#8: Go Snow Skiing Together

Well, we marked another thing off the Pre-Baby Bucket List! We knocked out this ski trip a lot earlier than we expected... Brandon's family asked us if we wanted to go and the date that they had selected happened to fall perfectly with Brandon's schedule so we packed our bags and hit the road... If you aren't up to speed on our Pre-Baby Bucket List, you can read all about it by clicking here.

Despite the resulting blood clot, we had one fab-u-lous little snow skiing trip! Brandon and I spent 6 days in beautiful Keystone, Colorado with his Uncle Jim, Aunt Jennifer and their three adorable kiddos. Oh how I loooooove Colorado!

We left the house at midnight and drove through the night so that the twelve hour drive wouldn't turn into a twenty-four hour drive... They have three year old twin boys, is any more explanation really necessary? We loaded that Excursion to the very brim!! I wish, wish, wish I'd taken a picture of everything/everyone crammed in. Imagine this - Front seat: Brandon and Jim. Middle seat: Gigantic car seat and at least 200 hot wheels, Jennifer, another gigantic car seat and every form of Thomas the Train imaginable. Back seat: Snowboard, Sophie in her booster seat and at least nineteen books, me and a very large batch of cookies (I've got priorities people). I would tell you how excruciating it is to drive through the night and how exhausted I was when we got there, but honestly, I was so far to the back that the rest of the adults forgot all about me and I was not called upon to drive so I slept the whole way there! Oops.

The first day of the trip we just got our skis checked out, settled into our lovely condo, made a grocery store run and little things like that... Nothing too note worthy. But the following four days, Brandon and I spent the vast majority of our day on the slopes and it was awesome!!

At Keystone, you can ski from 8a-8p (if your legs will work for that long, mine would never make it) so we had the luxury of skiing day or night! I looooooove night skiing (preferably when it isn't flippin' freezing!). The slopes are lit up but everything else is pitch dark and then you can see the tiny town's lights and from the top of the mountain it looks like you're looking at one of those Christmas Villages people display. So beautiful! Plus, you pretty much ski by yourself - no out of control children to dodge, no crazy snowboarders... it's perfect.

This might not have been our luckiest trip... The first day we got into town I lost my purse... I NEVER lose anything. It was recovered and all was good, thankfully, but it was still a headache. The next morning, Brandon lost his ski gloves... He NEVER loses stuff either! They were never recovered, but Keystone let him borrow some from the Lost and Found which was very nice! Then when we went to pick up our lift tickets, they couldn't find where we paid... even though I had the confirmation number and email. Eventually we got that straightened out but it took a good half hour... FINALLY, Brandon and I took the gondola to the very top of the mountain!! I requested that we make one run down a green (If you aren't familiar with snow skiing the easiest level is green, followed by moderate which is blue and finally black which is the hardest) just to get our legs under us a bit... It's been a few years since either of us put on a pair of skis. Brandon whined, moaned, and complained but obliged in the end. We took off down the only green and, of course, 100 yards from the top it turned into solid blacks. Lovely. We cracked up!!

The above picture may be my favorite from the trip! Poor guy wiped out before even taking his gloves off!! We are around the boys quite a bit but never without being in a large group setting or for a long enough period to truly see their little personalities. After this week, we got the little guys down pat! The sleeper above, Ethan, he's the cuddler! The first night (Actually, morning, it was 5AM) he somehow managed to climb down three flights of stairs to our room. The little guy couldn't get the door open and by the time Brandon sleepily fumbled his way around our strung out bags of luggage to the door, nobody was there. B climbed back in bed and assured me nobody was out there. I KNEW I heard something... and not thirty seconds later we heard a little crying voice, "Mama?" This time Brandon hopped up, wide awake, and found little Ethan at our door. He snatched him up, hugged him and told him he could sleep with us until his Mama woke up. Ethan climbed right in with us, cuddled up beside me and went immediately back to sleep. From then on, he was our little buddy! **And if you are a fan of the movie Cars 2... Ethan's favorites are the Orange Bad Guy, Professor, Finn, and one red hot wheels that has nothing to do with the movie.

We were blessed with absolutely perfect, b-e-a-utiful weather! It snowed about 11 inches the first couple of nights we got into town so the following days we skied in perfect powder with the sun shining all day! You couldn't ask for better conditions!

I pride myself on being able to keep up with boys. Whether its skiing or rock climbing or jumping out of airplanes, I love an adventure! My mom always says that she was brave and adventurous until she had me, and then since my dad was always being brave (ie doing something crazy or risky) she had to quit and start being safe so that I wouldn't end up an orphan. I never got it, I always want to be brave... When it comes to snow skiing, I don't do anything tricky. I never attempt a jump. I avoid wooded areas. But I like to go fast... You won't have to wait on me, I promise! My precious husband, on the other hand, is a bit of a dare devil. He loves to veer off into the trees, to try any/every jump, and he does it all while going 100 mph! Stressed. Me. Out. This year, I was totally over being brave, I wanted to live!! Every time Brandon would head off into the trees, I would secretly think, "You better be careful, I don't want to end up a widow!" And we don't even have kids yet... Marriage has made me a wuss!!

Little Miss Sophie attended ski school one day and had the entire skiing process down pat! The girl could pizza (aka snow plow), she could french fries (aka keeping your skis parallel) and she understood that you need to go back and forth, not straight down. She did so good! This picture was taken on Sophie's first run down the real mountain!! She was doing great until she got a little cold and then it kind of took the wind out of her. Nevertheless, we were so proud of her for going for it! Next year, I'm positive, we'll be the ones trying to keep up with her!

One day, B got a little bored with the skis (in other words, his legs were killing him) so he decided to snowboard. I wasn't too sure about this plan since I've gone on a lot of ski trips were people decided they would "just snowboard" and from what I saw, it must be a lot harder than it looks! But turns out, my cute husband had actually snowboarded once before and was surprisingly good at it. He didn't try anything crazy but I think he enjoyed the day and I appreciated getting to slow down just a little!

Winner of the "Most Festive Coat Award" went to the guy above... Yes, I was that girl that took a picture of a complete stranger. But seriously, who skis in fur?!

Unfortunately, this is the closest we came to a group shot. Before you judge, you try getting three kids to cooperate in the snow... not happenin', wayyyyy too many distractions. So far I've introduced you to Ethan (with his eyes closed), Sophie (the ski bum) and finally, meet Aaron (in the cute green hat). Aaron is definitely the independent twin. He is completely fine doing his own thing. He prefers Thomas the Train over Cars, his favorites are Diesel and Diesel II (Don't ask me, I couldn't tell them apart). He would also REALLY like pretty much any car Ethan happens to be playing with. Aaron can spot "his letter" (A) from miles away! He preferred cuddling with his mom instead of us, but we didn't hold it against the little guy... He is really good at giving "a hug and a kiss." He says it together really quick, "Can I have a hug and a kiss?" "Do you want a hug and a kiss?" or my personal favorite, if he's getting in trouble, "But I just want a hug and a kiss!" He sure was a cutie and very informative when it came to trains!

That's our ski trip in a nut shell! We had such a wonderful time and we were so appreciative of Brandon's aunt and uncle for inviting us to tag along! We are already counting down the days until Ski Trip 2013!