THE PRACTICE CHECK-OUT

this morning (thurs, sept 3) we checked-out of our hotel.
only to discover
we are actually booked in until friday (sept 4).

ha ha
all the stress of packing up and hauling all our stuff
groceries
toys
bike gear
clothing
taylor's library of books

all of it piled precariously high and dragged into the lobby on a luggage cart
all of it for not!

oh well
practice run, i suppose
at least we'll have it down to a fine art by tomorrow morning

graham and taylor dragged all our stuff
back up to our room
(grumpily moaning and groaning all the way)

and how could this happen anyhow?
easy
i got left in charge of the itinerary again
what were we thinking?
we weren't. obviously.
i, with the brain infection and lesions
i, with the lyme that impedes my ability to decipher numbers and dates, was left in charge of numbers and dates
what were we thinking?
especially after the missed flight disaster of hawaii
you'd think we'd learn!



this being what we thought was our last day we had planned on splurging and having a meal out
yes, throwing caution and my green goo to the wind, i planned on EATING FOOD today
REAL FOOD
ahem
more like fast food loosely defined as real food
NACHOS
yum, really good and really bad for me
i love nachos
and
they have world famous nachos in whistler at restaurant called Merlins
i cannot resist them
seeing as i couldn't eat for my birthday
we planned this as sort of a belated birthday dinner

we're thrilled that graham's cousin and family (who live in Whistler) were able to join us for my epic nacho binge

4 little goertzens,
4 mischievous little grins
not sure this mountain is big enough to contain all 4 of 'em!

we had a good time with Rod and Tanya and their 2 little cutie patooties, Zayden and Quinn. we've really enjoyed getting to know them better over the past couple of years. we appreciate their friendship ...and those boys and their smiles make me giggle.
(if you're ever in Whistler and in need of a good laugh or some really good licorice - make sure to pop into their store - Upper Village Market)

thanks to their generosity, we now have tickets to go up the blackcomb gondola tomorrow for our real last day

we've never done this before
graham is super excited
the kids are thrilled
and me, well i'm trying not to vomit at the thought of coming down the side of a mountain on an open air chairlift!
i am not a height person
freaks me out!
eek
the thought of me or my kids dangling miles above evergreen alpines and bears?
no seat belts to tie us down with?
ack

tomorrow, the hills will be alive alright... with the sound of my retching and shrieking