Valentine’s Day at The Chateau de Hymas

Rock and I have finally decided where we are going to use our Christmas gift from his parents!  We are going to France and England!!!  He finally convinced me to go to Paris when he showed me the chateaux we can tour near there.

Don’t get me wrong, the Eiffel tour and Louvre are tempting, but after seeing these beauties, I decided I could definitely do France.  Couldn’t you?  
So for Valentine’s Day this year I decided to plan our date myself and surprise Rock with a French themed day. For lunch Rock found himself eating cheese fondue at the Cafe de Hymas where they played beautiful french music.  Afterward he visited the Chateau de Hymas where he met a very nice…maid.  For dinner that night we went to a French restaurant in Eagle.  A local family recently built a big event center/French restaurant that looks like a chateau.  It was beautiful. We dined in a grand hall with huge chandeliers overhead and massive paintings of french women and scenery.  We listened to live music and ate a three course meal.  Not having made many reservations on Valentine’s day, I did not realize that I was taking us there on the MOST expensive night of the year. Woops. It was expensive, but worth it.  We never eat at places like this so it was a real treat.
 
Our table, complete with name card.
First course; a bunch of fancy french named seafood I can’t say or spell.  
I meant to take a picture of the menu card so I could at least spell the names later, but I forgot.  And the restaurant won’t return my calls asking for the menu.  Come on people, it’s called Free Advertising!!! But since you won’t answer my calls, you don’t get your name mentioned on my blog. Too bad.

2nd course; (insert fancy french name here) Lobster Tail and (insert another fancy french name here) Filet Mignon.  Never had a whole flower as a garnish before.  Told you it was expensive.  We will not be eating out for the rest of the month.  Probably next month either.
Dessert; not my favorite, but the chocolate heart was very cool.

Our bill came in a book with the chateau on the front.

And to top it all off, they gave me a rose as we left the chateau. (insert cash register sound here)  It was a fabulous way to wet our appetites for our European adventure. Can’t wait!  And, it was a Valentine’s Day my husband will not soon forget.  

Christmas Experiences

This year for Christmas Rock and I gave the kids experiences instead of toys.  I gave Liberty tickets to the Nutcracker ballet and the boys got tickets to the Piano Guys concert.  Liberty’s gift happened before Christmas, but the Piano Guys concert just happened this month.  So now I can blog about them all!

The Nutcracker with Liberty

 
Part of the fun was getting all dressed up.

And sitting in the fun theater chairs.

She was super excited to get a picture with a real ballerina.
Then we went to dinner at her favorite restaurant.
Happiness is eating all the peanuts you want.
The Piano Guys 

On February 6th, I took the boys to their concert.  Dream come true!  It was so fun to see their faces light up as they laughed at the crazy antics of their favorite musicians.  For those who have never seen a Piano Guys video, here are a few of our favorites:

http://thepianoguys.com/portfolio/cello-wars-star-wars-parody-lightsaber-duel/
http://thepianoguys.com/portfolio/rockelbels-canon-pachelbels-canon-in-d/
http://thepianoguys.com/portfolio/kung-fu-piano-cello-ascends/
http://thepianoguys.com/portfolio/mission-impossible-pianocelloviolin-ft-lindsey-stirling/

Rock gave the boys skiing lessons or trips (Reagan doesn’t need lessons anymore) and Liberty got a tubing trip.  
Skiing Lessons

Thanks for the very cool hat Alli and Sarin.

This was Levi’s first time skiing and he loved it!

But he fell…. a lot.

Unfortunately, the day Rock took Reagan skiing it was rainy and hard to take pictures….But he plans on taking him up to Brundage, a much nicer resort, soon so stay tuned for pictures from that. 
Tubing with Liberty

She had a blast, but she does not have the stamina of her brothers.  After an hour she wanted to go to Burger King.
So, they went to Burger King and played on the toys.
Merry Christmas, Hymas kids!  

A Ballerina, A Bobcat, and a Birthday

Liberty had a Ballet Recital a few weeks ago.  
Where’s Waldo!
Here is her actual dance.  They put here in the wrong place to start so she had to make some adjustments during the dance.  She is the second from the right, front row.
We learned the hard way at her last recital that EVERY parent brings a flower to EVERY recital. Personally I think this is ridiculous.  But I think giving an entire bouquet of flowers to a five year old who waves her arms around on stage for 2 minutes is even more ridiculous.  We got Libby a chocolate rose for her cute hand waving.  
She was thrilled!
Levi, or newest cub scout, earned his Bobcat at his first Pack Meeting last week.

I came one year closer to old this week.  It was a great birthday.  Rock got the boys off to school in the morning, my co-den leader canceled scouts for me, (:-)), we ate dinner at my favorite restaurant and had a yummy chocolate cake to top it all off.  
I love the look on Reagan’s face as he watches his dad make a fool of himself.
But the high light of the day was getting to see both my parents on my birthday which hasn’t happened in probably 20 years!  So glad they are close by.