Last weekend the kids and I went skiing with my parents, brothers, sister-in-law, and grandma. We went to Breckenridge and it was a lot of fun. It is SO nice to go somewhere and have so many extra people along who are willing - and happy - to help with the kids. I actually got to read a book on the plane!The only semi stressful part of the trip was at the beginning. I had to get three kids, two carry-ons, a humongous suitcase, and myself checked into the airport and through security all on my own. We managed to make it without hitting any major snags, although there was one particularly tense moment on the escalator. I couldn't hold Noah's hand because I was holding Allie with one hand and lugging bags with the other, so I nervously instructed him to hold onto the railing and told him exactly when to step on the moving stairs. As we were nearing the top, I told him to hop right off onto the flat part, but he apparently got nervous and dropped to his hands. I saw his little fingers on the top step as it was flattening, inching their way towards the floor that was swallowing up the steps, about to be chewed and mangled in the escalator's teeth. In a moment of panic, I didn't do anything reasonable like drop the suitcase and grab him, I just yelled, "Noah! Noah! NOAH!" and caused all the nearby airport patrons to turn and stare at us. Luckily, he stood up just in the nick of time and his fingers were saved. Whew!

(As I was writing this, I got curious about escalator accidents and did a bit of Googling. In the United States, escalators apparently send over 10,000 people to the emergency room every year, so be careful next time you're on one!)