Snowshoe

That Wednesday I worked all day at home for the first time since I started my new position at work.  The kids were out of school so they hung out at the house and bugged me all day.  We dropped the kids off at Ryan's parents and left Thursday, Feb 6th around 530 PM and drove until around 1 AM.  It rained the WHOLE WAY.  We stopped at a Holiday Inn to get some sleep.  We couldn’t check into resort until 7 AM and we wanted to be well rested for our full day of skiing.  We woke up at 730 that morning and made our way to the mountain.  We drove around to a couple different gas stations and finally found somewhere that had diesel and filled up and then stopped at a Hardee’s for some breakfast.  We finally made it to Snowshoe, checked in, got rental skis and made it to slopes. 

First thing I do 10-15 minutes into skiing is fall on my tailbone.  WORST PAIN EVER!  I made about 2-3 laps on the bunny slopes and decided I needed to go get poles to help me navigate.  While I was getting the poles, Ryan took his skis off to wait on me  When I get back to him I notice he is struggling to put his shoes back into his skis.  Sometimes the snow gets packed and its hard to get your boots to lock into the skis.  He gets frustrated and says “Let’s just go eat lunch!” We had lunch at Sunset Cantina.  I had a really good quesadilla and strong Margarita to help ease my pain.

I needed Ibuprofen so we set out on a hunt to find some. When we got back to the room I made an ice pack and we decided to take naps. We got up, watched some TV and got ready for dinner at Foxfire then shopped.  

More pain relief!

If there is a Bone-In Ribeye on the menu you can bet your bottom dollar that Ryan Barker is going to get it! 

The wind that day was RIDICULOUS!!! But it produced some BEAUTIFUL snow!!!

Freezing cold outside and people are in the hot tub AND pool!  It had to be heated too .... but I wasn't going out to find out!

Ryan taught me how to play chess.  We ended up playing every night we were there.  He beat me every time but by the end of our stay I was catching on.  We played checkers once - I whooped him.  We didn't play anymore after that!

We had a fireplace it our room!  I loved it! Nice and cozy!

Day 2 we woke up and went down to Starbucks for breakfast then we hit the slopes.  Our plan was to make the best of the day and spend as much time out there as we could.  I was still in so much pain from my fall the day before but I didn't want to ruin the whole reason we came to Snowshoe- to ski!!!  

I went down the bunny slope for some practice then was confident I could go down a green slope.  It was a Saturday, after a beautiful snow storm, the sun was shining, no wind = PERFECT SKI WEATHER!  Which also meant A LOT of people!!!!  I made my way down 1/4 of the slope and stopped.  I was scared to death.  There were people whizzing by me and others falling in front of me and I had no control of where I was going.  So I quit.... I walked down the rest of the slope - not sure skiing is my thing. This picture is where I stopped and starting walking my way down.  It was so beautiful!

Once I got to the bottom and met up with Ryan we waited in line 30 MINUTES to go back up the lift.  Thats how busy it was that day!  Once we finally got on the life I was in awe.  

By that time it was lunch time so we packed up our ski gear in the locker and went for some pizza and drinks at Cheat Mountain Pizza.  After, we went back to the room to warm up, cleaned up a little and went down to the town and walked around.  Each weekend they have different things go on in the little shopping area.  The weekend we were there was Subaru Winterfest.  It made me think of Bonnaroo.  You could go in a sound booth, pick up some gear, free snacks, put your name in a drawing for prizes all to promote Subaru.  This picture is when you walk out of our locker room where we stayed.  You just hop right onto the slopes!

Walking around and enjoying the scenery and our time together!

For dinner we stopped in Tuque's for drinks and some poutine!

Hot apple cider drinks! 

SHOT SKI!

Day 3 we woke up ate breakfast at The Junction. We came back to the room and watched the Tom Hanks movie about Mr. Rogers. After, we decided to go ski for a little bit.  Ryan likes to ski and I didn't want to keep him from doing something he loved so I told him I would just hang out on the bunny slope and practice while he went down some slopes.

