Winter Park
We just came back from a week's vacation in Winter Park, Colorado and it was FABULOUS! Seriously fabulous! It was so much fun, so relaxing, so perfect. We invited my parents to come along with us, and it was really nice to share this experience with them.
We all flew in Saturday and met up in the airport and then drove to our condo late that evening. Kayla feel asleep in the car on the ride to get there (about 1.5 hrs or so from Denver) so David went and set up the Pack 'n Play in the condo so I could just carry her up and lay her down.... but on my way there, I climbed the wrong set of stairs, so I had to go back down and then up the correct stairs to our 2nd floor unit. I seriously thought I might die! I knew that the altitude was different and that there is an adjustment to it, but I did not realize that I would be completely exhausted from climbing 2 sets of stairs! I was huffing and puffing on the bed with her for some time! We (thankfully) had planned on a relaxing day on Sunday to help acclimate to the altitude. Unfortunately, we all had issues with adjusting to the altitude. My dad had a headache almost the whole trip, and I ended up throwing up Monday night after not drinking enough water during the day :(
We spent our first day getting prepared for the week, grocery shopping and settling in. We also picked up our rental skis and drove to the ski area to check things out. It was quite a process to get to the base: you have to drive to a parking lot, take a short gondola down to the ski area "village" and then walk through the village to get to the base of the mountain! But Kayla LOVED the trip - she was so excited to see all the new sights and to ride on the gondola and in a wagon!
Sunday evening my Aunt and Uncle who live in Denver came up to visit us for dinner. It was nice to see them and catch up a bit. They are also the ones who let us borrow their mini-van for the week - what a blessing that was! We had them take a family picture for us in our condo unit.... Kayla made this shot a classic pose :)
My dad, David and I went skiing 3 days (Mon, Wed and Thurs) while my mom watched Kayla. The skiing could not have been any better! David and I haven't been skiing since we've been married, so it's been a long time for each of us. Plus when we had skied together it was in Michigan, which isn't saying much! Winter Park was absolutely beautiful for us. The weather was perfect - it's spring skiing, so you don't know if you'll be roasting hot or if you'll be freezing cold! But we figured out how to dress correctly and were always quite comfortable. There were NO lines to speak of. Typically you skied right down the trail and were first in line for the next chair! That also meant that the trails weren't crowded and often times it seemed like it was just us, the snow and the trees. It was so wonderful. We learned the basic set-up of the mountain and found our way around quickly and found some trails that we loved! One of our favorites was all the way at the top where you come down what seemed like a maze. There were small trails that weaved in and out of the trees and it was so fun to choose your own way down the mountain. It seemed like it was just you and the mountain at times and it was really peaceful. I'd almost forgotten how much I love to ski. It was just so much fun. Who knows when the next time we'll be able to do something like that, so we tried to savor every moment, every run.
Thursday after skiing David and I drove 1/2 way to Denver and met our friends Josh and Crystal for dinner at a pizza place! It was really fun to see them and catch up! We had a great time with them. We haven't seen them in awhile, but when we do it seems like we just pick up where we left off! It's fun to have friends like that!
On Tuesday (a non-ski day) we relaxed around the condo unit. Kayla played outside in the fresh snow with grandpa and watched her daddy build a fire. David and I got a chance to read our books and we all played cards together while Kayla was napping! We went into town for a dinner out and we also stopped to get out to see the animal statues that Kayla LOVED! Every time we drove by one she exclaimed, "Moose!" or "Bear!" with such excitement!
Friday morning we went on a tubing hill. We were basically the only people on the hill! They don't allow children under 3 on the hill, but we were able to use a tube and drag her around (David spun her in circles and she loved that!). We rotated which adult stayed at the bottom with her and she actually ended up falling asleep! When she's tired, she just can't force herself to stay awake! Tubing was an absolute blast. The hill was thrilling enough without being too scary and we all had a great time!
Then Friday afternoon we went on a sleigh ride. It ended up being like a personal tour because we were the only group on the sleigh! It's about an hour trip, with a stop at a fire to roast marshmallow and drink hot chocolate in the middle. It gave views of the Continental Divide and was absolutely beautiful. Kayla really enjoyed seeing the horses and had to try out every chair on the sleigh! Good thing we were the only group I guess! It was so fun and so special to be able to do something like that!
