Baby Monkey's first snowshoe - sorta

Happy Kwanzachristmakah friends and family. It was a big day today with the crew at 104 Old Lake Colby. Baby Monkey's first day on snowshoes - as a passenger.

Mommy did an awesome job as pilot and she looked incredibly cute despite the fact that she can't zip up her snow pants. High five for suspenders.

Yes, this pregnancy is sponsored by the U.S. Ski Team.

How about a little more Color?

After finishing the kitchen in August, we decided to get nuts and refinish the floors in my office and the new nursery - then added new windows and a fresh coat of paint to each. It looks sweet. So much so, that we went another step further and added a some more color to the main floor. Now it's time to enjoy it...Baby is due Feb. 21.

My new man cave

Baby Monkey's crib - ha, that's funny

A fresh coat in the wood stove room and clean copper hearth

Red Room makes our couches look sexy - says Kat.

Bluff Island

Well, there's a reason the old bark eaters called it "Bluff". I decided to huck it...

Kitchen

Wow, we built a new kitchen!

Val D/Val G

I'm still wearing the two pairs of long underwear i put on yesterday. They never came off. After Kaylin landed 22nd in yesterday's super combined in Val d'Isere (which is in the French Alps). We jumped in the car and bolted for Pozza di Fassa (which is the Italian Dolomites). It was snowing. We got in at 3 a.m. i left my bags in the car.

I was supposed to crash in room 208 for a few hours. i couldn't find it, but 217 was open and i went for it. Up at six bells and over one of the most unbelievable mountain passes i've ever seen and i just had breakfast with Virgil, Christa and Mick at the Alpino Plan in Val G. They have some pretty good coffee here.

The Saslong Classic downhill starts in a few hours...no chace would i miss this. Here's the notes:

Val Gardena, Italy - The Saslong Classic downhill
- The Saslong, which is actually an enourmous rock, is one of the most incredible downhill tracks in all of ski racing. A rollercoaster from start to finish, there's over 20 spots where the boys get light. At one point for over the length of a football field - at 80 mph. Two years ago, i shot a vid of Mr. Nyman, who won the thing in '06. He definitely describes it best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMJgrk8KWX4

- It will be tough to match last years historic five Yanks in the top 10 and seven in the points. The guys are a little banged up - Bode's ankle, Mac's back is still a bit sore, Steven just got back on snow in Nov. BUT, it's possible. Bode has still been fast, this hill was built for Marco, Steven was 4th in the first training sesh and Fish made a name for himself on this hill last year with a Warhorse-esque run from 52 to 7. And speaking of Andrew, he's been in the top 15 of every speed race this season - including yesterday.

- Bibs: Fish 4, Sully 5, Bode 22, Esteban 24, Horse 29, Mac 32 and Worm 48. Thanks for the coffee Babs.

We're stacking them quick and hot and this baby doesn't start until 6:15 a.m. ET, so do what you need to do to get Universal Sports streaming through your plasma.

Val d'Isere, France - women's downhill
- Pretty sure i made this point yesterday, but it's worth a mention again. LV has won three consecutive DH runs on the OK piste. Four straight if you count her 2006 win. She took yesterday's speed portion of the super combi by 1.52 seconds for her 25th WC win. You get the picture. She has bib 19.

- Jules is downright angry and she should be. She knows she's fast on this hill. She's won on this hill and was third in the first DH trainer. She was nuking the top yesterday and went BIG off the first jump causing her to get way inside on the next turn and went out. That's not going to happen today. Watch No. 23.

- Now, here's were it's really going to get exciting. Last season i went to St. Moritz with this Team and the men dog piled the points in Val Gardena. I don't gamble - never bought a lotto ticket - but Cookie starts 2, Alice 7, Leanne 36, Chelsea 41 and Keely 44. All of these girls have been top 20. If they ski the way they all know we can, well, the story will tell itself and i'll be just fine with missing it.

A 10 piece brass band just fired it up outside the men's hotel, that's my cue. Women actually start earlier than the boys at 4:45 a.m. ET. Good thing for you, Universal Sports has on-demand streaming. Be resiliant, don't check the results first...just watch the race.

Whoa! The band just moved into the hotel to play a good luck song for Bode. Don't believe me? Check this out: http://usskiteam.mobilerider.com/flash/player/index.php?vendor_id=626&video_id=24897

Onward,

doug

Adirondack Thanksgiving

OK, so it's not the full on Adirondack Thanksgiving, because we definitely had some important folks that couldn't make it. However, last week (while Doug was hard at work in Colorado) I started feeling sad that we would not be spending Thanksgiving together. Even more so I felt bad that he was going to be deprived of yet another turkey dinner. So in the short time that he was home this week, we threw together a Thanksgiving feast fit for a king... or a Dougie!

This was my first time ever cooking a full turkey and I have to admit I was little nervous about it. Not to mention the fact that you have to prepare side dishes as well. Any number of things can go wrong. God love my mom, she's made countless Thanksgiving dinners by herself and rarely messes anything up. But if there is one thing I learned this Thanksgiving it's that potlucks are the way to go. Each person can really concentrate on one dish and make it truly special. Thus, this was our menu:

Turkey w/ gravy
Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Dressing
Sweet Potato Casserole
Cornbread Pudding (aka Swik Souffle)
Stuffed Mushrooms
Onion Pie
Cranberry Sauce
Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Honey Balsamic Glaze
Homemade Baguettes
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie

And this was us enjoying all our hard work

The Best of Both Worlds

The months of April and November in the Adirondacks are quite unique and often overlooked by many tourists, who view it as ugly mud seasons. While it is true that they lack the brilliant variety of colors that are present while in the peak of the seasons, they are the only months where you can enjoy recreational activities on both ends of the spectrum.

This weekend one was of firsts and lasts. Light snow showers present during the end of the work week actually accumulated into something skiable. Saturday morning Doug, Jim, Jenny and I hit up the Toll Road for our first cross country ski of the season. While the cover was pretty thin and the snow texture quite sticky, the feeling of gliding over the snow for the first time in months made the excursion more than worth it!



Sunday, the sky was sunny and the temps were soaring into the upper 50s (heat wave!). Doug and I decided to take our canoe for one last spin before putting it to bed for the winter. We enjoyed a beautiful late afternoon paddle on Oseetah with Michael and Cindy before settling down next to the woodstove to warm our toes and enjoy a hot bowl of stew.




These tourists don't know what they're missing!