Bringing in the new year Kirkwood style

Goodbye 2008....

We returned home Friday night more exhausted than we left, but glad for the getaway. Steve, Peyton and I, along with my parents, traveled to our condo at Kirkwood Mountain which is just south of South Lake Tahoe, California. Together we enjoyed the final week of December and believe it or not, we were thrilled to have another week to play in the snow!



While not a long plane ride, the travel to get to our condo is lengthy. We left our house around 8am on the 27th and arrived in Kirkwood 10 hours later. Peyton was a terrific traveler. We were all pleasantly surprised at his endurance and good humor throughout the day. I'm not sure why I was surprised. He loves to watch people and observe his surroundings with intensity. There was plenty for him to see.


I learned to nurse and change Peyton in public. It sounds strange, but it's true! Both have proved problematic to me. As for the nursing, well, I still prefer to nurse in the privacy of my own home where modesty isn't an issue and since it's my turf I can flaunt an attitude of "If you don't want to see 'em, turn around and/or leave!" So when you come a knocking on my door...BEWARE! Of course I'm only kidding (sort of). Now for the public changing. This is really more of an issue of germs, not modesty. I tend to exhibit signs of OCD , more and more each year it seems, when it comes to touching anything that is fare game to the public. So far I've avoided this issue all together, preferring to change Peyton in the back seat of my car in a parking lot rather than venture into the public restroom and utilize the marginal, at best, changing table provided. But while traveling through the airport I had no choice...it simply had to be done. I'm still scrubbing us both down frequently and anything that was in the vicinity of the restroom! Again, I'm only kidding (well, sort of)!


Upon our arrival, I was at first content just to be out of my home and to have a change of scenery outside my window (our condo is slope side - the view is incredible). The 3 extra set of hands to help me out during the week were an added bonus. We all enjoyed a fair amount of relaxing. Other highlights of the week were: getting up on the slopes for a few hours of skiing between Peyton feedings; snowshoeing with Steve and Peyton below the sunny, mountain sky; Peyton getting to meet his uncle Luke for the first time (via Skype) - albeit a very scary digital version of Luke; snowshoeing with my parents while they cross country skied on new years day; passing off our dear Barracuda to Grandma and Grandma at 6:30 every morning so we could get an extra hour of uninterrupted sleep.


Again, all the extra helping hands were great. The weather was extraordinary. We all got along beautifully and the travel, while long, was as smooth as could be. Is there a better way to wrap up one year and bring in a new one?


...hello 2009!