Colorado Ski Trip

We have been planning and looking forward to this snow skiing trip for about the last year.  

Lindsee, Matt, and I grew up getting to go snow skiing every spring break with a large group of family friends.  Dad had us skiing as early as age three.  We all loved it and became pretty good skiers.  We have skied at Monarch, Keystone, Copper Mountain, and Winter Park in Colorado.  Eric and I lived in Pennsylvania for a couple years and we skied there at Shawnee Mountain and Blue Mountain in the Pocono Mountains.  I even got to help sponsor the "Ski Club", a club for 3rd-5th graders, at the school that I worked at.  We met after school once a week to go skiing together.  This would be the first time though, that we had taken our kids skiing.  They all three are athletic and I knew that they would catch on quickly.  We planned to ski three days while in Colorado at Granby Mountain, a resort northwest of Denver.  We enrolled all three of them in a 1 day lesson for the first day we were there.

Day One - December 26th

We drove to EP and Lindsee's house on Thursday.  That evening the kids opened their Christmas presents from them.

Silas got a battery operated Lego robot, and a Drone.

Phoebe received the basketball Barbie and a career Barbie.

Sarah got a goat bag, book, and socks.  Thanks EP, Lindsee, and Will!

Later that night we played a few games and ate some snacks before going to bed.

Day Two - December 27th

The next morning we loaded up and headed to Granby, Colorado.  The two and a half hour drive took a little longer due to weekend traffic and snow while we were heading up and over the pass to Granby.

We were greeted by EP, Will, Jim, and Patti when we arrived at the lovely big mountain house that we all got to stay in for the next five nights.  Will and EP opened their Christmas presents from us there.

They both liked their pillows that Phoebe had made for them.

The views in all directions from around the house we stayed in were spectacular! Mountains covered in snow as far as you could see.

Late that afternoon some of us went to pick up our skis, boots, poles, and helmets from the rental shop at the mountain.

Later that evening some of us decided to try some sledding behind the mountain house.  There was a huge hill and about one to two feet of snow.  Eric tried to make a path down the hill a couple of times before the kids went down a few times....

The sledding was going pretty well, so we got out the big sled and a innertube sled to try next....

EP flattened and widened the path with the innertube and then Sarah, Phoebe, and Eric piled on the big sled... What happened next was both hilarious and scary.... They took off like a shot down that hill, at the bottom of the big hill they came to a sudden stop, catapulting Sarah and Phoebe into the air!  Phoebe went straight up 3-4 feet and came straight back down, but Sarah was thrown up 5-7 feet and forward over another hill that none of them had been down before and from where I was standing with Lindsee and watching, I could not see where she landed.  I frantically started yelling at Eric, down below us, who was laying in the snow laughing to "check on the girls!  Check on the girls! Are they okay?  Where IS SARAH?!?!"  He hadn't realized how far Sarah had been thrown, but he quickly got up and raced down the next hill to find her.  When he reached her she was fine, (thank goodness) but had been thrown into snow so deep she couldn't get out by herself.  Needless to say we did not sled back there on that hill anymore while staying at the mountain house.  We stuck to a much smaller hill in the front of the house.  Below, is the picture of the three happy sledders before they flew down the hill and into the air.

Back on the smaller hill in front of the house Will went down once sitting on Sarah's lap.

Day Three - December 28th - First Day of Skiing

The next morning was exciting and eventful, all before we even got on the chair lift before our first run... One vehicle got stuck in the snow and had to big dug out, three kids got checked into ski school and were still smiling, and one person slipped and fell flat on her back in the middle of the parking lot...just like a scene out of the cartoons, where the feet go up in the air and over the head...It was SO SLICK and happened so quickly.  She was fine and was able to laugh at herself as her husband picked her back up and then held onto her arm, like she was 80 years old or something....

Eric and I had never worn helmets before when skiing.  This is the thing to do now though so we tried it.  They probably were not as warm as just wearing a warm stocking hat, but obviously would protect your head if you hit something like a tree or rock, or if another skier ran into you.  I tried wearing my sunglasses with them the first two days and goggles on the last day.  I definitely like wearing goggles better than the sunglasses with the helmet.  Goggles were a lot more comfortable.

Dad was ready to load onto the chairlift and get up the mountain.

After each run we would ski over by were the ski school area was located.  We watched Sarah, Phoebe, and Silas, with their class and teachers riding up the "magic carpet" and skiing back down to their teacher.  They seemed to be catching on quickly.  There also seemed to be a lot of wait time for the kids in ski school...maybe too many kids were in each class, maybe they needed more instructors.  We also discovered, when we picked them up after their lessons that their boots and helmets had NEVER been tightened properly that day, which not only made it harder for them to ski (turn and stop), but was very dangerous.  Overall we were not very satisfied with the Ski School and instruction that our kids received at Granby Mountain.

