night skiing is one of the greatest things ever created.

snow light is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Today, with the exception of the first photo, we are featuring a guest photographer: my brother Ben! Didn’t he do a good job?

Today was a more challenging day. We were up early and out the door by 9:15, and decided to start by going down a blue square trail on the back side of the mountain. I think I’m a timid skiier… I would be content to go down the green trails all day, especially when I’m still working on technique (looking at ben’s pictures, i realized that i crouch way more than necessary). The more difficult trail, especially as the first one of the day, was a scary one for me.

I went down two more trails today, including another blue square. But for today, I was content with my three runs and came back to the little room.

The boys did another run before lunch, then went back out for three more afterward. I’m planning on getting as many runs in as I can tomorrow, our last day.

fearful descent is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Papa and Andy have just walked in the door from a long snow-filled day. Considering the lift closed at 4 and it’s 4:19 when I’ve started typing, they seem to have made the most of their lift passes today.

I woke up at 9:30 to a note on the table – the lift started up at 8:30 so Andy and my dad were long gone. I fixed breakfast for Ben and myself, then we headed out to go down a few times on our own.

The weather was far different than yesterday, with snow showers rather than sun and low visibility. At the top of the mountain it was so snowy that it was hard to see where the hills started and stopped. The large amount of powder led to a different skiing experience than yesterday, and I’m really glad I got my practice run in last night because this would be harder for me to start right out on.

Ben is excited because he has found the key to snowboarding: putting weight on the front foot. Apparently it’s challenging as a concept, since it doesn’t seem like the safe way to do things. But once you trust the mountain and yourself enough to know you’re not going to faceplate the whole way down, it’s the way to go.

We still stuck with our green circle routes today… we considered going down a blue on our last run but our exhaustion and the low visibility were factors that kept us going green. Ben and I made four runs down today – four runs at four miles apiece. That’s a good amount of skiing. Andy and Papa made five-and-a-half, and they even braved a blue track close to the end. Andy’s getting the hang of his board as well.

It feels good to be inside, with moccasins instead of boots, and no wind on my face. My sore legs have me stuck in a comfy chair, and my body tingles all over with sheer exhaustion.

I like skiing. Skiing is good.

We are tired.

all skiied out is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

It’s only 8:36 p.m. Colorado time and I feel like I’ve been awake for 19 hours. Oh wait… I have.

This morning we woke up at 3:30 Virginia time to catch our 6am flight to Denver. College spring break started yesterday, and my dad, brothers, and I are taking a short ski trip to Keystone in Colorado. My brothers have loved skiing forever; me, not so much. It’s exhilarating and it’s terrifying and it’s different than anything else in the whole world, but it’s also very cold and very tiring and very cold.

The last few years, the ski trips have always been boys’ outings while my mom and I stayed home and sewed. I’ve always declined my invitation. But this year, since Ben and I have the same spring break and early March promised to be warmer than mid-January, I surprised everyone by deciding to join the boys on their trip.

Today was an extremely long day. We landed in Denver at 8:30, then took a relaxed grocery shopping trip. Our suite has a full kitchen, so we’re opting to save our vacation money and live off Costco food for the next few days (like i could ever mind). After stopping at Costco, then Safeway, and Sports Authority for helmets, we wound our way through the Rockies to our resort.

After settling in and making lunch we headed out. My dad and I picked up our rental skis while Andy and Ben were fitted for snowboards. They’ve never done it before, but they’ve decided to brave the kind of skiing that involves strapping your feet together.

We took the gondola up the big mountain (they just don’t come that big on the east coast) and proceeded to shimmy our way down. I haven’t been skiing for a few years – it’s definitely been awhile – and my uncertainty almost matched that of my brothers, who were trying something entirely new. We all started slowly, and gradually picked up speed. There were some big hills that caused me to pause and gulp (keep in mind this was a green circle route) but when I braced myself and went for it, it was quite fun. It wasn’t cold today, somewhere in the mid 30′s, so it was one of my better skiing experiences.

We made it down the mountain once, a bit more than an hour’s worth of skiing, and a perfect practice run. Now I’m ready to face tomorrow without nearly as much fear, and I’m sure to get a good sleep because I am exhausted both mentally and physically. 9:04… bedtime.

a double day is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

We’re in Ohio!

I’ve developed a much more serene approach to road trips than in the past. When I was little, car trips seemed so boring, so long, so uncomfortable. But now that I’m growing up and have learned to be patient (i can’t believe i’m using that word to describe myself! but it’s true!), it’s almost nice to have a stretch of hours where I can just sit, think, watch nature and not a computer screen.

My mom and I talked, listened to books on tape, and I made her a playlist on my iPod. Six hours.. what’s six hours? What would I have done with that time anyway? Certainly nothing too useful.

So now I’m in lovely Ohio, scrounging Wifi from Starbucks and living a bit more slowly than usual. It’s nice.

taking it slow is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Staying in the most awesome hotel ever also got us into the most awesome pool ever. Part of a recreation center, this pool was half indoor and half outdoor, heated and surrounded by mountains. The indoor part (in the picture) was for laps, but outside was awesome with jets on the walls and huge water sprayers that you could just sit under. There was also a small whirlpool thing that we had a good time floating around.

