Vail

Quick pic of my guy on the lift heading to our ski school.

Cacoo got her ski legs back pretty quickly thanks to two days of lessons.

Went to dinner at the Red Lion and almost had the place to ourselves.  McIver thought the mannequin's pose was pretty funny.

A 'selfie' with Dawn and Olivia

We love a pic with the mountain skier.

Vail - Mustache Day

We always have so much fun wearing our mustaches on the slopes.  People are hilarious asking why we wear them ... someone asked if we were doing a fund-raiser.  We told them we just don't take ourselves too seriously!

Hot chocolate break at Wildwood.

Vail - Breckinridge

We decided to head to Breckinridge one day for skiing and roller-coastering.  This was our first time there and we ended up with very mixed reviews.  The slopes weren't as well-marked as we would have liked.  The fact that the lifts were longer was a mixed blessing ... it was a terribly long, bitterly cold ride to the top of the runs, but the runs were long and pretty fun.  Catherine and I ended up skiing together while everyone else went ahead without us.  It was nice to have someone who was more my speed.

We couldn't resist the Ski Girls Rock sign!

The roller coaster was AWESOME!!!  The kids (and Will) definitely got their (our) money's worth.  Nanoo decided it was worth a try, too.  We could hear her giggling and squealing half-way down the track!

Olivia said it's way more fun to ride with an adult because you go WAY faster.

Nanoo and Pop met us for lunch.  We sat right next to the outdoor grill and put a hurtin' on a bucket of beer.

Olivia and I decided to take a run on our own at the end of the day.  We went the wrong way (remember how the runs aren't as clearly marked!) and ended up at the VERY bottom of the slopes.  We skied past some really cool condos that were definitely 

'ski in-ski out.'  But, we had to traipse across three parking lots to meet everyone else at the bottom of the gondola.  She was a trooper!

Vail - Wicked Wednesday

Dawn texted this sweet picture of Andrew and Olivia on the lift while Catherine, McIver and I were in a lesson one day.

Mac taking a little break.  He'd much rather be headed downhill than waiting for someone to make a potty-stop.

It was so fun to have Catherine skiing with us this year.

Cacoo at the bottom of her first blue run.

We met Nanoo and Pop for lunch at Garfinkel's.  The weather could not have been more gorgeous.  McIver scarfed down TWO orders of calamari and wouldn't share a single bite with anyone.

The other side of the table.  Garfinkel's is one of the best places for apres-ski because you can sit on the deck and watch the skiers coming in from the last run of the day.

"Tubing Tuesday" (the day we have gone tubing in the past) became "Wicked Wednesday" this year.  The runs were SUPER fast and SUPER fun this time...until the guys started putting down mats to slow down the tubes.  We all went so fast during the first few runs that we ran into the cushions at the bottom of the track.  SO MUCH FUN!!!  

McIver and I got a lesson in a new tubing method ... starfish, then tuck.

Vail

I figured it's about time I got around to posting pictures from our trip to Vail last month.  Oops!

After two lay-overs and three planes (and a few hours in the Continental Club in Chicago and Denver - free snacks and drinks, the kids loved it!), we were glad to finally make it to Vail.

It didn't take long for the kids to hit the hot tub once Dawn and Andrew arrived.

Valentine poem, by McIver

Love comes from the heart. Love always makes you feel happy. Love is what God wants. You feel love for that someone special. You can't get enough love!

Winter is... (By McIver)

Tasty, lovely snow dropping in my mouth.
Beautiful, swirling northern lights waving over the snow.
Big, puffy snow hats zooming past my eyes.
Moonlight Snow White snowflakes falling on my tongue.
Fast or slow tubes sliding down the paths.