I made it down the bunny slope, got to where I fell, panicked and then took my skis off and walked back up the bunny slope, put my skis back in the locker, went back to the room, changed and on my way back downstairs I met Ryan coming back up.  He had skied all he wanted and had turned in his gear to spend time with me.  He went back to the room and got dressed and then we met up at Starbucks and shopped some more. After that we came back to room and watched another movie. We loved the pizza so much we decided to eat dinner at Cheat Mountain Pizza again - it’s sooo good.

We had after dinner drinks and dessert -a banana split- at Old Spruce.  After dinner we always go to the lobby and play chess or sit and people watch by the fire.  We then came back to room and packed to go home.

Snowshoe, WV is a beautiful place and although I am not a skier, we plan on coming back one day and bringing the boys.  Maybe next time I will try snowboarding .... or just spend the day at the spa!  Until next time Snowshoe!

Memphis

I took off of work early on Friday, January 24th and packed our suitcases to go out of town.  Back in the fall Exit Realty had a benefit for Power of the Purse.  They had a silent auction and we won tickets for the Memphis Zoo and a night stay at the Guest House at Graceland.  Ryan's coworker and friend Kelley has a daughter that works with the Memphis Grizzlies and got us tickets to see a basketball game.  We picked the boys up from school and made our way to Memphis.  They all got a quick nap in on the way.

We made it to the Guest House at Graceland.  Im embarrassed to say that this is not what I was expecting when we got there.  I literally thought it was a one bedroom house at Graceland.  I had no idea. 

Luckily it wasn't what I thought it was and there was plenty of room for pillow fights!

First night we went to eat at the famous Rendezvous for some BBQ and Ribs! 

It was so good!

Next morning, we got up and spent the day at the Memphis Zoo.  It was a little chilly and not all the animals were out.

Nemo

Dory

They had lots of Komodo dragons!

I took this picture with perfect timing.  Kane fell as I was taking this picture.  He is the most clumsy kid.  Reid is sticking his head up Ryan's sweatshirt.  

This Chameleon was so pretty!  I couldn't stop staring at him!

This snake reminding me of the snake in Harry Potter.  I was just waiting on the glass to disappear and for Dudley to fall into the water and snake escape.  But ... that didn't happen lol Thank goodness!

Pandas!!! There were two but only this one was outside.  He was eating a yummy bamboo snack

The other one was inside eating his bamboo snack too!

Monkeys

Marco Polo or should I say Liam Polo 

Being silly!

American Eagle.  Mesmerizing to look at!  Fills you with pride!

Lions

Lunch was at Dyers for burgers cooked in 100 year old grease. 

Hanging out at the counter watching their food being cooked.

Look at those massive cast iron skillets full of greasy burgers! Yum! 

Back massages....

Sunday morning we ate at Sunrise Memphis.

They had a Bloody Mary bar and it was so good.

The boys got a Cookie Monster pancake.  They were amazing!  What could go wrong with a pancake with Oreos in it?!?

Next on our list of things to do in Memphis was to watch the ducks at the Peabody Hotel.  We got there early and picked the perfect spot to watch them walk. 

Next we went to the biggest Bass Pro Shop in the US at the Pyramid.

My future hunters!

Can't go to Memphis and not stop and get Gibson's donuts!!! They were good but they weren't Donut Palace!

Our last stop on Sunday was the Memphis Grizzlies game.  We felt like we had the royal treatment when Haley found us and took us down to where the players come of and meet the fans.  

We ate dinner and grabbed some popcorn and made our way to our seats.  This was a first pro basketball game for all of us.

These were our seats!  So awesome!

Haley also had the boys names put on the Jumbotron.  They were excited to see their names.  

We had such a nice little weekend getaway in Memphis. Thankful for the time we get to spend together and all the memories that we get to make with each other!