I get to enjoy the view while in the lift and while taking breaks from skiing here and there.

Waiting for the bus

 

Vail - Day 2

I am completely exhausted, and it is not even 9:00pm local time. I officially survived my first day of skiing in probably 10 years, and even though I started by falling down a lot, I managed to hang in there the entire day. But not without a lot of effort and concentration, which is probably why I feel to beat up right about now.

The girls also had a good day at ski school, and both said they wanted to go back tomorrow. That is a good thing, because they were going to go back anyway.

Now I just hope that we all have a better night than we did last night.

Perfect view from the breakfast room

Getting ready for our first day of skiing

On our way out

Arriving at ski school

Not Bella's best picture, but oh well

Picnic at the top of the mountain

Sofia proudly showing her "I love Vail" drawing

Bella also wanted to show her "drawing"