Then we said goodbye to darling Schlosshotel and headed to the airport, but stopped by a grocery store first to pick up some take-home goodies. Lots and lots of chocolate was procured. We grabbed our last European pastries of the trip from the bakery in the front of the store… the heart-shaped cheese danishes with strawberries were incredible.

After that it was just us being super early to the airport, then boarding the plane, saying goodnight, and flying back in time.

day 7: time to go is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

We left France and drove rapidly down the Autobahn back towards Frankfurt. For our last night in Europe, we stayed at Schlosshotel Kronberg, a castle built in 1889 and transfigured into a hotel in 1954. It was breathtaking. The grounds were beautiful, with tons of trees and a huge, phenomenal golf course. We had a room on the top floor, and I felt like a princess in a tower!

We unloaded the car and then walked the mile or so into town (Wiesbaden) to find some dinner. We ended up eating at a place called Grun Gans, which means Green Goose in German. We did not, however, eat any geese.

We walked back by an alternate route, and found a large park area with a walking path and lots of grass. Then, to my and my brothers’ delight, we found a playground! It had good swings, a treefort-like play area, and a decent zipwire. We were happy.

We walked the rest of the way to our gorgeous hotel and spent the night feeling like royalty.

day 6: schlosshotel kronberg is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Since I am a self-proclaimed Disneyland lover (i have recently begun to ponder whether Disneyland can be considered my second religion), and my family both shares and condones this enthusiasm, we had to stop by Euro Disney on our trip.

A bit less than an hour outside Paris itself, Euro Disney was a rather sidelined attraction. It seems clear that most tourists prefer the historic landmarks of Paris to a translated version of an American pastime. We happened to be there on Bastille Day, however, so even though Disneyland Paris is a typically quiet park, it was certainly bustling for our visit.

Since the original Disneyland in Anaheim claims both my heart and my loyalties, this was certainly a step down. The overall park cleanliness was surprisingly low for typical Disney standards; better than your average Six Flags but nowhere near the shine expected from a Disney park. As with the rest of Europe, there were people smoking all over the place. Bleh.

Don’t get me wrong, though – it was a magical day. One unique attraction at this park was Alice’s Labyrinth, a giant hedge maze with Alice characters scattered throughout. I love Alice, and the walk-through maze was something entirely different than anything at the American parks. They also had a spectacular castle, and I was particularly drawn to the Sleeping Beauty tapestries inside. I like tapestries… they’re fabric.

As night fell, we rested our tired feet and saved a spot for viewing the fireworks show. Becasue of Bastille Day, they were launching even more fireworks than usual, and I must say that those were probably the most spectacular fireworks I have ever seen. Just amazing. Tons and tons of sparkle and color and light that never seemed to end, with music that lifts your heart in the way only Disney can manage.

We headed back to our little hotel and slept soundly after a long day of walking and imagination.

day 5: disneyland paris is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Today was my mom’s birthday! Happy birthday mumsy!

We started the day right by eating an astronomical amount of pastries. We then took the metro out to Notre Dame, went inside, and took plenty of pictures inside and out. Andy zipped through all the souvenir shops, searching for the perfect mini eiffel tower.

We hopped back on the metro and stopped at Montmartre. I sent the boys to climb up the hill to see the view and explore the Sacre-Coeur basilica while my mom and I stayed down below and puttered through various fabric shops. There were so many fabric stores, it was amazing. There are three huge ones, five stories each, and then the surrounding streets are littered with little stores selling “coupons” which are basically remnants. Unfortunately for me, these “remnants” were 3 meters apiece and that is still way more fabric than I ever use. But I did manage to find a few things, and I enjoy digging through fabric.

If you’re planning a trip to Paris’ garment district, here are a few resources I used:
· Fabric Stores in Montmartre
· Paris Textile Resources and Fabric Stores
· Fabric Shopping in Montmartre

day 4: notre dame, garment district is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

The boys would clearly be miserable during our day of scouting the Paris flea markets, so we took the metro into the city and parted ways. My papa and brothers headed toward a science museum, while my mama and I ventured into Les Puces de St-Ouen, the largest and most famous of the Paris flea markets.

We first walked through a market lined with booths of shoes and jeans. Every stall contained stacks and stacks of boxes of Converses; not at all what we were looking for. We walked past it all, and finally reached the market of Vernaison, one of the antique markets.

Everything was quite expensive, especially with the euro exchange rates considered, so we browsed rather than bought. It was fun to look at everything, and we found an amazing bead store with boxes upon boxes of beads. Fill up a cup for 16€; even though the cups were rather small, I was lured into the colorful world of baubles and “perles” and came out with a brimming cup of my own.

With tired feet and eyes done with browsing, we left the market after a couple hours in search of food. We got a baguette sandwich to share, along with Orangina (my favorite!) and the most delicious apricot custard pastry in the whole world. It was so, so good.

We walked and walked, stopping for various shops and pictures, then met up with the boys near the Eiffel Tower. After dinner, as the sun began to descend, we made our ascent. We watched the city grow dark, then light up again, and I balanced my camera in many precarious positions, using every stable surface as a makeshift tripod.

The view was amazing, and I got some great pictures. The twinkling of the Eiffel every hour on the hour after dark is incredibly beautiful. We got back to our hotel after midnight and went to bed.

day 3: paris flea markets & le tour eiffel is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog