Crystal

We're just back from a lab trip up to Crystal Mountain, 2 hours from Seattle. This is a great discovery.. we had a lovely little condo steps from a pool heated to 95 degrees and a moment's walk from the lifts and ski classes. The village is the anti-Whistler, very simple and low key, and appealing for that. Our visitor Julijana came along, and Lisa, our MCN course coordinator, joined us with her boyfriend. Anne and Miles also came up for Sunday night and Monday skiing. A deep fall on Saturday meant conditions were great. So they said.













We had a weekend of great food (Rebecca's seafood soup..Mike's mushroom risotto..Barry's roast chicken..Julijana's Macedonian chocolate cake!) and great company, especially Bella and Jack, who turned one a few days ago and were the chief entertainment. Anselm took two days of ski class, and graduated from "green" level, rated as "Ripping!" on such skills as "I can make small direction changes", "I can control my speed through turn shape", etc. His instructor was very pleased with him and said that he is a "speed demon"--a surprise to us. He had a very fun time. In the car on the way back, the boys discussed important Star Wars questions (given that one graduates from green to blue light sabre when you become a Jedi Master, and masters of the Dark Side have red light sabers, is there a color that denotes the junior level for the Dark Side?). Eliot adored the pool and wanted to stay in all day.