Sakhalin Christmas.... AGAIN....

Okay, Okay... that title sounds very condescending and angry..... I was delighted to be here for Christmas for the 2nd year. WOW.... We've spent Christmas here two years in a row and it has been wonderful! We've made so many memories and new traditions. Spending Christmas in a snowy place brings me back to my childhood in upstate NY. However, While we spent Christmas in tons of snow, my family was enjoying 68 degree weather in NY. That's CRAZY!!!!

On Christmas Eve we changed up the menu a bit. We usually have chili but my husband decided he wanted a new tradition, Gumbo. So I spent the good majority of the afternoon on Christmas Eve making homemade Gumbo and a banana pudding. This was the first time I had ever made either of these and that turned out amazing. I am very critical of my cooking but I was rather impressed with these. Also... Will approved, so I knew it was good :-)

We had the fortunate pleasure to enjoy dinner with the Inna, Anthony and their kiddos. That is what makes this location so amazing, being able to spend holidays with great friends when family is so far away. 

CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!!!!!

It is never an easy task getting the kids to cooperate for pictures!

We are a Star Wars loving, light saber wielding family! Ash loved her Master Yoda, Mike with his R2D2, and CJ with his Chewbaca :-)

Ash got a Maleficent dolly, and some more pieces for her doll house

Mike playing with his new Army fort and soldiers

CJ and his building blocks - Each kids got a different set

I do not know why but I found it extremely fascinating that in a toy store in Russia, there are United States NASA Discovery Shuttle toys with pieces to pretend land on the moon. I was looking for the Apollo but no such luck

My little Storm Trooper

And there there is Miss Princess herself complete with a pink sword, cape, and crown ready to defend her kingdom

This kid..... I have no words!

DARTH VADER!!!

CJ is a Sith, Mike is Anakin, and Ash is Luke :-) FYI - We've had only one bloody nose since Christmas and they are more likely to get hurt running around and playing like normal kids.

I'm just going to put this picture here ~ Ash kills me.... Her imagination and personality 

All ready for Christmas Dinner!!!! I have got some good looking kids!!!

Christmas was too much for him - He needed a nap before the chaos broke out with the Jackson and Atwood children

Our Christmas dinner menu consisted of pulled pork that cooked for 12 hours the night before, Turkey made by the wonderful staff at the Community Center, Green Beans with Almonds, two types of stuffing made by Janel and Greg, corn bread, mashed potatoes, and 

lastly... they best yet.... Inna's fabulous pies!!!!!

Sadly, no one took pictures, I know.... shameful!!! We had a house full of people and kids! Watching all of them play together was amazing. The six adults sat and chatted while the chaos broke out upstairs :-) 

All in all another successful Christmas hosted by the Fry Family. 

Not sure what next year will bring or where we will be but I can say that I am truthfully excited to see what awaits us in 2016!

My Date With An Angel

I had a free day with just my little girl. Olesya took the boys to City Mall to play with some o the little boys in the neighborhood and since Stella is on vacation, Ash did not really want to go. What better way to spend the day than going to the mountain, just me and my girl, for some snowboarding!!!! So I thought.....

Now since I seem to be the resident expert on the mountain seeing as though I frequent the website almost daily and this month alone I have gone boarding more times than I did during the whole last season... I should have known remembered that on Monday the mountain is closed... Bummer. 

We arrived rip roaring and ready to go and the driver had already left at this point so we were stuck there. Yes I could have called dispatch and explained my situation and they would have gladly sent a car to pick us up, but I wanted to check every resource to be sure the mountain was indeed closed and not just performing maintenance on the gondolas. NOPE... CLOSED...

There is a little "rabbit" hill for beginners and training. Light bulb went off and day not completely ruined. This will be plenty for her!!! We lasted an hour and a half and then she got sick :-(

Really excited to try this out! We had gone the weekend prior to teach the kids but I had made some very sad choices with alcohol the night before and was really in no condition to teach anyone :-) It was more of a lets take the gondola all the way to the top and walk down the Serpentine run and send 2 1/2 hours doing it. So today was the official first lesson

Today was basically a "feeling comfortable on the board" day. It was different with Will in that I could use different words such as "lean back on your heels" and he'd understand. My kids, not so much. I want them at this point to just feel comfortable, then we will get technical.

