Murder on the Slopes

Here is a murder mystery for all you detectives out there. A picture of the crime scene is below and here are some other fact related to the situation.

• At first glance Doug predicted 150 stink bugs. Julia counted 146 exactly.
• All bugs were lying on top of the snow. Snow guns were blowing the prior night.
• Picture was taken on the first day of ski season @ 3:30pm

As a detective you need to determine who / what murdered these bugs and left them scattered on the ski slope.

Julia and Doug didn't really figure it out. Sara knew almost instantly.

Dots on the snow are dead stink bugs ... can you solve the murder mystery?

Opening Weekend at Whitetail

Conditions were pretty darn good for the first weekend of ski season.

RJ checks out the slopes on Friday night

Sara and the kids ready to go at 8:55am on opening day

RJ had a hockey game at 6pm, so Sara and RJ headed out. Doug and Julia did a LOT of skiing and ate leftover pizza, salad, cheese, and peperoni. 

After a depressing dinner, Doug and Julia decided it was time for Dew After Dark (yes, it was $9)

On Sunday the high-speed quad was broken so Easy Rider Quad was all that was available unless you were willing to hike up to the Experts Choice lift. 

RJ and Doug hiked, got first chair, and had gorgeous skiing for 90 minutes before we were scheduled to move out for some incoming renters.

WOW! No crowd, no line, only our tracks

As a result of no crowd, RJ decided to see how fast he could ski. The result is below ... 45.7 mph. Zoiks! Doug did not attempt this.

RJ Haircut

RJ gets a haircut from somebody other than Sara! This was helpful to bring his hair into compliance with school regulations.

RJ's new look

Hockey Skates

RJ's hockey skates were too small and not protective enough ... so Sara took him to Pure Hockey.

For $300 your skates get to be molded

Before school skating on back porch (don't worry, not the new skates)

School in December

Lots of fun school activities (and a few tests) in December.

December 11: 5th grade trip to MD Science Center

Class photo - Sara chaperoned and learned a lot about things other than science

Lots of interactive exhibits (also hanging, pulleys, more)

December 16: 5th grade gift exchanges

Gift exchange #1 at our house

Party #2 at Reagan's house

December 19: 8th grade activities before winter break

Did RJ lose his sweatshirt?

Reindeer ring toss

Cookie challenge

December 19: Julia attends Battle of the Books movie

snacks and lounging around ... fun!

Warrens Visit

Old old neighbors the Warrens were in town and stopped by. Julia and Doug got to see them for 35 seconds before blowing out of the driveway to get to a basketball game.

Jim and Laura even got RJ to smile!

Thanksgiving 2025

We hosted a fun Thanksgiving complete with traditional food, pickleball, a birthday, and some sports on TV.

Julia preps the origami turkeys for the place settings. Doug made cookies that we forgot to give Granddad

Julia set the timer to 5 seconds ... probably should have been 10

Walter the dishwasher in action!

Julia made a delicious chocolate cake for Grandad's 83rd birthday

RJ regripped the pickleball paddles in the morning. Cousin John couldn't resist ...

Cousin John outlasted RJ (who took a 2 hour nap)

Somehow Walter was invited onto the forbidden couch

Julia on the wheely chair and Walter pulling for food. Walter wasn't exactly the Budweiser Clydesdale, but he got the job done ...