snowshoe adventure

While I volunteered at the big Girl Scout cookie pick up site...

the kids and Dennis did this...

on a snowshoe adventure at Brainard Lake!

Crossing one of the bridges...

Dennis, Alyssa, Jaiden and Tyler (Tyler's dad took the photo)

And he took this one of Jaiden in mid air!

and apparently, they both really enjoyed themselves...

it certainly looked more fun than my morning!

colors

Tonight was the annual 3rd-5th grade music concert. It is our 4th year going and ironically Alyssa is in 4th grade! This year's theme was Colors so the kids were encouraged to dress in colors. I think 4th graders were to wear red or black but now I can't seem to remember exactly. Alyssa chose to dress in all black. 

She is in the back top (highest) row, a little to the right of Mrs. Ordway.

She was super excited for the concert especially when they were able to flip their hair!

Dennis and I momentarily lost Jaiden as he snuck off with friends to sit down on the main floor. Jaiden even enjoyed the concert as he reminisced with his friends about their past performances. Dennis and I had seats in the balcony to watch, and it was great. A perfect view and a lot less chaotic than on the floor!

can we ski that?

Another beautiful ski day! This time we went to Copper Mountain. We drove up the night before and woke up on the slopes... a perfect start to the day!

We went straight to the top and rode the T bar... even Alyssa wanted to go up!

Then Jaiden and I got lost and ended up on the other side. While riding the chair up, we saw people hiking this ledge and Jaiden asked "Can we ski that?" I said "Sure, but it's a lot of work to hike with our skis." And he said "Really? Dad would say no way!" Well, I am not Dad and we decided to try the hike...

He started off carrying his own skis and eventually, I lugged them up for him. It was quite the hike... but we made it to the top!

The view was breathtaking... literally, I think we were at about 11,000 ft!

Took a short break before we headed down the bowl.

And away he went... the snow wasn't as powdery as I had hoped but it sure was fun to ski.

And then I switched mid afternoon and got to follow this cutie... 

She kept choosing the half pipe which really was enormous and the walls were high and slick... much more intimidating than hiking to the top of the mountain!

And she tackled it like a pro...

It was another fabulous day of skiing!

nerd day

Alyssa really, really wanted to serve on Student Council and this year, I told her we need to prepare a speech that gets her classmates excited to vote for her. And this year she made student council as her class representative.

The group of students in student council designated certain days for hat day, crazy hair day and recently... nerd day.

Here is my cute nerd on her field trip at our local recycling center!

goodbye crested butte

Today we bid Crested Butte adieu, but before we left, we made a pit stop at the Waffle Cabin. Judy and I had told the boys we'd stop on the way down the mountain yesterday but at lunch time, Ken and Judy swapped so Judy took the girls and Ken convinced the boys to come back today.

It also gave us a chance to explore the base and sit by the fire pit

or sit in the ice sculptures...

and then take a few photos from the parking lot...

and a final photo on our way out of town...

Such a beautiful day and so fun to share a new mountain with new memories and experiences with our good friends and their kids!

A definite return next year!

headwall glades or bowl?

Today was my turn to really try out the mountain! Dennis and I switched so I could ski with the boys. Judy and Ken switched too which proved a little interesting but worked out well. The boys were fast and excited. Both excitedly talked about trying Headwall so we did!

This particular photo made me laugh. It was so foggy and cold at the tippy top but the boys did a selfie while I took this photo.

and then Jaiden and I tried a selfie a little further on the top... 

The first time down was tricky. The signs were a little misleading so we did Headwall Glades thinking it would be the easiest way down, however, it was steep and the trees were tighter than I would prefer, but we had fun with the challenge. Then I was curious what Headwall bowl would look like so we decided to try again. The signs indicated that Headwall Bowl was the steeper, more difficult way down but after having tried squeezing through trees and avoiding the next tree, I felt like the bowl was easier. It was definitely steep and the moguls a bit daunting but the powder was contagious so we skied Headwall several more times.

Skiing with the boys was definitely more work than with the girls but I loved the thrill of the steep and challenging runs. I definitely loved skiing the entire mountain!

crested butte

Yesterday, we drove the long and almost endless drive to Crested Butte. It ended up being longer as we had to detour to the hemophilia clinic as I had forgotten to pack the supplies - not the factor - but the supplies (syringes, gauze, alcohol swabs, etc). That was a bit of a bummer but the best part was that the clinic was more than willing to help us out. 

So the endless drive eventually ended and we were ready for our first day on the mountain!

The girls skied together today.

Katie and Alyssa had a blast together, and both of them have improved a ton from last year. They were pretty much non-stop speedsters which made for a fun afternoon together. The snow was awesome and it even started snowing some more.

a frown and a smile

The morning didn't start out so well. I received a couple of texts from Dennis telling me he should have known what would happen next with the look of Jaiden's face on this particular photo...

He was likely cold and tired, not to mention he lounged too long in his sleeping bag and tent and then was on KP duty. He later claimed that the other boys made a HUGE mess like the pancakes exploded or something and it wasn't fair. Maybe next time he won't linger in his sleeping bag so long!

The scouts did go on the next adventure that day to a fun sledding place and here were a few photos that Dennis sent from that adventure!

Sign reads "Dead Man's Drop!" in case you can't read it!

All in all the day turned around for Jaiden and he came home with lots of stories and excited that he had earned frost points!

snow fishing and camping?

Yes, snow fishing and snow camping! Dennis and Jaiden left early this morning to do just that with the Boy Scouts. Alyssa and I stayed behind warm and cozy... technically Alyssa went to play with Sophie for most the day despite me trying to engage her in some quality girl time so I was on stand by at the girl's whims and waiting for texts of the boy's happenings!

First text of the tent set up...

Later on the lake fishing...

Caught one!

And now ready for a nap!

Can't wait to hear more when they get home!