Keystone Colorado!

 Three weeks ago Stephen mentioned to me he somehow had 6 days off in a row on his schedule.  For an Emergency Room doctor with a crazy schedule and no official vacation days off, this was an oddity.  It took us all of a minute to decide to take advantage of this blessing and plan a quick vacation.  Stephen has always wanted to take the family on a ski trip and we thought the kids were old enough this year to handle it.  So two weeks later, we found ourselves in Keystone, Colorado!

Our condo was behind the kids over in the corner with great views of all the mountains.  The pools, hot tubs and water slides were extremely heated so the kids enjoyed swimming while in Colorado also.  

This is immediately following our arrival into the mountains.  The kids couldn't wait to get their hands on some snow and snowball fights started promptly.  

We could walk to the village and to the gondola from our condo which made it super convenient with little kids.  We went to explore the village and have some lunch when we first arrived.  The village had lots of neat decorations and ice sculptures.  

Our arrival day also happened to be little missy's 4th birthday!  Miss Addison Kate got to celebrate her 4th birthday up on a mountain in Colorado!  (Last year, she spent it at the Magic Kingdom; purely by accident we have traveled to fun places on her birthday...we are setting up her future husband for failure I am sure, poor guy).

Because it was Addison's birthday we decided to celebrate big and take the gondola to the very top of the mountain and enjoy a fondue dinner.  (This is on the bottom of the mountain right before we got on.)

First gondola ride...for both of us.  This is right about the time I had a giant anxiety attack remembering that I am terrified of open heights and wondering what in the world I was doing going 10,000 feet up a mountain in a blizzard.  What if the cables broke, what if it got stuck, why didn't I put our long unders on, why was I in Colorado with a height fear???  Of course the rest of the family was woo hooing the whole time so I tried to pull myself together.

FONDUE!!!

Too much fondue and fun for this four year old.  Addison was deposited on this bed in half snow gear a lot on this trip.  

On the way to ski day number one!  Addison definitely was the lucky one on this trip, she got pulled everywhere either in a sled or in a wagon.  And with the elevation difference, Stephen and I were huffing and puffing a lot on this trip while pulling kids.  

Got our ski gear, we were almost ready!  It was the first time on skis for all five of us so we decided to get a private ski instructor for all of us instead of putting the kids in ski school.  We wanted to share this experience with them instead of separating all day and just meeting up in the afternoon.  It worked out really well and the kids definitely progressed a lot faster having so much personalized attention.  

Yup, that is Addison, going down the kids bunny hill within five minutes of putting skis on.  Typical Addison, "I got this."

My snow babies.

The cutest snow bunny...Addison looks pretty cute too. ;)

Amelia learned super quick and was much braver than I had expected.  This is the 9 year old who still thinks Dumbo is a thrill ride so I was thinking we would never get off the mountain.  But this kid was the first one to move up to the bigger hills every time.  She absolutely loved skiing and keeps asking when we can go again.  Luke was our speed demon and decided turning was for woosies.  I would slowly meander my way down the mountain, full of turns and going as slow as possible.  Luke would be a red blur flying past all of us.  We found him the perfect t-shirt souvenir that said, "Go fast or go home." 

Daddy and Mimi...love.

Our whole crew...ski style.

Stinking cute while riding on the gondola.  

Luke and Addison playing on the snow fort while Daddy and Mimi hit the slopes for more runs.

Addison Kate being Addison Kate.  

My little man.

On top of the snow fort were more ice sculptures.  

Some of my favorite times were home in the condo.  I have noticed the less stuff we have, the more fun we have and the more we enjoy each other.  All we had was a deck of cards and some coloring books so we found Amelia and Luke in this exact position between ski runs (they loved switching on the fireplace with a light switch).  I love them in their ski socks and long unders.  Addison colored to her little hearts content.  

We tried to fit in all the winter fun we could because our winter fun in Mississippi is actually closer to summer fun in the rest of the country.  Addison "ice skating" with a safety cone.  I know my youngest well and knew ice skating would be fun for about 3 1/2 minutes so I  saved the $30 and just took the two of us out in our boots.  Three minutes later she and I were cozy by the fire, eating cookies and watching the rest of the family ice skate.  

The big kids lasted a little longer on the ice.

Tubing!  

Lots of fun things to do in the village.  Amelia and Luke were happy to play giant chess and wished we would have left them there longer.  We took this picture to give to Amelia's chess coaches (yes she is on the chess team).  I love my little brainiac.  

Stephen and I went to Colorado right after we got married, so close to 12 years ago.  We went in the fall so we did hiking and horseback riding.  It was nice to be back in the mountains but looking at this picture I realized I am wearing the same jacket and hat.  That is probably pretty pitiful. 

The kids night swimming.  The steam rising from the pool is out of control so my pictures weren't great but they loved swimming in the freezing (literally) cold.  Stephen and I enjoyed watching the kids experience so many new things on this trip.  Sometimes, while piling on three pairs of snow pants, hats and gloves, hauling ski gear,  clearing snot off little faces, you wonder what in the heck were we  thinking?  But it is the memories, all the family memories we stock pile up...that is why we do it.  This trip will always be- remember that first time we went skiing?