Friday afternoon is just great...we open presents, get the skis rented, get food for Ava and finish it off with pizza and a philly cheesesteak (Christine's favorite). Everyone is so excited for day 1 of skiing tomorrow. And everyone is asleep by 9:30:)
Saturday arrives and the decision is made for all of us to take Ava up to the Snow Castle that Keystone has built at the top of the mountain and then Christine and Kevin will take a lesson in the afternoon while I babysit Ava (which is meeting sitting around the house while she naps basically). Here are a few pictures and a video of Ava from the top of the mountain.
After a nice morning on the hill, I take Ava back to the house for a nap and leave Christine and Kevin to their lesson. Ava was begging for her crib and was asleep within 5 minutes. Which let me watch the bowl games and hang out. Their lesson was ending at 3:30 and Ava woke up at 3:15. When I walked into the room she looked at me and said "HI!" Adorable...she then had to use quite a bit of effort to stand up and when she finally was vertical belted out a quick "whew!" Being the best Uncle in the world:) I quickly changed our dirty diaper and had Ava all dressed. She wasn't being fussy at all but I am not too sure she was entirely thrilled either. You decide...
We meet Christine just in time for her to quickly get out of her ski boots, but we notice that Kevin is not quick to follow. I then get the details...it appears that our dear brother was demoted during the class. However...to show them who's in charge, when the lesson was over Kevin decide he was going to ski down the mountain on his own. Which is not recommended at all for people who have NEVER skied before. AFter 45 minutes you could tell Christine and I are less than thrilled and we head home:) As we are leaving Kevin calls to state he just spent the last hour trying to get down the mountain via SchoolMarm. Now I can tell you from skiing that run, if you have ever skied before there are a few spots that can challenge you...if you have never skied before between some of the pitches, all the people and the ice that forms after 2 you will have an almost impossible time getting down. So a minimum of 25 falls later though...victorious Kevin has made it down the mountain:) Christine gives him a look that only a wife can give when we reunite the couple and I quickly find somewhere else to be! However in the end we were all cracking up about Kevin coming down and his description of the instructor, skiing and the entire day. More football and Christine's poppy seed chicken for dinner, the group is asleep again by 9:30.
Sunday December 30 arrives and today is a Breckenridge Day!!! First up, brother sister ski at Breck. Christine was awesome! I had so much fun skiing with her. Now in the spirit of equal opportunity I get a chance to embarrass Christine a bit:) So we are hitting Chair 5 on our way to the top of 4 O'Clock run and Christine doesn't quite make it on the lift. Of course, big brother immediately grabs her and pulls her up onto the lift (no slowing or stopping at all!!!) and we get her situated. We giggle about her mishap and I say "Damn...gonna be tough to get off the lift with only one ski!" Christine looks down and goes "Oh $hit...I didn't realize my ski came off" and we both start cracking up. WE look behind us and there are a few people one of which has her ski (good samaritan) so with that problem solved all we have to do is get her off the lift. As we get near the top Christine waves her hands and points to her foot to notify the lift attendant. Quickly, Christine lifts her right foot off the ground, interlocks her right arm around my left arm and we successfully steer her down off the lift without falling. The lift operator is impressed! We get her ski and off we go. I had so much fun with Christine skiing!!! Here we are at the base of Peak 8.
After two hours of skiing and Ava starting to get fussy, we swap out. Christine takes over the babysitting duties and I take Kevin out on the hill. He is doing great for his second day of skiing and we get a few hours in before Ava is just too much and we have to go home. Also...christine and I have some night skiing set up at Keystone! So we leave and get down to Breck but before leaving town, Ava gets a chance to play in the snow at the park and seems to be happier so we go to The Warming Hut (Stacey's Restaurant) for appetizers and an apres ski beer.
Back in Keystone, Christine and I drop Kevin and Ava off for night skiing back at Keystone. Again...it was so much fun hanging out with my sister. Since Ava, we have not had too many chances for just the two of us to kick it:) Here she is coming down the slope linking her turns great!!!
Night skiing ends and we pick up some smash burger for supper and all fall asleep well before we probably should. BUT!!! A good nights rest is key to a good day of skiing!!!
New Year's Eve arrives and we have a rest day built in. However...our little Ava starts to run a fever:( Kevin and I go run a few errands around lunchtime and Christine continues to keep an eye on Ava. While we are out, Christine says Ava is napping so I take the opportunity to show Kevin one of my favorite pubs in Frisco...Prost. We have a beer and a sausage for lunch and in small world fashion, Kevin runs into one of his classmates from Ft. Leavenworth. We spend some time talking and enjoying ourselves before returning home. Once home, Kevin really wants to ski again and Christine doesn't want to take Ava out like we had planned with her not feeling well so Kevin and I do some twilight skiing at Keystone and he is really doing a great job. We finish up and our plans for a NYE out on the lake watching fireworks were altered. No big deal, we make the best of it and to make our family proud Christine and I set out gourmet cookies, cheeses, crackers, meats and of course the creamed herring. For those of you wondering, my grandmother on my mother's side has Norweigan blood and a tradition on their side is to have creamed herring on NYE for good luck. If you have never had creamed herring you are missing out on nothing:) It tastes horrible. But Christine and I each have a piece in honor of our grandmother and family tradition (Christine almost spits it back up) and we watch the ball fall in times square. Happy that we celebrated east coast NYE we are all asleep by 10:15 mountain.
New Year's Day arrives and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Ava still has a slight fever and today the whole group was going to hit Vail. With Christine still not 100% confident with Ava, Kevin and I went out on our own as she wanted to stay home with Ava and watch football (GO DAWGS!!!). Typically, I would spend my New Years Day imbibing and watching football all day, but visitors, Vail and snow were calling. So this is Kevin's 4th day of skiing and he is really getting the hang of it. After warming up on some greens, I talked him into going down his first blue.
Kevin does a great job on the blue and at this point, I feel comfortable leaving him by himself. I really wanted to go hit China Bowl. So we part ways and decide to meet up at Two Elk Lodge in 45 minutes. I drop into China Bowl and just love it. Great run and lots of fun terrain, here is the view from me on the lift coming back up.
We tour all around the mountain and make our way over to Game Creek Bowl.
After about 5 hours of skiing we are shot and want to get home to see everyone. All in all, great New Years Day and we finished it up with some food and watching the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl (which all the bowl games this year are horrible including this national championship game I am watching right now).
So that was the trip...I had the best time with them. The next day I took them down to the airport and said my goodbyes secretly hoping they come back one more time. In fact, I was so used to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse being on every morning, the day after they left, I almost put it on:) But that is what makes these moments so special. We cannot spend everyday together like we did growing up so you cherish the moments you do have together. Love y'all so much and come back soon!!!
Love it! Getting off the ski lift with one ski was priceless...:) miss you!
ReplyDeleteVery impressed with getting of the lift on one ski. Kevin, glad you picked up the skiing so quickly. Where is the picture of Christine skiing?
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