Colorado — December 2015

We spent a week at Oma and Opa’s house in Colorado between Christmas and New Years!  It’s become a great tradition and the kids look forward to playing in the snow and spending so much time with Oma and Opa.  I appreciate the chance to sit by a warm fire and read my book or work on a puzzle.  =)

As always, this week seems to be the coldest of the entire winter!  The only day it got above freezing was the day we left to drive home.  Fortunately we didn’t have any major snow storms on the drive in or the drive out for a change!  Poor Caden didn’t feel well on the drive home, so it required multiple extra stops, but otherwise the drives were uneventful (the best kind).   The kids were well equipped to play in the snow!

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It was too cold to take the four wheelers out to the trails, but we did drive around on the neighborhood roads a little and around the yard a couple of times.  The snow was too powdery to build a snow man, but the kids had a blast playing outside anyway.

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Caden also loved eating snow.  We talked about the importance of eating clean snow, that is nice a white.  =P

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Sledding was the most popular activity.  It took a couple days of short runs to make the sledding track nice and smooth, but by the end of the week it was perfect.  The kids made a game by attempting to run over or grab a ski pole stuck in the snow.  Kamy did a great job steering and could run it over frequently.  Caden had a tendency to over correct while steering, so he’d throw himself out of the sled as he shot by to grab the pole.  It was hilarious to watch!

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The kids also loved sliding down the big boulders covered with snow.  By some miracle they haven’t torn massive holes in the seats of their snow pants, so they happily slid on their bottoms until there was no more snow to be found on the boulders.

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We also took a day trip up to Breckenridge.  Oma and Opa have a time share there that allows them to get free day passes for the pool and facilities.  The kids loved swimming in the pools — especially the outdoor hot tubs.  It was neat to be right at the base of the ski hill and watch all the skiers coming down the mountain.  There was also a water slide!  Caden was brave enough to try it a couple times with Keller, but Kamy didn’t think it was for her.  She’s mentioned that she wants to do it next time, so we’ll see!  I think the dark tunnel, plus the rushing water and the cold wind, were too much for her.

The kids’ (and Keller’s) favorite thing at Breckenridge was the Alpine Coaster!  It is a little roller coaster with individual sleds that runs down the mountain between two ski runs.  Caden rode with Opa and Kamy rode with Keller.  It was pretty pricey, but they’ve already declared that they want to get a day pass next time and ride it over and over again.  I didn’t get any photos since I didn’t bring my camera, but they had a blast!

We’re currently planning another trip up to Colorado in late August, when it’s so stinky hot in Texas, so we can explore Colorado when it’s not so darn cold.  Plus there are a lot of neat things to do during the summer that we haven’t gotten to experience with the kids yet.

Thanks as always for hosting us Oma and Opa!

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