Skiing......Much needed VACATION!!

Well, I don't know how Lance convinced me to do this...but he did!  I began to get a little worried when Katelyn came down with an ear infection the day before we left, but it all worked out fine.  We left the kiddos for six days and went to Breckenridge, Colorado with our best friends, the Warnocks.  I hate to even say it but I did not even miss the kids until we were on the way home. I even told Lance I could have stayed for two or three more days. I guess you can tell we NEEDED this get away.  I thought I would miss them the whole time we were there and that was sooooo not the case.  This fully goes to support the idea that you need to put your marriage before your children.  Research now shows that putting your marriage first helps your children be more confident, independent, successful, and happy.  It is so easy to put your children before your marriage, but we try hard to put our marriage first.   It is a work in progress, but one that we know will positively impact our whole family. 

We are so blessed with having our parents close.  I know so many friends that do not have their parents close and I don't know how they do it.  My mom and dad kept the kids for a few days and Lance's mom and dad kept them the rest of the week.  Lance's mom had this week off with school so it worked out perfect.  It was so nice having our parents help out, I did not worry about the kids at all, I knew they were fine and probably having more fun then we do at home...ha! :)

When we first started to plan a trip I knew I wanted to go to the beach and Lance really wanted to go skiing. I had never been skiing before and I HATE the cold so this was not high on my list..ha! I told him I would go, but I had a few stipulations for example....it had to be ski in ski out, nice lodge with a spa....etc.  These things were important to me because I really thought I would not enjoy skiing and would spend more time just hanging out.....boy was I WRONG!  After I laid out my stipulations Lance said we may need to do the beach because all this little things were adding up.....but we did some looking around and found a perfect place to stay and went with the ski trip.  I was still not super excited about it, but I did want to give it a try.  Well......let's just say that I had so much fun that I cannot wait to go back and I hope this can be a yearly trip for us.  I got the "ski bug"!!

We stayed at a beautiful lodge called Sky Blue and it was wonderful.  We had a condo that was ski in ski out, a ski rental place right there, and a spa.  The ski lift was literally off the back porch.  You could also take a shuttle over to the main slopes which we had to do until Kelley and I learned how to ski well enough to take the lift. 

The spa was WONDERFUL!  Kelley and I had hot stone massages one night it was so relaxing.  We had plans to come back and go out to eat, but convinced the guys go get us some Italian food and eat in.  I can say this was by far the best night we all had.  It was so much fun just to relax and enjoy time together.

The day we go there it was starting to snow, that first night we were there it snowed about a foot that night.  That morning you could see people just skiing down the roads into our resort to catch the lift.  It was pretty neat to watch.  Everything was covered in white.....just beautiful.  I am so glad we were able to get some good snow while we were there.

Our skis were stored here each day....super convenient.  Our boots were stored in a heated room which was nice.  We didn't have to worry about lugging all our equipment around.

The ski lift at our condo.

Our Lodge!

The Cones and the Warnocks

Me and my Honey!!

Our Condo (Below) - I should have taken a picture before.  It was super nice.  We had two bedrooms and two baths and it was perfect.  We all LOVED it and would go back there in a second!!

Lance was so worried about one of us getting altitude sickness....he had me scared to death.  He kept telling me a week before to drink water.  I was so sick of hearing him talk about this.  He drank more water than all of us put together and guess who got altitude sickness.....Lance..LOL!  It really did stink, but thankfully it only lasted a day.  Casey, Kelley, and I went to ski school and he met us later that afternoon and by the next day he was fine, thank goodness.  There is nothing worse than being sick on a vacation.

Day Two:  Ski School Adventure

Day Three: We decided not go to ski school and to do some practicing on our own.  It snowed on us ALL day, but I really never got cold.  This is the day I really got the "ski bug" I just could not get enough of it.  I was having so much fun.  Lance was so patient with all of us non skiers....but I think he still had fun.  I think he was a little impressed with how I did considering how horrible I was in ski school.  We stayed on mostly green slopes but we did try a couple of blues on the last day and I LOVED it!!

Kelley and I hung out here for a little while and let the guys get a few runs in.  It was beautiful weather, but it was a little CHILLY!!

This was the highest point we got to and it was so much fun.  Kelley and I were not brave enough until our last day to try it and had to only go down a couple of blues and then the rest was greens.  It wasn't that bad, but I was scared to death when we got up there.  Lance and I went back a couple of more times to do this run, it was a lot of fun.  It was also fun to go from trail to trail and see different slopes.  I SOOO did not want to go home!

Me and my bestie Kelley!

We had some wonderful food while we were there.  We found this awesome sit down restaurant for lunch at the slopes that was never crowded, I think it was a little hidden and people did not know about it.  It was perfect because we could come in and relax and warm up while we ate.  We ate there everyday for lunch.  Our dinners were all great as well.....except for the first night.  We were so hungry and cold we just went to the first place we saw and it was HORRIBLE!!  Kelley found it on Trip Advisor later and it was ranked one of the lowest in Breckenridge...haha!  At least it was our first night.  All the other dinners were very good. 

Casey and Kelley

Breckenridge was so cute!  I loved this little town.  Everything was so close.  Literally you were only in the car or shuttle no more than five minutes.  Our lodge had a private shuttle that took us anywhere we needed so that was fabulous. 

Snowmobiling

This was an experience for sure.  The views were great and it was fun to get to see something different, but I was MISSING the SLOPES this day.  This was the coldest I have ever been.  I HURT all over!!.  I had a great time, but I don't think I will be going back to do this again.....I just wanted to ski.  Lance was the driver and I did not have any desire to drive.....that would be a disaster waiting to happen.  

 They say this is the continental divide........sounds pretty cool I guess.  The mountains in the back are the same mountains on the Coors commercials and ads.  Pretty amazing! 

Well, I don't think Lance thought I would like skiing this much, but I know he is SUPER excited that I liked it.  This was such a needed vacation.  It was so nice to have some time alone with my hubby and our friends.  Casey and Kelley moved to Montgomery last year and it is just not the same without them near us.  We used to hang out ALL the time, and we miss them so much.  I enjoyed having hot meals, getting a LONG shower, having full conversations and not having someone needing me at all times.  I really think we need to do this every year and I hope that we can.  It was so nice to come back feeling refreshed.  I know this helped me be a better mom and wife.

This whole week was just wonderful and relaxing.  It was so neat to see God's beautiful creation with our wonderful friends.  I could not have had a more perfect week.