Colorado Bound!!

Ready for take-off!

Scott and I aren't afraid to do difficult things with small children.  Our oldest was 6 weeks old when we first took him camping.  He was 4 months old when we took him on his first plane.  So when our yearly ski group started planning our winter ski trip, we didn't hesitate to say "Count us in..."even though our entourage now includes a toddler, infant and a Nana.

Packing for the 4 of us may have been the hardest part.  I was sure I would forget something critical, like my ski pants or gloves as I was focused on making sure the kids had everything they needed.  Happily, everything we needed made it in the bags.

Good little traveler

One necessity of going on a ski trip with our 2 littles was taking Nana along.  Scott and I both love skiing and wanted to make sure we were both able to hit the slopes.  This required someone to stay at the house with the babies.  Who better to take care of the kids than Nana (my mom).  Lucky for us she loves the mountains so she didn't hesitate for long when asked to join us on our adventure west.

We drove to Indianapolis with Nana snug in the backseat of the car between the 2 car seats.  The flight was direct from Indy to Denver which was nice.  I wore Lila, Nana carried Paisley and Scott took care of most of the bags.  Going through security with an infant/toddler was easy and the security people were nice.   We took our seats on the plane and Paisley was excited to fly.  He didn't remember his previous flights so this seemed like a first for him.  We were armed with plenty of snacks, coloring books, and laptop.

As we took off I nursed Lila until she fell asleep and Paisley was well behaved listing to the sounds

Hello Foxy Loxy

of the aircraft and watching out the window.  He fought taking a nap which I knew would catch up with us later.  As the mountains came into view below the plane, I felt the same tug on my heart I have felt on every previous trip west.  The mountains are my "happy" place, the place that feels like "home."

We loaded up in our SUV and drove towards Breckenridge.  We met up with the group at the rental house and got settled in our rooms.  Paisley and mom shared a room and Scott, Lila and I were in another room.  Both bedrooms had their own bathroom which was incredibly nice with the kids.  We put the kids to bed and sat up talking with the others as the rest of the group of 13 slowly started arriving at the house.

I can't say that I hate that the group has grown up a bit and doesn't party all night while listening to music so loud the walls shake.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good time, but I also love sleep.  This was the first time that Paisley had stayed in a house with strangers so we were very interested in watching him interact with the other adults that he had never met before.

My favorite ski partner

Thursday morning after breakfast the group headed to the mountain.  Mom and the kids were settled in the house and had a full day of playing planned.  Scott and Kenneth were buying boots so they took off to a different shop.  We got our rentals and headed up the mountain.  I had never skied Breck before so I was happy to see a new mountain.  The snow was good and it wasn't crowded.  I spent most the day skiing with Michelle and James.  Around lunch time I headed back to the house to have lunch with the kids and feed Lila.  Luckily our house was not a far walk from the bottom of the mountain.  The kids and Nana were doing good so I headed back to the mountain after lunch and met up with Scott.  We won't mention that his new ski boots were more expensive then our house payment (and we have 2 house payments).

The rest of the day I got to ski with my sweet husband.  We took run after run under the beautiful blue Colorado ski.  It was nice to ski and not be pregnant (that hadn't happened for a few years) and I was happy that my body hadn't forgot how to ski.  It felt good to use those muscles that hadn't been worked in a while.  By the end of the day I was beat, in a good way!  We made our way back to the house for dinner and snuggles with our little ones.

On Friday we hit the slopes again and enjoyed some fresh snow from the night below.  I never grow tired of standing on top of the mountain staring at the ski town below.  I love the feeling of being surrounded by nothing but peaks, enjoying the sights that such a small percentage of humans get to absorb.  While it makes me feel as though I am standing on top of the world, it also makes one feel so tiny in the grand scheme of things.  That's not a bad feeling.

The group

On Saturday Scott and crew hit the slopes again and mom and I took the babies shopping and up the mountain.  We found a toy store that had a nice area for Paisley to play.    If I'm not skiing, my next favorite thing about ski trips is walking around the town with my mom and babies, checking out the sights while sipping a coffee.  It was so nice to relax and hang out with them.  Paisley liked riding the gondola up to the top....until a sudden wind storm stopped the gondola for about 15 minutes while we were suspended pretty high in the air.  I was a little relieved when it started back up and we made it down the mountain.

Gondola ride

Sunday came too soon and it was time to pack up and head to the airport.  The kids didn't travel home quite as well as they did heading to Colorado.  We all breathed a sigh of relief when both kids finally fell asleep on the plane (after a bit of fussing and screaming).  Luckily the passengers around us seemed to understand as I don't think we got a single dirty look (yeah!).

We landed in Indy just as an ice storm was descending on southern Indiana.  It was a long, slow drive home, but we finally arrived safe and sound.  Now that the ski trip was behind us, we were all officially ready for winter to be over and warm weather to arrive.

Cold Colorado

It was another great ski trip in the books and I am so glad that we are able to experience these group vacations with our babies.  I was even happier that Paisley didn't pick up on any of the language used by the other adults (shoooo)!!!!

Scott and I often talked about in just a few years the kids will be hitting the slopes with us.  It won't be long after that they will be able to ski laps around Scott and I.  I love having this winter activity that we will share as a family for years to come.

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