Today's Lesson: Skiing for Dummies

Well...I'm not calling anyone a dummy...just my own ability to maneuver my feet while wearing awkward, long sticks!

The first mission of our trip was to learn how to ski...since none of us have ever done it before! I was pretty nervous, but did have some fun! I don't have a lot of pictures...if you can imagine! Once the skis went on...there was a lot of slipping and sliding and side-stepping up the hill!

{waiting for our shuttle to take us to the village}



First lesson: Rent your ski equipment from the village...not the sports shop where you are staying...unless it's in the village...or unless you're really strong! Carrying this equipment from our hotel...to the shuttle...through the village...and up the gondola was quite a feat! Whew! I was sweating before we even started!

{Seriously...these people make this skiing thing look simple, I tell you!}
But...up we go to give it a try!




Second lesson: Do not tuck your long underwear, jeans, or ski pants into your ski boot. Everyone but Dan got this wrong...oops! So our instructor helped set us straight!

Now we're ready...I think!




Third lesson: Learn how to stop! Unfortunately, our instructor did not quite show us that very important step! And even more importantly...how to get up! He might have been better about telling us where we could find a great condo in the mountains...apparently he was a realtor too! Oh well...

Dan and Emily did awesome! They were naturals! They decided to take a second lesson another day. Emily spent the morning with Dan and they had a great instructor! She taught them so much more...I wish I could've seen them! Dan took a full day lesson...so he's semi-pro now! Meanwhile...Alex and I had a good time shopping in the village! Maybe the two of us will be ready for skiing next year!

{The pros!}
But we had a good time and the views were amazing...all worth it!



And while Dan was finishing up his lesson in the afternoon...Alex, Emily and I went back to take a break for a bit and then finished up the day with a little ice-skating!









But don't let me forget to tell you...despite the great time we were having...after the first ski lesson...Alex had been developing a cough the day before and had a fever two nights in a row. He seemed fine the morning of our ski lesson...but by the evening he was burning up and so lethargic...so off he and Dan went to the ER and came back a couple hours later with some Tamiflu. He got much better after that.

But...that's not all...after the second lesson Emily had and an afternoon of ice-skating...we all went to bed that evening seemingly well...that is until Emily woke up in the middle of the night struggling to talk and gasping to breathe! So...off Dan went again to take her to the ER! And about 6 hours later...they returned with medicine for Emily's croup! {sigh} But all is well...and we still had loads of fun tubing and an adventure on snowmobiles in between...but I will give you all a break and share that later!

"Over the River and Through the Woods..."

"...to Vail, Colorado we go!"

After we woke up Christmas morning {bright and early...around 5:30am}, opened presents, dressed and loaded up the car...we were on our way to the snowy Rockies!

It was such a fun morning...but after three flights {we drove to Cincinnati...flew to Chicago...then to Denver...caught our last plane to Eagle, CO...and got a taxi to Vail} and one lost piece of luggage...{poor Alex! He had no pajamas and had to sleep in his clothes, and no snow pants the next day...until his suitcase finally arrived around 2:00 in the afternoon!}...we finally arrived at our destination close to midnight! What a long day! Because it was so dark when we got there {and our eyelids were so heavy!} we had no idea what a beautiful view we'd see in the morning...

{Yes, Emily, Alex & I did swim in the pool one time...and it wasn't as warm as the steam coming off the top made it look! And when you get out...brrr! But the kids loved it!}





Until I got my sea snow legs...
...I took a good spill on the backside!

We get an occasional good snowfall in Indiana, but it's nothing like the deep, pretty powder that falls here and being surrounded by snowy mountains on all sides...I could never capture the true beauty with my camera...but I definitely tried!



{Emily's ready to try a little snowboarding!}


We rested most of the morning the first day we were there, but later ventured out in our snow gear to a nearby town called Lionshead Village. I loved how it looked! It reminded me of a little Swiss village! The main attire here consisted of skis, ski boots, really cool and cute ski pants and jackets and some crazy hats! Who knew you could be so fashionable skiing? Mine mostly made me feel like a puffy marshmallow or the Michelin Tire Man! But I thought Emily looked pretty cute all little and puffy!



{Almost everyone is carrying skis or a snowboard!}

{These views are from the top of the slope where we rode the gondola up. Breathtaking! It was actually a little cloudy over some of the mountains...but I have some clearer views the days we went tubing and took ski lessons...but more about that later! This time we just took in the views and played in the snow!}










That's the first day...I will spare you an overload of pictures...at least until next time!

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

Okay...I know that's backwards...but it's been a long, fun Holiday break so far, that I'm not even sure what day it is! I hope you all had a great Christmas and are still celebrating the start of a new year...I've missed catching up with my blogging friends!

We had a wonderful, traditional Christmas Eve with Dan's family eating dinner and opening presents! We look forward to this all year...and it all goes so fast once the very first gift is ripped open!







{Grandma & Grandpa with all the grandkids}

After loading up the car with some new goodies from the family...we hurry home to get ready for Santa's big arrival. Alex and Emily tracked him all day on the computer to see where he was in the world and how close he was getting to our house!

After they got their jammies on...Alex and Emily made sure to sprinkle reindeer food all over the lawn and get to sleep...


...so they could wake up to this...











It was so nice for Santa to wrap all of Alex's presents in green and all of Emily's in red! It's always fun when they have to try and find their names on the gift tags, but Santa knew this would make it a little more organized...especially since we had somewhere to be!

{no time to rest now, Emily...}

{...we've got a plane to catch!}


Some of you already know where we spent our holiday fun...but I can't wait to share more...once we unpack, pick up the pets from their boarding, and catch up on a little lost sleep from traveling!

Happy New Year!