Our ski trip to Canyons in Utah was most definitely a blast! We decided to get E his own seat on the plane (though technically he could’ve qualified as a lap baby) and he did well!

Canyons is one of the only resorts that starts ski lessons at 2. E was just shy of his second birthday but the ski school let it slide. :) He was SO excited to go “ice-q” (Elias-ese for skiing).

See the thumbs up in the pic? Haha. Believe it or not, for the first day, ski school was completely full (weeks in advance!) with a long waiting list so Daddy and Mommy accompanied E on the bunny slopes to get him used to the gear and snow. Oh, we also had to go to three different rental shops to find boots for him. His feet were too small and the last store said just try out the smallest one they had, which were still too big. He didn’t seem too bothered by them, thankfully!

His first tracks:

Then the next few days he had lessons and Canyons Cubs (childcare). He went through “drills” with the instructor and of course had to master the magic carpet.

Those vids were taken incognito since we didn’t want him to see us! Haha. ;P Days on the mountain were great. It started out warm but then we got snow for a couple of days which made for awesome fresh powder. It was also neat to ride in the Orange Bubble Lift — HEATED SEATS and enclosed by an orange bubble (creative name, yes) — the first to be introduced in North America! It was kinda like riding in a pair of ski goggles. Can every lift in every resort switch to these, please??? :)

Uncles Dan, George and Bruce were so patient and loads of fun!

Photo courtesy of Bruce’s cam and a nice mountain resort host.

Of course, this toddler had his usual share of shenanigans.

(Uncle Ji/George’s shoes.)

(Daddy’s boots. Uncle Bruce covered his eyes when he saw this one — hehe.)

(Room service, anyone?)

There was this huge pit for sledding. All the kids loved this area and so did we!

Does that count as his first boarding experience? ;-)

Our last day on the mountain, we got wind that our flight had been cancelled due to forecast of ice/snow in DFW. That cut our riding time short while we all made calls to confirm rescheduled flights and such… It was sort of a bummer but just had to roll with it. (Side note: glad we started ALWAYS purchasing trip insurance since traveling with the kiddo). The weather actually turned out really nice the next day in Salt Lake City so we enjoyed a day in town.

We went to Temple Square, the iconic SLC must-see and HQ of the Latter Day Saints Church. The grounds were expansive. Only Mormons can enter the Salt Lake Temple but we got to see some of the smaller churches and chatted with missionaries from all over the world including England, South America, Philippines and China. Too bad we had just missed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performance as that would have been quite a concert.

We hung out for a bit and lunched at City Creek Center which was a unique shopping center with a retractable glass roof. Then it was off to The Gateway and Clark Planetarium. E had fun with the exhibits and enjoyed seeing the Olympic Snowflake Fountain. But anywhere he goes, he can spot a bike. :)

Ensign Peak was our last stop for the day. It was a short (but quite steep) hike up where we were treated with marvelous views over the Salt Lake Valley and Great Salt Lake. We got there just in time to catch the sunset. Breathtaking!

Our tradition of one “fine-dining” night out did not disappoint this trip! After much Yelp-ing amongst the uncles, we finally settled on this place called Wahso. Photos turned out too dark but we much relished our Red Curry Lamb Shank and Chili and Galangal Duck Breast while E chomped on his upscale Kobe hot dog. :D

As our flight to leave was in the afternoon, we spent the morning strolling the main street in Park City.

He is still so proud of being able to have “coffee” (aka warm milk for E). Haha.

This trip, we also discovered that our son enjoys lugging baggage. :P He was quite territorial about the blue one. Maybe it’s time to get him his own.

We finally made it home late at night… Perhaps we brought the cold as we’ve had multiple snow days thereafter!!! :) E wasn’t totally awed like all the other Dallas kids after having just come back from “ice-q’ing” but was happy to frolic in the flurries nonetheless. :)

Now please stop snowing in the Northeast before we head to Boston next month!

3.14.15 :)

It’s been a quirky sort of day worth mentioning… We celebrated Uncle Dan’s company’s 1 year anniversary at the same venue as Elias’ first birthday. A few sprinkles (remember, E = precip!) but def not the icemegaddon like last year. ;-P But it was interesting to go a whole year later and see how much E has grown and changed — walking/running, scootering, jumping on/driving the boats, talking, inquisitive about EVERYTHING, shooting w/ Daddy, eating “big people” food and really enjoying himself. Around the same time last year, we were also lamenting having to say goodbye to another family member as Uncle Dan had just accepted a position to teach overseas and was getting ready to leave… that is, until he decided to start his own company that did so well this past year which was why we got to celebrate at Outdoor World again! Whew, run-on there. ;-P

Only pic we took, sadly, since E was having such a grand ole’ time!

Oh wait, we found two more later…

E made a new friend — AJ (offspring of old friends of Daddy and Mommy). :) Popcorn-in-a-cup buddies, FTW!

Showing off his scootering skills to Andrew & Andrew. ;)

And speaking of family, Grandpa and Grandma Kao and Gloria are coming back from TW today… one-way ticket so staying indefinitely! Residing at the same house that Mommy grew up in (and Daddy proposed), previously rented out. Talk about coming full circle. :))

This little thing called life is funny… To infinity and beyond?

PS: At Uncle’s party, Angeline baked again — one of which were chicken pot PIES! :)
PPS: Guess ski trip re-cap + pix will have to wait til next time…

Happy 2nd Birthday to our Elias! Two whole years already? Indeed, as they say… sometimes the days are long but the years are surely short.

No big plans or party… And good thing, because we pretty much had a icy/snowy weekend repeat of last year. Haha. Elias = precipitation! Or we just brought back the flurries from our trip. More on that to come next post!!!

Anyway, E is getting a REAL b-i-k-e. He is going to be beyond himself. Whatever that means!

To many, many more, dear son…

PS: Oh, what a year!!! Watch out for Volume III. :)