Because of a mix up with daycare plans for Ethan, it was decided I would ski Thursday instead of Wednesday. I was actually glad, because there was going to be a concert on Thursday for St. Patrick's day. Everyone got up and had breakfast then prepared to leave. Ethan was in a good mood, so I knew it would be a good day. Once everyone left, I asked Ethan if he wanted to play outside in the snow, but he wanted to stamp, so we did that instead while watching Air Bud - Seventh Inning Fetch. We built a fort with the pillows on the couch after that. We had lunch after playing that morning, then Ethan went down for a nap. When he got up he still didn't want to play outside. He wanted to watch Little Big League, so we did. Pam got home with Logan and Dylan around 3, so Ethan and I got bundled up and went out to play with the boys. The fort was still under construction and I helped by breaking sticks for them. Oh yes-I'm so strong. We came in around 5:30 to get cleaned up for dinner. We went to the Stonebridge Inn's restaurant, Artisan. I had the ruby red trout and it was wonderful...best dang trout I've ever had in fact. Logan and Dylan ended up trading food, because Logan didn't like the pasta. Dylan had a grilled cheese sandwich, and it was the fanciest grilled cheese sandwich I've ever seen. After dinner we went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some ice cream. We saw some other people from Tyler in the village, so that was fun. We all loaded up in the car after taking a few pictures. Caden fell asleep in the car. He had a long day skiing, so we weren't surprised. Ethan and Caden both went to bed when we got home. Logan, Dylan, and I played Sorry, but Dylan wanted to play with his $1 basketball goal, so Pam played with him while Logan and I played Sorry again. Dylan ended up wanting to play Sorry again, but since we were in the middle of a game, he couldn't play. He got mad, so Pam said she'd play tic-tac-toe with him. He said that was stupid, but played anyway. Kids are so funny. We eventually all headed to bed, but not before Logan could push Dylan on the stairs and make him cry. I went to my room and called my mom to see how she was after being in the hospital while on vacation in Florida. She seemed ok, but not great. I just prayed a lot then eventually fell asleep.
Day 6-St. Patty's Day & Skiing
I got up excited and a little scared to go skiing. Since I hadn't skied in 3 or 4 years, I thought I might have forgotten how to ski. That morning I went to the ski rental place to get my skis while Thomas, Logan, and Dylan went to get their stuff out of storage. My feet were already pretty cold since I had forgotten my sock liners. I decided to break down and buy a $20 pair of socks at the rental place. Let me just tell you something-that was the best $20 I've spent in a long time. Those socks were magical. My feet didn't get cold at all that day. (except later that evening when I stepped in the creek to get Ethan) Once I had my new socks on and got my rentals, I headed to the base of the mountain to meet the guys. We decided we'd ski the bunny hill once so I could get my 'ski legs' back. That feeling...that rush you get when you're going down the mountain...it was incredible. I couldn't believe how easily I remembered the technique. Thomas asked if I wanted to do the bunny hill again before heading to some blue slopes, but I was pumped up and ready to head to something else, so we headed to a lift that would bring us to some new trails.
**Side note: If you've never been skiing, you may not know how slopes are classified. They are broken up into groups of colors: green, blue, and black. If it is an easy slope, it is a green. These are the easiest slopes on the mountain. Blue is an intermediate slope. These are steeper and usually the most fun slopes. They aren't too easy, but you also won't fall on your butt every few minutes if you know what you're doing. Blacks are the hardest slopes. They are usually very steep and often have moguls (bumps).
We rode up several lifts to a side of the mountain that some locals had told us had great blue trails. They were right. They were all really great slopes. We were up at the top of the mountain so it got pretty cold and it was snowing. (of course my feet were still perfect thanks to my new blue socks) We stopped after a couple trails at a little warming hut to get the boys some hand warmers. We skied until 1:00 then went down to the base to get some lunch at Sno'Beach Cafe. After lunch Logan met up with a friend of his and skied with him. Thomas, Dylan and I went to ski some more blues and also watched a little of a jump contest that was going on for St. Patrick's Day. Dylan asked his dad if we could go to the half pipe, but Thomas wasn't too sure where it was located. We ended up skiing a black that had a ton of jumps on it, but we didn't go on any of the jumps-I'm not that brave. Dylan was mad since we didn't go to the half pipe so he said he wanted to go home. Thomas called Pam and she came to get him around 3:00. It was actually perfect timing because at 3:00 we went to get Caden out of ski school. He was so excited to ski with his dad. He's probably one of the coolest 4 year olds I know. We went on the bunny slope, then went over to Buffalo Bumps, Caden's favorite place. It was just a short little place that had bumps you could ski over. Since we stayed close to Fanny Hill (the bunny slope) with Caden, we could also hear the concert going on by The Prodigals. They were an irish-jig punk band. Yes, those really exist. If you want to read what they have to say about playing on a ski slope, read their 'road story' from March 22. Thomas, Caden and I skied until the lifts closed, then met back up with Logan. They put their stuff back in storage, and then I returned my skis. At the base of the mountain they were passing out beads and selling green beer for St. Patrick's Day. We watched some irish jig dancers, and then Thomas got some popcorn for us to all share on the way back to the condo. While we were waiting for the bus Caden kept asking me to put popcorn in his mouth because he couldn't get a hold of it with his gloves on. A guy on the bus thought it was pretty funny. When we got back to the condo the boys and I went to play in the snow for awhile. Caden kept eating snow.
