Déjà Vu all Over Again

Our house keys have been turned in.  Our worldly belongings packed tightly into shipping containers, awaiting their voyage across the ocean.  We have said goodbye, or see you soon, to friends that we have known for far too little time.  And we are, once again, living in hotel's for the foreseeable future.  It is exactly what we did three years ago on our way out of California and into this Spanglish life.

We have come full circle.  Sometimes, it seems that nothing has changed.  And yet, everything has.

Three years ago we were staring into a future that was full of anticipation and promise. Our lives were yet to be shaped by all that would happen in the future.  A future that now is our past.  It was our first time living out of the U.S. as a family and we were excited, though a bit apprehensive.  Everything was so new - the language, the rhythm of this huge city, the very streets we walked each day trying to get accustomed.  Each corner turned brought us face to face with the fact that we were strangers in a strange land.  Slowly, but surely things started to become familiar.  I could find my way to Plaza Peru and back again without getting lost.  I could take the girls to the corner Starbucks and order coffee in Spanish (though I couldn't answer or understand if they veered off script).  I couldn't wait until we left the hotel on that last Friday.  Not because I didn't like the hotel, but because I had been living in one hotel or another, and out of suitcases, for 8 weeks by then.  I just wanted normal life to start again.

And for the next three years life was as normal as it can be when you live 6000 miles away from family and friends.  In a country you had never set foot in until you were already in the process of getting a Visa to live there.  Life had handed us an opportunity to explore the new, the old and the amazing.  And for three years we took advantage of it.  We gave our girls extraordinary experiences that I hope they are grateful for.  I know I forever will be.  But life was also very normal.  The girls went to school, they went on play-dates and we all made friends.  We had barbecues, and dinners out and saw a ton of movies.  Perfectly, exceptionally normal.

But we knew it was only a matter of time before it would all change.  That is the nature of the work B does.  So, last week we moved back into the very same hotel we stayed at when we first arrived wide eyed and full of "we-got-this" attitude.  I am, in fact, sitting at the same desk where I created this blog.  I remember setting up camp right here, designing and shaping this blog.  Hoping that somehow I would find the words to adequately express my thoughts.  Last week I started doing the same thing, in the same place,  for the next chapter in our lives.

Full circle, indeed.

The streets I walk down now are very familiar.  Known.  Though now I walk them knowing that each step I take takes me a bit farther away from Santiago and a bit closer to Prague.  I am no longer a new resident of this great country; I am merely another tourist soaking it all in the rest of my time here.  I now walk these streets, not dreaming of what life will be like in South America, but thinking of a future in yet another country, on another continent.  Fittingly, we will again be moving 6000 miles away.

Full circle.

I am ready to go.  Not because I don't like the hotel or I have been in Santiago for too long, but because it is time.  I have made my peace with leaving Chile and I am ready to begin the next chapter.  I am excited and apprehensive about a future that will shape our lives into something new once again.  We are once again full of "we-got-this" attitude.

We have come full circle.  Sometimes it seems nothing has changed.  And yet, everything has.

 

An Interesting Day on the Slopes

I love this sign.  Not that we hit a tree today, but it might
been a better outcome because at least it is fast...

We have been coming to Breckenridge at least once a year for almost 20 years now.  In that time we have moved houses three times, upgraded our ski's at least that many times and memorized just about every nook and cranny on the mountain  (I say almost because there are some runs that even we aren't crazy enough to attempt).  And in all of that time, with all of the technology upgrades and all of the things that could go wrong, we have never experienced a day like today.  Not that today was necessarily bad, but it sure was interesting.  It was our Perfect Storm.  One we never would have have imagined would occur when we left for the gondola ride this morning.

We awoke to cold temps and a perfect snow falling.  None of us were eager to get our usual first tracks start because of the temp, but the 5" of fresh powder that fell overnight made it impossible to skip a ski day due to cold.  In hindsight, maybe that would have been easier.

We hit the gondola, strapped the skis on and finally queued up a little before 10 am.  We had decided before hand to make our way to the top of the mountain to avoid the crowds that inevitably gather at the base these days between Christmas and New Years.  Smooth sailing and inches upon inches of fresh champagne powder lulled us into thinking this was going to be one spectacular day of skiing.

Looks heavenly, right?

And then, for some reason, we decided to leave Peak 8 (shown above) to try some runs on Peak 9 (the runs next door). Our first mistake.

We get to Peak 9 and finish a run or two.  And then decide that we should start heading back to our home Peak.  This is where all hell breaks loose.  The only, and I mean only, way back to Peak 8 is the Super Connect.  We reach the lift and find it closed for business.  Closed!  They are diverting everyone to the only other lift accessible - Beaver Run.  At the base.  This means all hotel rentals, all beginning skiers and those of us that wanted to take the Super Connect are all funneled into 4 lanes.  About 1000 of us.  Or about 30 minutes of standing in line, in ski boots, waiting to sit for another 10 minutes to get to a lift, that will take you to another lift to get back to where you need to go.

But we did it, got on the lift and planned our route back to home (because at this point we were tired).  We were going to hit Volunteer, run it to Shock and then run it home on Trygves.   It was a great plan until we hit Volunteer and found it roped off.  Ok.  We had a Plan B.  The next run down would give us the same outcome.  Yet, it was closed too.  Once again we were headed to the ONLY lift that could get us back to where we wanted to go...And the line was about an hour long once we got there.  

Making a quick decision we decided to climb the hill to our left that would put us on a different run, that might take us back to where we wanted to go.