I wasn't exactly sure how to go about this because I can't hold her hand while on my board and she's on hers. What I ended up doing was place her in front of me and held her up so we snow plowed down the mountain together the first few times. I adjusted her legs and showed her how to get in a squatted position and then it became more natural for her. She did not look nervous and never tried to fight the awkwardness. 

Only problem with the bunny hill is you have to un-clip and walk up ~ Now I don't feel bad about skipping the gym this morning :-)

At this point I didn't use my board anymore. She wants to figure things out on her own and wants to test her limits. We will have some harness leashes in a few weeks that will make things easier. She will have freedom while still remaining tethered to me and that way she can learn to control speed and not fly down the mountain, hit a tree, and then we end up taking a trip to Seoul, South Korea for broken limbs!!

I walked beside holding her hand and when she felt some degree of confidence she let go. It made me a bit nervous but it was a ever so slight downward gradient and she was very serious about learning so I did give her space and stayed very close in case she needed me, which she did  :-) 

Even when she would fall, it was very controlled like she knew exactly what she was doing. I was very impressed actually. I thought for sure she would be crashing all over the place because that how I was when learning to snowboard. She's put her hands down and rotate the board around to stop herself. It all seemed second nature to her. 

She's so fun!

Truthfully, the hardest thing for her is going to be to keep looking forward. She so badly wants to keep an eye on what her board is doing and not watching what's in front of her. But she will be tethered to me so I guess she won't too much of a hazard to others :-) 

Hehe little sassy thing always wants to put her hands on her hip and shouts "I'm so cool mom!" when ever she gets going.. We need to work on that as well

I know I take lots of photos of this mountain but I really do love to look at it!

Time for a quick slide before we get in the car. Proud mommy moment today and can't wait to go back with her!

Snowboarding Adventures

Since we bought boards for the kids and I will be teaching them this year how to ride, it only seemed fitting for Will to purchase a board as well and "learn". 

Today was our first test run :-) We headed to the mountain and began the lessons. It was rather difficult since I ride "goofy" footed (right foot forward) and he rides regular footed (left forward). Everything I was doing, he had to do it backwards. After a bit he got the hang of the basics and actually did very well. I was proud!

The mountain is not "officially" open but people still ski. It could be better groomed, but perhaps the snow machine will be operational when the official season starts. Good thing is, there was not a lot of people or overly crowded. I'm all for it, if there is snow and the lifts are working, I will be there with bells on!!

This cathedral is coming along beautifully! Very nice view from the gondola today :-)

One day I will have a picture of my family next to this sign

All ready to go! Hehe - He was nervous. Something about learning a new sport mid 30's seems intimidating :-) No longer young and nimble but he tolerated the awkwardness like a champ. And.... he's pretty handsome with a board!

Prone position was his usual for the first hour :-) Poor guy was getting frustrated

Then he got the hang of things and greatly improved. Still fell but it was a bit more controlled and he started to figure out his edges

Most importantly , he had fun and his feet did not hurt!!! We will be back with the kids next time!

Russia's Prima Ballerina ~ Well Not Quite

The fabulous Inna was able to procure a ballet instructor to come teach the little ones one day a week. From 130-220 she teaches the 3 and 4 yr olds and from 230-320 the 5 and 6 yr olds. 

I was a bit on the fence about the whole thing because it is on Wednesday and that is the day I had set aside as my snowboard day with the kids because it is a half day at school. However, the official season has not started yet and the mountain was closed today so I moved forward with ballet and I am SOOO glad that I did :-)

I wen out to buy her a tutu leotard, tights and ballet shoes. That's a plus living in Russia.... you can always find ballet attire here! When I brought the stuff home for her and told her what she was going to do, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. She went full blown theatrical on me with "Oh for me! You shouldn't have Mommy" 

Excited is an understatement. She was so enthusiastic about the whole thing and I just loved seeing her passionate about something. She was in a class with Halle and Sophia and they will be the ones she with until more kids fit into that age bracket. 

SO HAPPY

Little Ballerina's 

Barbara is in the younger class but loves these girls so much that she needed a picture with them :-)

The girls getting to know Miss Shiho and playing around

Miss Shiho closed the door to parents but we could see through the window at what they were doing. This was the first time that she has been at an extra curricular activity that I have not been present. Such a big moment for me! 

It was so cute! They learned all the positions and for not having any dance class before, Ash was catching on pretty quick. It helps that she prances about the house like a ballerina though :-) 

Then my dam phone died and no more picture taking!!! I know I know... I should have charged that phone 

More to come next week at the next class!