Okay, so I've been putting off installing drawer locks.  A few hours later he went down for his nap and here's how things played out when he woke up.

5 mins later Mickelle was throwing away garbage and yelled 'UGGHH I hate these things'.  I love you honey but you have no idea what HATE is (in regards to drawer locks) until you've installed them!

Each person orders a type of batter (buttermilk, whole wheat, buckwheat, etc.), and any fixins (banana, chocolate chips, blueberry, etc.) they want.  They then bring out a squeeze bottle of your batter along with a self serve bowl of your fixins.  AND the coolest part...right in the middle of the table is a hot griddle.  That's right, you cook your own.  Like it a little gooey?  Want extra fruit in the cakes?  No problem chef, everything is cooked to order (by you)!

Just one tip...don't spill milk (or in Mick's case cream) on the griddle.  It foams up then stinks up the surrounding tables.  Not to mention it can ruin the cakes cooking and you have to tip the wait staff extra to clean it up mid meal.

Luckily we made it into the country! Ken was given the all-important task of packing passports and birth certificates. He got our passports. Unfortunately, he also packed some hokey hospital birth announcement/certificates, one of which wasn't even signed by the doctor. The customs agent nicely noted that we had no evidence the children were ours (obvioiusly she didn't study the kids too closely or he would see that Elle is a mini-Ken). Fortunately, Elle answered many questions telling her that she as in the car with her daddy, mommy, little brother and aunt. She also told her where she goes to pre-school and that she likes painting.

Whistler was AWESOME! And it's definite - we'll be a ski family from this point on. Ken likes skiing a lot and, of course, I love it! The snow was great

Ken spent 1 1/2 days with a terrific instructor and can now efficiently snowplow and turn down the mountain. He can also get on and off the chairlift with ease. Stacia and I both have some huge bruises as a result of our time on the mountain. We skiied both Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, and took the Peak to Peak Gondola between them (pic below is the view from the Peak to Peak).

We decided to wait until Elle is 5 to enroll her in ski school. Right now she's happy stomping around in the snow.

Our hotel was in Blackcomb Village, a quick 5 minute walk into the Whistler Village. The village is beautiful, and everyone is eagerly anticipating the 2010 Olympics. The ski map shows where many of the Olympic events will take place. 

Elle also loved going swimming every night in the outdoor heated swimming pool. In fact, within 5 minutes of waking up she started asking about the pool.  The kids also liked playing in the Jacuzzi tub - both with and without water.

All around the kids did great.  Thankfully we brought along the jogging stroller (which is made for only one kid but Elle managed to sit on the foot holder and actually fell asleep there once).

Ken took the kids to the public library a couple of times, once for a sing-a-long and rhyme time. He and Elle also enjoyed hot chocolate and cheesecake in the American Express tent in the middle of the village. Ken & Elle also went sledding one day, and she LOVED it!

Right after the above pictures were taken Elle unexpectedly swung the sled around hitting the hand Ken was using to hold the camera which resulted in launching the camera into 2 inches of snow (effectively frying the camera).  For this reason we don't have many pictures from this trip.

Tag is slowly leaving commando crawling (see video):

...and moving into real crawling. The area under the dining room table was like a mini-obstacle course for him. As usual he's motivated by cords and outlets. Luckily, Ken packed outlet covers (which were not required for entry into the country). One day, Elle wanted my attention, but I was busy with Tag. She replied, "Don't we have a cord he can play with?"

Stacia and I took the kids ice skating one day. They let us take Tag's jogging stroller onto the ice. He quickly fell asleep. We strapped some beginner skates onto Elle's shoes. With the use of an ice walker, she had a lot of fun. She could easily move on the ice. Of course falling was fun too.

We had a blast and will definitly be back!

 ...I spent this weekend cleaning it up.  Anyone need firewood?

if you missed this round you'll have to wait for the next release!

All 500 case are now sold.

This release is 100% Washington Syrah.  Roughly 500 cases were produced and it is selling fast.  I snapped this photo at WholeFoods in Redmond, WA.  The first release was written up in the Seattle Times as the 'Pick of the Week' last August.