This picture is misleading.  The climb was about 150 yards of straight uphill. In ski boots.  Carrying your skis and poles.  At this point I knew I had gotten my cardio in for the day.  Little did I know, I was just about to get in some interval upper body work with the cross country skiing I was about to do.

We hit the top, looked at the run and realized we only had one choice.  We were on a run called 4 O'clock.  Aptly named because back in the day, when the ski lifts closed at 4 O'Clock this was the only run that took you back to town.  Guess where we were headed?  Yep - back to town and no where near the Peak 9 we wanted to get to.  The best part was that our fatigued legs got a rest after climbing that huge hill and I got some great pictures on the long, slow slopes.

We crossed the bridge - one I thought I would never get to cross because there has never been any reason for me to ski into downtown (seeing as we live uptown).  But sometimes the challenges you face give you opportunities to see new things.  And we saw new things today...

We popped our skis off for the second time in an hour, crossed the tunnel and walked to the gondola.  And, of course, it was stopped for repairs on a car for about 10 minutes.  We waited in line, again.  And finally boarded it, sat quietly and rode back to the house, all the while contemplating how our perfect powder day turned into our perfect storm.

The Tooth Fairy

About a week ago, MadHatter was playing with her friend A.  The game involved a rubber snake, a light saber and some dress up clothes.  Don't worry, I don't understand either and it was all explained to me, at length.  Anyway, the rubber snake somehow ended up in MadHatter's mouth and A was trying to pull it out when they noticed that one of MadHatter's teeth was loose.   And then all mayhem broke loose.  We were told the story of how they discovered the loose tooth and who thought it was wiggly first and how long they thought it would take to fall out, ad nauseum .

Since then we have watched MadHatter wiggle it with her fingers, jiggle it with her tongue and stare at in the mirror.  She has refused to eat foods because of the tooth.  She has told us she had trouble skiing, because of the tooth.  She has said that she couldn't go to sleep because she might swallow the tooth.  The Tooth had taken on a life of its own.  And then, yesterday, out of the blue, it just fell out.  Couldn't have asked for it to happen any other way because without tears, without yanking, without blood, she is now super excited for the next one to come out.  Good thing because she has 19 more to go...

As for me, as her Mama, I am OK with her losing the first one but only the first one.  Because it was just as much a milestone for me as it was for her and I love the milestones.  But I don't think I will like her losing the second...  No milestone to that just another reminder that she is growing up.  Something she seems to be doing too fast these days.  First it was Kindergarten, then learning to read, and learning to spell/write, and now she is losing teeth. I'm not sure we have seen this many "firsts" since her very first year and I don't think I like how fast she is blowing though them again.  But I also know I cannot stop it.  And that is what I have a problem with.  I like being in control and now she is the one in charge.  Who do I talk to about changing that?

I digress -

Today we have spent our day staring in the mirror, at an empty space where that tooth once was, and asking when the permanent "big girl" tooth will fill it.  I answer the same thing every time, "I just don't know.  It will come in when it is ready."  And as much as I am not ready for her to be a big girl, I am also finding I am not ready to fill in that gap just yet.  Because I think I have fallen in love with her new toothless smile.

 

Fidget - The Travel Version

I have posted about why I elf and what it means to my girls.  I have also always posted each days pictures.  So in keeping with that tradition, I give you the final days of Fidget the elf for 2013.  All days in which we were on the road...

December 14 - Fidget left letters to Santa for the girls to fill in.  She delivered them as we were flying back to California.

December 15 - Fidget showed up on the airplane on our overnight flight to California.  The girls were thrilled to see her and very surprised to see her disappear.  (I can't find the photo).

December 16 - A tea party to get to know each other on their first night.

December 17 - they heard we were going to Disneyland and wanted to hitch a ride.

December 18 - They peed in the toilet - and didn't flush.

December 19 -  a message for the whole year.

December 20 - Fidget has a skirt so we had to find one for Snowflake.  They just needed the girls help in deciding which one.

December 21 - They left the girls coloring/activity books!

December 22 - Making snow angels because she was so happy to be back in the cold weather.

December 23 - Fidget got caught up in the spirit and went caroling.  She was even singing MadHatters favorite song.

December 24 - Fidget used my phone to text with Santa!  All is good to go for tonight's visit.

California Dreamin'

It took us close to 20 hours to get there.  We changed flights twice - once in the middle of the night (3 am!).  But none of that matters when you are going home.  There is no inconvenience too big, no delay too long when you finally hear the squeals of joy that emit from little girls mouths when they see their best friend for the first time in too long.  And the littlest of us might have made some noise too.

We made the decision to spend a week in California before heading to Colorado so that B and I could catch up with friends he hadn't seen since we left almost 3 years before.  We wanted to take the girls back to where they were born and lived for the first, short years (year in Stinkerbell's case) of their lives.  We wanted to relax and enjoy some down time before the craziness of moving around the world started.

And relax and enjoy we did.

I didn't take a ton of pictures.  In fact, my camera didn't make a single appearance for the first 3 days of our stay.  It's not because there was nothing to take a picture of, it is because I was just enjoying it all so much, I didn't want to stop, focus and snap from behind the lens.  I wanted to do it with my own two eyes.

But then we went to Disneyland, and I just can't not take pictures at Disneyland.   So I did.  And it gives me something to show you of our trip.

We spent some time with old friends...

Got our hairs done by our favorite stylist...

Ate at our favorite places...

And did adult nights out...

And then we had to say goodbye.  But we did it with smiling faces as we know we will be doing this again. Soon.  Maybe on the other side of the world, but it will still be done.