Bree’s been drawing some comic strips featuring a character based on Angela named “Power Mom”. In a strip she produces this morning, the Daddy character helplessly bemoans, “We have no food!” To which Power Mom calmly replies, “Why don’t we go to Starbucks Coffee?”
We drive to Big White, BC, for the girls’ mid-winter school break. This is our 5th year skiing with a group of other families from the school. The group gets bigger each year — this time, there are about 20 families. We and the other three original families all have children in 8th grade, though, and a question hangs over the week: as those kids move on to other schools, will they continue coming to this place for vacation?
The prospect of high school looms large this week for another reason: most of Seattle’s private high schools announce their acceptance decisions this coming Friday. Most of the 8th graders are eager to find out where they’ve gotten in, and make a decision about where they’re going to go.
The drive, at least, goes very smoothly. Angela recently replaced her 10 year-old Toyota Highlander, and the new car is a bit roomier than the old. The girls have space to spread out in back. Bree constructs a nest of sorts if the very back.
Jan takes Bree and her friend Kate skiing through a glade in Big White’s Black Forest area. In contrast to last year, the Northwest has received a great deal of snowfall. Big White has plenty of deep powder, particularly off the main runs.
Happy Birthday, Angela!
Time for hot chocolate.
Bree’s become a much more confident skier this year. After lunch, we go down a black diamond run with deep powder and some moguls, which Bree carefully negotiates.
Bree and Kate enjoy a gloriously sunny day on the mountain.
Liya joins Jan for a day of snowboarding. She hasn’t been on a board in two years, but picks it up again quickly.
Family Ski Day. Anya prefers to spend her time skiing with her 8th-grade friends, but consents to spending a morning skiing with her family. It’s snowing very hard, which makes for nice ground conditions, but also reduces visibility. Here Liya pauses near the top of a trail.
Liya and Bree take a break from skiing to ice skate.
Anya gets into her first choice of high school! She checked online just after lunch, then texted us the results. She got into two of the three schools she applied to, including her first choice: a really great school in our own neighborhood. We couldn’t be happier.
Goodbye, Big White! We’ll probably see you again next year.
Bree’s Saturday morning “Do you want to go to Starbucks for breakfast?” questionnaires are getting more and more elaborate. This one includes clip-out symbols that both Dad and Power Mom can use to register their answer.
For Angela’s birthday, Jan’s mom treats us (minus Bree, who’s too young) to an Escape-the-Room event at a place in Redmond. The five of us have a fun hour examining a train-themed series of puzzles in three connected rooms. We manage to escape after 56 minutes, just shy of the 1 hour time limit. Whew!