Spring Break 2017

We spent spring break in Colorado, and it was a wonderful trip! Despite packing for days - it was like a tetris game trying to pack all of our ski gear into the least number of bags - the trip was one of my favorites thus far. Why? Because (1) I LOVE Colorado and enjoy visiting the place where I lived for two years after college, (2) my family needed a week of sunshine, (3) this is the first family vacation where all five of us have enjoyed an activity together, and (4) we spent quality time with my best friend Megan and her adorable family.

Megan owns a condo at Copper Mountain and was gracious enough to let us use her place for the week. She and her family joined us for the first couple days but then returned home because her kids had school. We skied for a few more days by ourselves and then spent the 2nd weekend in Denver at Megan's house. Meg's kids are the same ages as mine - Brody is two months older than Taylor and Mackenzie (my Goddaughter) is three months older than Matty - and they played so nicely together. One of my favorite moments of the trip was sitting with Meg on her front porch, drinking a glass of wine, and watching the kids play together in the gorgeous 70 degree weather. I have made no secret of the fact that I had a rough winter (how could I not when Seattle breaks its own rain records?), and the week of spring skiing and playing outdoors was just what the doctor ordered.

Brody, Taylor & Mackenzie

Our first night in the mountains. Meg and I opted to share the biggest margarita ever. Don't worry, the two of us could not finish it.

The biggest downfall of our trip was that Matty had some sort of bug and was not himself the first half of the week. He had a fever and slept a lot. So, he and Tommy did not ski on our first day (but don't worry too much about Tommy - he was able to watch the Yankees game and last day of the Masters).

Brayden, Mackenzie, and Taylor, however, were ready to hit the slopes.

Brady had an awesome first day. The first run was tough - we skipped the magic carpet and bunny slopes and went straight up the mountain. Megan's husband Brian had to help Brayden get the feel for skiing (it had been a couple of months since his lessons ended). Once Brayden got the hang of it (two runs later), he was OFF. The kid barreled down the mountain and did awesome. He cracks me up.

Me and my ski buddies

The kids loved getting in the pool and hot tub after skiing. Mommies liked it too!

S'mores!

After a quick trip to the doctor, Matty made it onto the slopes the second day. He was a trooper but only made it about half of the day.

The boyz - Brady, Matty, Brody. Love their color coordinated outfits!

A family that skis together, stays together!

Taylor was Miss Independent and loved riding the ski lift by herself (in this instance, she rode up with Megan's mom Tecla). Tommy took a selfie of the four of us - look at all that sunshine in the sky!

My favorite people

After another successful day of skiing, we drove into Breckenridge for dinner and got ice cream.

On Wednesday, after skiing for three days, we took a break and drove to Denver for the day. Tommy wanted to see a Colorado Rockies game, and we figured it would be a good break from skiing. It was a glorious day in the city. We drove down early, walked around downtown a bit, stopped at the newly renovated Union Station so that Brayden could watch the trains, ate lunch at one of my old stomping grounds (Fado's), went to the game, went back to Union Station for B, drove by my old condo in Glendale, and had dinner in Cherry Creek. It was a full day but everyone had a great time.

Now, THIS is a happy boy! TRAINS!

Brayden would have stood there and watched the whole day had we let him.

Lunch outdoors at Fados!

I love this place. Look how gorgeous it is!

Dippin Dots

Matty's new Rockies shirt

Family photo after the game

... and then back to Union Station (for at least two hours). Thankfully, there was a beer garden at Union Station.

On our final day of skiing, it was almost 60 degrees. It was gorgeous but by lunchtime we were skiing on complete slush. It was fun to eat lunch outdoors on top of the mountain.

On the last run of the trip, I rode the chair lift up with Taylor, and we skied down a blue run with bumps. Taylor took on the moguls, even though she's never learned how to ski them, and she did awesome. I have quite a little skier on my hands.

Getting to the base of the mountain was a chore. Lots of traversing, which was hard to do when your skis were stuck in "mashed potatoes." Here you see Tommy trying to pull the boys along.

One last "Moment of Ultimacy" watching my family ski together.

Can you tell we were wiped after that last run?

Brayden formed an unlikely friendship with Brian, and the two of them were buds the entire week (which basically meant that Brayden talked Brian's ear off and Brian patiently listened). Brian gave Brayden a Colorado magnet/snowglobe, and it has found a permanent home on the side of our fridge. Every day when we look a the school lunch menu, Brayden talks about Brian. Too cute.

We spent the last weekend at Megan & Brian's house outside of Denver. We had a wonderful time. We went to a Japanese Steakhouse one night, grilled at home another night, went to an Easter Egg Hunt and had one of our own. It was truly a magical weekend.

The VanStone's have an awesome wrap-around deck. We loved hanging out there...

... and having a glass of wine!

At the Hibachi Grill - Silly girls

 

Megan, Tecla, and Brian, observing the Easter Egg Hunt.

Each kiddo could find a maximum of 12 eggs. Once they found all of their eggs, they had to help the others find their 12. Thanks to some ground rules before the hunt started, everyone had fun and their was little to no fighting. Success!

Checking out their loot - mainly peeps, chocolate, and coins.

Brayden with his buddy.

See you again soon, Beautiful Colorado!