Here are some more pictures I took that day. Sorry, but I didn't take my camera on the slopes.
Ethan and Caden:
All the boys:
Beautiful background:
We came back inside after playing for awhile. Thomas and Pam were going out to eat that night so it was just me and the boys. Pam said they could eat whatever they wanted that night. They wanted scrambled eggs, crescent rolls, and chips. I guess that's what you get when you ask and 8, 6, 4, and 2 year old what they want to eat. They watched TV and we played Sorry. I put the boys to bed around 9, then watched a little TV before going to bed. It was a really good day even though I was a little sore from skiing. Now I can say I've skied at Aspen, or at least at one of the four mountains there.
Day 7
Logan decided he didn't want to ski the last day, so he stayed with Ethan and me. We decided to go the mountain with everyone that morning so I could get some souvenirs for my family. Logan wasn't too excited about shopping, but I didn't make him suffer too long. Ethan was being a typical 2 year old in the stores, hiding under clothes racks and stuff like that. He was really excited to see a dog in one store, so we stopped and he pet the dog. We got back on the bus and headed to the condo to warm up. Logan and I played Sorry for the millionth time that week while Ethan watched 'See Spot Run'...again. We had lunch, and then the boys played with their beads they had gotten the day before on the mountain. Ethan went down for a nap soon after that and ended up sleeping for over 2 hours. Logan was extremely bored staying in the house, but didn't want to go play outside by himself. He didn't understand why I wouldn't leave Ethan sleeping alone in the house, but he got over it. We played Sorry again and he created some new cards to make the game more exciting. After Ethan woke up, he went outside to play for awhile. We came back in to warm up after an hour or so and then the rest of the family got back from skiing. Dylan and Caden wanted to go back outside and Ethan wants to do whatever he brothers do, so we all went outside. Logan stayed inside because he said he was tired of playing in the snow. We had a snowball fight for a little while. It was funny because everytime I'd throw snow at Caden he'd say, "I'm warning you." I guess he hears that a lot! Dylan and Caden had on their waterproof boots so they were walking in the shallow creek. Ethan decided to do the same, but his shoes and socks got soaked. I had to jump in after him so my socks got soaked as well. I told them it was time to go in after that because Caden had walked in some deeper water and had cold feet too. We got inside and took off our wet clothes and warmed up. We had dinner, and then Thomas and Pam went to get pictures that had been taken on the mountain. We watched the Scooby Doo movie then got ready for bed. After the boys got in bed, I went and packed my stuff so we'd be ready to leave in the morning.
Day 8 & 9-Driving home
We got up the next day and drove to Amarillo. The weather was perfect this time, so that didn't slow us down. I could barely walk when I got up that morning because my calves were so sore, but they felt better after I walked around for awhile. I finished my book, "All the President's Pets". The boys were pretty restless in the car so we stopped at Burger King for lunch so they could play on the playground. When we got to Amarillo, we had dinner at Taco Bueno and Ethan flirted with some girls. We went swimming at the hotel, and then went to bed.
The next day we headed to Tyler. We woke up and got dressed, and then I took Logan, Dylan, and Caden to the lobby of the hotel for breakfast. Logan decided to make waffles for everyone with the waffle iron in the shape of Texas. Pam and Ethan joined us when we were finishing up our breakfast. Pam turned the TV in the lobby to Dante's Peak and soon we had to answer a lot of questions about volcanoes. We eventually got on the road around 9:30. I was bored since I didn't have my book to read, so I played a lot of solitaire on my iPod. We got home around 5:45 Sunday night. The boys all played with Annabelle because they love dogs. As soon as they left my house, I got in the car with Michelle and went to bible study. We picked up Aubrey on the way. I should have stayed home and caught up on sleep, but I just wanted to be around people my own age. After bible study, Chelle, Aubrey, and I went to eat at Friday's, and then I finally went home and got some sleep.
So there you go...I finally finished this post after having it saved as a draft for almost a month. If you want to see all my picture from the trip, go here:
Snowmass pictures
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