An Interesting Day on the Slopes

I love this sign.  Not that we hit a tree today, but it might
been a better outcome because at least it is fast...

We have been coming to Breckenridge at least once a year for almost 20 years now.  In that time we have moved houses three times, upgraded our ski's at least that many times and memorized just about every nook and cranny on the mountain  (I say almost because there are some runs that even we aren't crazy enough to attempt).  And in all of that time, with all of the technology upgrades and all of the things that could go wrong, we have never experienced a day like today.  Not that today was necessarily bad, but it sure was interesting.  It was our Perfect Storm.  One we never would have have imagined would occur when we left for the gondola ride this morning.

We awoke to cold temps and a perfect snow falling.  None of us were eager to get our usual first tracks start because of the temp, but the 5" of fresh powder that fell overnight made it impossible to skip a ski day due to cold.  In hindsight, maybe that would have been easier.

We hit the gondola, strapped the skis on and finally queued up a little before 10 am.  We had decided before hand to make our way to the top of the mountain to avoid the crowds that inevitably gather at the base these days between Christmas and New Years.  Smooth sailing and inches upon inches of fresh champagne powder lulled us into thinking this was going to be one spectacular day of skiing.

Looks heavenly, right?

And then, for some reason, we decided to leave Peak 8 (shown above) to try some runs on Peak 9 (the runs next door). Our first mistake.

We get to Peak 9 and finish a run or two.  And then decide that we should start heading back to our home Peak.  This is where all hell breaks loose.  The only, and I mean only, way back to Peak 8 is the Super Connect.  We reach the lift and find it closed for business.  Closed!  They are diverting everyone to the only other lift accessible - Beaver Run.  At the base.  This means all hotel rentals, all beginning skiers and those of us that wanted to take the Super Connect are all funneled into 4 lanes.  About 1000 of us.  Or about 30 minutes of standing in line, in ski boots, waiting to sit for another 10 minutes to get to a lift, that will take you to another lift to get back to where you need to go.

But we did it, got on the lift and planned our route back to home (because at this point we were tired).  We were going to hit Volunteer, run it to Shock and then run it home on Trygves.   It was a great plan until we hit Volunteer and found it roped off.  Ok.  We had a Plan B.  The next run down would give us the same outcome.  Yet, it was closed too.  Once again we were headed to the ONLY lift that could get us back to where we wanted to go...And the line was about an hour long once we got there.  

Making a quick decision we decided to climb the hill to our left that would put us on a different run, that might take us back to where we wanted to go.

This picture is misleading.  The climb was about 150 yards of straight uphill. In ski boots.  Carrying your skis and poles.  At this point I knew I had gotten my cardio in for the day.  Little did I know, I was just about to get in some interval upper body work with the cross country skiing I was about to do.

We hit the top, looked at the run and realized we only had one choice.  We were on a run called 4 O'clock.  Aptly named because back in the day, when the ski lifts closed at 4 O'Clock this was the only run that took you back to town.  Guess where we were headed?  Yep - back to town and no where near the Peak 9 we wanted to get to.  The best part was that our fatigued legs got a rest after climbing that huge hill and I got some great pictures on the long, slow slopes.

We crossed the bridge - one I thought I would never get to cross because there has never been any reason for me to ski into downtown (seeing as we live uptown).  But sometimes the challenges you face give you opportunities to see new things.  And we saw new things today...

We popped our skis off for the second time in an hour, crossed the tunnel and walked to the gondola.  And, of course, it was stopped for repairs on a car for about 10 minutes.  We waited in line, again.  And finally boarded it, sat quietly and rode back to the house, all the while contemplating how our perfect powder day turned into our perfect storm.

Christmas in Breckenridge

This holiday season was the first in my parents new house.  We were still in Breckenridge, where we have celebrated Christmas almost every year for the past 15 years, but we were in a new spot.  Having just moved in less than 2 weeks before there were still some boxes laying around and artwork that needed to be hung, but the important things were all  unpacked and ready for us.  There were stockings hanging over the fireplace, there were seasonal books and DVD's for the kids, and there was not one, but two, trees fully decorated and awaiting presents.

It was perfect.

We started our celebrations like we always do, with a big Christmas Eve dinner in the dining room, but this year we added a little something new.  We each had a cracker at our place.  When opened they spilled their goodies onto the table - a paper hat, a sticker, and a small whistle.  Nana became our conductor and each of us blew our whistle when asked.  We "played" some Christmas songs.  And we laughed.  I think we should incorporate this into our dinner from now on...

We then opened our stockings and got the girls ready for what we hoped would be a long and restful sleep.  Just before bed the girls laid out some cookies for Santa, a few carrots for the reindeer and some milk.

The next morning we awoke early and did what we do each year, made the girls wait about an hour while we got our coffee, baked the muffins and constructed the mimosas.  They are actually very, very patient about this...And then we let them at it.  We always allow the kids to open all of their gifts first.  It gives them the chance to open uninterrupted and then play with their new toys while the adults take their time and open theirs in a more civilized manner.

All in all, another great holiday to add to the books!  I hope you had as wonderful a Christmas day as we did.

These two are more patient than their years!

Fidget - The Travel Version

I have posted about why I elf and what it means to my girls.  I have also always posted each days pictures.  So in keeping with that tradition, I give you the final days of Fidget the elf for 2013.  All days in which we were on the road...

December 14 - Fidget left letters to Santa for the girls to fill in.  She delivered them as we were flying back to California.

December 15 - Fidget showed up on the airplane on our overnight flight to California.  The girls were thrilled to see her and very surprised to see her disappear.  (I can't find the photo).

December 16 - A tea party to get to know each other on their first night.

December 17 - they heard we were going to Disneyland and wanted to hitch a ride.

December 18 - They peed in the toilet - and didn't flush.

December 19 -  a message for the whole year.

December 20 - Fidget has a skirt so we had to find one for Snowflake.  They just needed the girls help in deciding which one.

December 21 - They left the girls coloring/activity books!

December 22 - Making snow angels because she was so happy to be back in the cold weather.

December 23 - Fidget got caught up in the spirit and went caroling.  She was even singing MadHatters favorite song.

December 24 - Fidget used my phone to text with Santa!  All is good to go for tonight's visit.

California Dreamin'

It took us close to 20 hours to get there.  We changed flights twice - once in the middle of the night (3 am!).  But none of that matters when you are going home.  There is no inconvenience too big, no delay too long when you finally hear the squeals of joy that emit from little girls mouths when they see their best friend for the first time in too long.  And the littlest of us might have made some noise too.

We made the decision to spend a week in California before heading to Colorado so that B and I could catch up with friends he hadn't seen since we left almost 3 years before.  We wanted to take the girls back to where they were born and lived for the first, short years (year in Stinkerbell's case) of their lives.  We wanted to relax and enjoy some down time before the craziness of moving around the world started.

And relax and enjoy we did.

I didn't take a ton of pictures.  In fact, my camera didn't make a single appearance for the first 3 days of our stay.  It's not because there was nothing to take a picture of, it is because I was just enjoying it all so much, I didn't want to stop, focus and snap from behind the lens.  I wanted to do it with my own two eyes.

But then we went to Disneyland, and I just can't not take pictures at Disneyland.   So I did.  And it gives me something to show you of our trip.

We spent some time with old friends...

Got our hairs done by our favorite stylist...

Ate at our favorite places...

And did adult nights out...

And then we had to say goodbye.  But we did it with smiling faces as we know we will be doing this again. Soon.  Maybe on the other side of the world, but it will still be done.