I Can't Help it I'm a...PICKLE HEAD!

Today we started the 2nd Immediate Hubers Family Christmas of the year. To all of you in Indiana/Florida/Costa Rica, yes, I did say 2nd. We figured it was only fair to include Anna, Derek, Angela, and Eric in our Christmas so Mom and I had to make the sacrifice of celebrating twice.

We started off the day with a breakfast made by Mom (or more commonly known around this house "Oma"). We enjoyed pancakes and sausage. Anna, Derek, and Mom ran off for about an hour while Angela, Eric, and I watched and fed the kids. Once the eldest 3 got back, we were off to the outlet mall! Well...off as quickly as any Hubers outing is "off". It took about an hour of organizing kids and exchanging names before we actually piled into the 2 minivans and headed out to the Silverthorne Outlets.

The drive to the Outlets took a bit over an hour so we arrived around 1:00. Perfect timing to grab a bite to eat at Chipotle. After stuffing ourselves, we split off into pairs (careful to make sure who we were with wouldn't give away who we had). Mom and I headed to a couple of the stores right near where we had parked and grabbed some gifts for our people. Anna found us after a while and we went over to a different strip of the mall. Mom and I went into Columbia, and I found a fantastic winter coat and gloves  (bye bye last 3 seasons of clothing allowance). We also finished getting gifts for our people while we were in that section of mall.

After everyone was finished shopping we all piled into the vans again and headed for Breckenridge. Of course, when you think "Breckenridge, Colorado," skiing is probably the first thing that comes to your mind, but we had a different plan. We were going swimming! The pool was really cool. We got in on the indoor part of the pool, but as I looked around, I noticed that the indoor pool was connected to the outdoor one! Mom and I went exploring and found the outdoor hot tubs. Obviously it was really cold outside (Colorado on December 31st...yeah), but the pool was really heated and the hot tubs felt wonderful.

After we were all done swimming, we showered in the bathrooms there and ate supper at the bar & grill in the lodge. Since it is New Years Eve, there was live entertainment. Wayne Faust was there with a guitar, a banjo, a solid knowledge of North American geography, and of course jokes. Before starting his show, he gave Zach a guitar pick and asked our table where we were from. Mom decided that she would tell him that I was from Ontario (rather than Indiana like her). During his show, Wayne had the whole restaurant singing "Heeeey good lookin'. Whatcha got cookin'? How about cookin' somethin' up with me?" Then he went state by state and had them sing, and of course, he decided to have the "one Canadian" in the room sing it so Anna and Mom told me to stand up on my chair and I obliged and belted it at the top of my lungs. Since I was such a good sport, I got an amazing sticker that says "I can't help it I'm a...Pickle Head The Wayne Faust Show."

Now I'm back at Anna and Derek's house trying to stay up until 2013 begins in this time zone. Thankfully, I have my blog and Derek (who's reading on the living room floor) to keep me company.