Friday Five--Colorado Ski Trip 2013

1. We went to Beaver Creek in Avon, Colorado, last weekend and had a great time. Last year's trip was cancelled due to lack of snow, so everyone was excited to hit the slopes this year.
I see less and less of the family now, compared to when we started going to Beaver Creek in 2007. Don't worry--we have plenty of bonding time while we drive there and back! Speaking of which...who wears shorts to go to Colorado in January?

The first few years we went,  I had to help get kids to and from ski school each morning and afternoon.  This meant carrying the little kids' skis for them and taking boots to change into later, so they could walk back to our condo. I would pack a bag to haul ski gear in afterwards, another bag with extra gloves, boots, snacks, money for hot chocolate, stuff to do, and then I would sit in an easily accessible location for them to come warm up periodically.

Hot chocolate break with mom -- Jan 2007

I got in a lot of reading by cozy fires while I waited during those trips. I would also take lots pictures and occasionally see them get on the lifts or ski down to the base. We juggled kids around a lot more, because of differing abilities and endurance.

Now they leave in the morning, show up for lunch, and then drag in at the end of the day when the lifts close. They are hungry, cold and/or sweaty and tired. They don't want their pictures taken. We still have a great time...I do more of my own thing and feed them, and they do more serious skiing than ever before. The younger kids keep up with the older ones! I am thankful that Ellyn gets some pictures with her camera or phone on the tops of mountains. :)
We have tons of pictures from other years, right?

2. While I was killing time and the others were skiing, I made a tree skirt, recopied all my breakfast recipes, started an online class, started thinking about out how to relocate my craft room/supplies, read a couple of magazines, cooked some food, did some laundry, and enjoyed a hot chocolate break at Starbucks with some of the skiers. We also enjoyed our traditional meal at Blue Moose Pizza. Not a bad way to spend three days!

3. During the two days spent driving to and from Colorado, I didn't drive one minute.
We have four licensed drivers and one with a permit. Five out of six people could legally drive! Thanks for letting me off the hook, family!

4. We had a hilarious conversation about our genealogy over supper one night. It even included a phone call to my mom to clarify some names/relationships. Brandon quickly wrote out a family tree, showing several generations in linear form to help Meg understand which generation of cousins she lined up with. Rather than writing out all four Carson kid names, he quickly wrote "allofus" which equals "all of us" if you include spaces in the correct places. Ryan took the chart and reviewed all the names of relatives going back several generations. Then said, "Wait a minute...who's Allofus?" Brandon explained that it was actually supposed to say "all of us" and we all died laughing. Ellyn suggested we destroy this piece of paper, in case it became an official family record down the line causing someone else to think there was once a Carson kid named "Allofus".

5. It never gets old going to Beaver Creek. We were there this summer too, and I didn't mind one bit!