Bryan has been waiting for this day! The day we get to go on a ski vacation as a family. He always went every year before we had kids so he was excited to finally have the kids old enough to make the trip.
All set for takeoff! This little precious was pumped about his first flight. Atlanta to Denver.
We had to split up since it was Southwest and it's every man for himself. Banks and I had a good time coloring and chatting on the flight.
We are HERE! We met up with Joe, Margot, Avery, and Carter Medved, got fitted for our skis and boots and then enjoyed some nice catching up by the ice rink, fire, and then some Mexican food.
Margot and I have been friends since 1994 when we met as high school students at Georgetown summer school. I just love her to pieces and her family too.
First thing Sunday morning, we met up with our instructor and headed to the training slopes.
Banks after his first "run" down the training hill. He had just come off the magic carpet and was ready to tackle it again. He fell a good bit in the beginning but after about two hours, he had the hang of it and was zooming down to the bottom.
We didn't take that many pics on the first day since we were all spending a lot of time getting kids up off the ground. We had a private instructor, Gary, with us the entire week and he was incredible.
Second day, we went to the top, took a pic, then Joe and Bryan hit the blacks. Instructor Gary, Mamas and kiddos went down a nice green.
I think Joe and Bryan took a wrong turn and ended up on some difficult moguls (glad I wasn't there to see that). They made it down but the report from them was that they will be extra careful next time they make a turn down a slope.
After two trips down the mountain, these littles were hungry.
The afternoons were perfect and the weather was awesome. We were all TIRED! The kids loved playing in the snow and having snowball fights.
It was National Margarita Day, so of course I had to celebrate.
The next day, we took some time off from the slopes to enjoy ice skating and tubing.
After breakfast, the boys were begging to play outside in the fresh snow. SO FUN!
Reid was hilarious at first on skates. Believe it or not, he actually was not that bad after a while!
Happy Happy. Banks did great too. These two conquered a lot on this trip.
Next stop: We rode the gondola to Adventure Ridge at the top of Vail mountain for a fun afternoon of tubing. (except for Bryan and Reid, who was too small).
They also had these little snow mobiles they could ride but we passed on that one.
Joe's cousin Katie was with us for a few days. She is a former ski instructor and although I didn't ski with her, Bryan reported back that she was incredible. She played with the kids and they loved having her around.
The next day we were right back at it.
This little guy LOVED skiing. Can't you tell? Bryan skied with him after lunch (I went to the spa) and he said they went down several blues. Go Banks! Again, we didn't take many pictures since skiing is a full time job.
Getting ready for our dinner ride to Beano's.
One of the best times of the trip was our sleigh ride (pulled by the snow cat) up to Beano's Cabin, the most perfect log cabin on the top of the mountain.
All bundled up for the ride to the top!
Margot and Joe: Aren't they the cutest?
This picture really does not do the restaurant justice. It was the most warm and cozy restaurant ever.
The next day we headed back home. It was a super super fun trip. We all made it home safely with no injuries, thank goodness.