At 3:00 that day after picking the kids up from ski school we took all three of them up on the mountain for one long run with them before the lifts closed for the day.

Below, left to right, Sarah, Dad (Popee), Phoebe, and I.

Below, Sarah, Eric, and Silas.

Below, our day one skiing group, minus Lindsee, who was taking the picture.  Left to right, Dad, Phoebe, Silas, Stacee, Eric, and Sarah.

Day Four - December 29th

The kids started right out with us today.  We headed up the mountain to practice skiing some greens together.

We had a little mishap getting off the lift early in the morning.  Silas fell in front of Eric, and to avoid falling on him, he turned a bit to the right, knocking Popee over into a fence and pole.  Ski patrol was right there to help him (Popee) up and he was fine, thank goodness.  Below, getting off the lift, Popee, Sarah, Lindsee, and Phoebe.

Phoebe's toes were freezing, so Eric helped her put some "Hot Hands" heaters into her boots to help warm them up.

For lunch, we headed back to the mountain house.  We were able to watch some of the Chiefs game while we ate, before heading back for the afternoon skiing.

The lift lines were a little long when we got back to the slopes.

Below, getting off the lift, Silas, Eric, Popee, and Uncle EP.

Dad was so happy to get to ski with his grandkids.  This was a dream fulfilled for him.

Below, our Erics!!!!!  They had fun going off to ski some tougher blues and blacks together.

Later in the afternoon, Eric and I decided we would let the kids try skiing a blue if they wanted too.  They did.  We found someone to snap a day two group picture of us before we started skiing down the hill.  The kids started out good heading down the blue, but about a fourth down the hill Phoebe couldn't make her turn back across the mountain.  She tried to do what we told her to do, if out of control or heading towards trees, and she fell....but instead of falling over, she sat back on her skis.  This kept her momentum going forward instead of stopping her.  Eric and I saw this happening, and we took off towards her.  She didn't stop until she went off the hill into the trees and large boulders.  She came to a stop because her skis became stuck between two boulders and her knees crashed onto them.  Poor girl.  Eric got to her first, and began to check her out.  Of course she was scared and crying.  I had thoughts of her having to come off that mountain on a stretcher... Eric carefully helped get her skis off to free her from the stuck situation and began to check her knees.  A ski patrol guy was close and came to help and make sure she was alright too.  She was fine, hallelujah!   But she did have some big bruises on both her knees from the impact with the boulders.  And, the rest of the day she was much more cautious.  Popee was instrumental in getting her the rest of the way down off that blue run.  He stayed right with her telling her when to shift her weight and when and where to turn.  She was so frightened of the out of control feeling that it almost paralyzed her and kept her from skiing on down off that blue.  Popee stayed calm and talked her down.  THANKS POPEE!

At the end of day two, everyone is still smiling! Above, left to right, Lindsee, Sarah, Stacee, Popee, Silas, Eric, Phoebe, and EP.

On the drive back to the mountain house we saw some big Mule deer.

Then close to the mountain house we spotted a large herd of Elk!

This was Jim and Patti's last night with us, so some of us enjoyed playing some games together before heading to bed for the night.

Day Five - December 30th

Day three of skiing....on the way over to Granby Ranch.

We put our ski boots on and off in the parking lot at our vehicles.

Below, the guys, ready for our first run of the morning....

Day three, group picture, left to right, Popee, EP, Sarah, Phoebe, Silas, Stacee, and Eric.

Lindsee did not ski on day three.  She stayed at the mountain house with Will and Nanee.  Towards the end of the day she brought both of them over to Granby Ranch so they could see us all come down the mountain on our last run.  After a little incident of getting her car stuck in some deep snow and then Super Womaning it out (all by herself), she made it safely with her passengers, just in time to see us ski down for the last run of the day.

Day Six - December 31st

On Tuesday we woke up to some yummy homemade birthday muffins for Will's second birthday.

We drove around for a little bit to find a place to take some family pictures....

Popee and Nanee with their four grandkids... Sarah - 12, Phoebe - 10, Silas - 7, and Will - 2.

We drove into town to look in some of the small shops then headed back to the house for some sledding.

Later that evening, Will opened his birthday gifts from all of us.  He especially liked his new Disney Cars.

Phoebe put this puzzle together herself.

We all enjoyed watching the New Year's Eve/ /Will's birthday fireworks from the mountain house that night.

After the fireworks we celebrated some more with birthday cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!  We all love you very much.

Day Seven - January 1st

Wednesday morning we helped clean up the mountain house and load vehicles before we left for our drive back to Kansas.

It was snowing pretty good when we left the mountain house which made for a nail-biting drive/ride back up and over the mountain pass, out of the mountains.  I was so thankful that Eric was driving us.

We made it safely home that night by about 10 pm.  Thank you, family, for such a fun Christmas Skiing trip!  We all enjoyed our times together on the slopes and in the mountains!  We can't wait to do it again.