We have wonderful friends, the Holestine family, who invited us to go to Colorado with them the week of Thanksgiving. Seth's parents own a house close to Winter Park Ski Resort. It was sort of last minute, so we had to come up with the money to go rather fast. We sold some stuff (my double jogging stroller was a huge help), Matt made a little more at work, and we saved as much as we could. I am so glad we went. We all had a wonderful time. The best part? LOTS of snow! I have never been to Colorado in the winter, and it was absolutely gorgeous! The kids thought it was really cool, too! Andrew loves, loves the snow! It started snowing on our way up the mountain and it came down and accumulated fast! I was really nervous climbing the mountain in snowy conditions, but we made it up safely. There was a lot of praying though. =) The kids (except Ella...she had a small fever) played in the snow within an hour or so of arriving to the house.
There wasn't a lot to do with all the snow and it being cold, but we enjoyed just relaxing and hanging out. The kids played really well together and had lots of fun. Matt and Seth went fishing a few days. Hannah and I took one morning to go shopping. We played games with the kids, they colored, played Legos, Barbies, read books, watched TV, and relaxed. One day we went tubing. It was SO fun! The first time down the hill, I thought to myself that I was never doing it again, but once you go down a couple times, it's not too bad. Andrew went down a few times. Ella finally braved it enough to go down once with me and once with Matt. She had a look of terror the entire time! Abby loved it. She went down every time with Big Seth. I was impressed that Little Seth went down so many times by himself. We drove through Rocky Mountain National Forest. We didn't see any animals, but it was snowing and made for beautiful scenery. Hannah and I took the kids to McDonald's for lunch and played at the park. The park also had a sledding hill and provided slides. We were the only ones there for about 45 minutes and the kids had a blast. Thankfully, even Ella loved it. She went right down and carried her sled back up the hill by herself. We switched date nights with Hannah and Seth. When Matt and I went, we had dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It was really good. On our last day, we went ice skating and out to dinner. Ice skating would have been more fun if it hadn't been so cold. It got really cold quickly and started snowing. I was impressed with all the kids ice skating. They did really well, but it was just miserable outside. We warmed up with some hot chocolate at Starbucks. We went to a pizza place for dinner and it was delicious. Other things we enjoyed that week....time with great friends, hot chocolate, brownies, snow ice cream, yummy food, more sledding, and celebrating Thanksgiving.
As a side note, it really annoys me that blogger doesn't upload pictures in the order you put them. It doubly annoys me at how difficult it is rearrange them, so here are some pics from our trip in no particular order. It was hard to pick just a few because we had so many great ones.
There wasn't a lot to do with all the snow and it being cold, but we enjoyed just relaxing and hanging out. The kids played really well together and had lots of fun. Matt and Seth went fishing a few days. Hannah and I took one morning to go shopping. We played games with the kids, they colored, played Legos, Barbies, read books, watched TV, and relaxed. One day we went tubing. It was SO fun! The first time down the hill, I thought to myself that I was never doing it again, but once you go down a couple times, it's not too bad. Andrew went down a few times. Ella finally braved it enough to go down once with me and once with Matt. She had a look of terror the entire time! Abby loved it. She went down every time with Big Seth. I was impressed that Little Seth went down so many times by himself. We drove through Rocky Mountain National Forest. We didn't see any animals, but it was snowing and made for beautiful scenery. Hannah and I took the kids to McDonald's for lunch and played at the park. The park also had a sledding hill and provided slides. We were the only ones there for about 45 minutes and the kids had a blast. Thankfully, even Ella loved it. She went right down and carried her sled back up the hill by herself. We switched date nights with Hannah and Seth. When Matt and I went, we had dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It was really good. On our last day, we went ice skating and out to dinner. Ice skating would have been more fun if it hadn't been so cold. It got really cold quickly and started snowing. I was impressed with all the kids ice skating. They did really well, but it was just miserable outside. We warmed up with some hot chocolate at Starbucks. We went to a pizza place for dinner and it was delicious. Other things we enjoyed that week....time with great friends, hot chocolate, brownies, snow ice cream, yummy food, more sledding, and celebrating Thanksgiving.
As a side note, it really annoys me that blogger doesn't upload pictures in the order you put them. It doubly annoys me at how difficult it is rearrange them, so here are some pics from our trip in no particular order. It was hard to pick just a few because we had so many great ones.
Here Ella and Abby are burning off some energy by doing Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred. Luke tried to join in, too.
Family pic after ice skating. We went ice skating at the ski resort. It was really pretty there. Maybe one day we'll attempt skiing...
Enjoying snow ice cream. There was definitely enough snow!
Warming up with some hot chocolate after ice skating.
Thanksgiving Dinner. While we missed our families a little, it really was a great way to spend Thanksgiving. Not as much hustle and bustle and more relaxing and enjoying time with a great family. The food was delicious, too!!
After we discovered the sledding hill, we wanted to go back and take Seth and Matt with us. We went Thanksgiving morning. It was much more crowded the second time. All of the big kids wanted a turn to go down with Luke. He loved it.
The ramp the kids were sledding over.
Ella and Daddy ice skating. For only being 3 and this being her first time ice skating, she did really well. We actually have a groupon to go ice skating some time, since the kids loved it so much, but didn't get to enjoy it for very long.
A lake we drove past on our way to Rock Mountain National Park. It was gorgeous. The pictures just don't do it justice.
Luke sitting in the tube. He didn't go down the hill, but I pulled him around for a while.
Abby and Big Seth tubing down the hill.
At Rocky Mountain National Park.
Getting ready to go down the hill.
Kids playing in the snow.
Warming up with hot chocolate.
Our little snow bunny. He could have stayed out all day.
View from the house.
We had a fabulous time! It was well worth the drive and the money. Though we did decide we wouldn't do an over night drive again. The kids didn't sleep all that well, and Matt and I were miserable. The ride home was tough. Luke wasn't very happy about being in the car so much. Andrew and Ella did pretty good. Friends let us borrow their DVD players, so it was a huge life saver. I think we are all looking forward to our next trip to Colorado!
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