Cozy in Keystone

The kids' favorite part of skiing each season is when we rent a condo in Keystone for a couple of nights and ski a couple of days back to back.  Some years it's been over Valentine's Day.  Some years it's been over Jeremy's birthday.  This year it was over spring break.  Our first day was pretty perfect.  It was snowy, but not terribly cold. Do you like the hack we discovered to help Daxton carry his skis?  That handle/leash system has multiple uses.

 

The kids have grown in confidence and we were able
to cruise most of the mountain.  

It was a bonus when when we didn't have any injuries after exploring the terrain park.  We all tackled the half pipe, and even though some of us looked more stylish than others, not one of us broke our arm so that is a win!  The boys accidentally stumbled onto a stair component and watching them get themselves unstuck was the funniest thing I saw all day.  They were split leg dragging themselves down the stairs.  It was a relief when they finally made it off.  

After our first ski day we made our way to the condo where we enjoyed a dip in the pool and hot tub, followed by a couple rounds of pinochle.  We thought things were set up perfectly for our second day of skiing.  Unfortunately I was woken up in the middle of the night by Cambrie crying in pain because she felt so sick.  Her stomach was hurting and she felt incredibly nauseous.  McKenzie wasn't feeling much better and the girls spent hours next to the toilet.  In the morning they weren't feeling much better, so we decided that they should stay and recover while Jeremy, my mom and I took the boys out.  

Having just the boys meant that it was a very different kind of ski day.  We spent all morning playing follow the leader.  It was so much fun.  We ended up cruising on runs we've never explored before.  I honestly don't know where we skied since it didn't really matter where we ended up.  

(This picture is actually from a previous trip this season: McKenzie was sick at home, and Cambrie was back in the car with a broken wrist from the previous run.  We have had a unique ski season.)

But lunch time Daxton was really tired and we needed to go back and check on the girls.  I must say, eating in a kitchen is a lot more convenient than trying to eat squished in a car.

Hey, they're actually eating something!

The girls weren't feeling ready yet to hit the slopes, so Daxton stayed and hung out with them while the adults and Kelton hit the slopes one last time.  I can honestly say that afternoon was one of the most fun times I've had skiing in years.  We were able to ski real adult runs.  Kelton is small enough, strong enough, and fearless enough to explore some black diamond tree runs with us.  We were able to find some real powder off of Santiago and we spent four runs there just blowing through the trees.  I could definitely tell that my legs have not had that kind of ski conditioning in a long time, and I was getting tired.  But I wasn't about to miss out on my first "adult" ski day in years.  

We did have a moment of excitement once getting off the lift.  Kelton jumped off too early and started sliding down the back side of the lift dismount platform.  I tried to reach out to grab him but missed.  My skis turned in such a way that they snagged him before he could slide down the mountain sideways, and because I was still partially on the lift, it hoisted both of us up and over the lip.  Once I knew we weren't sliding down the hill, I still had to plaster myself to the ground because there was a lift chair above me and I didn't want to get hit by it.  After it passed over head I started army crawling with split legs away from the lift so the chair behind us wouldn't run into us.  I have no idea how Kelton got away at that point.  When we finally pulled ourselves up and out of the way we all burst out laughing.  We looked ridiculous!  I'm sure we gave the chairs behind us some good entertainment.  Needless to say we proved ourselves more competent on our following lift rides!  

After a full afternoon of powder skiing, Kelton was absolutely beat.  We went back to the condo to find that the girls were improving and Daxton was still asleep.  Can anyone say another hot tub and sauna visit?  The pool complex was just in the building next door, but it was still a very cold jaunt in a towel!

 Despite the girls not feeling very well, it was a great few days up in the mountain.  The beauty of the area just couldn't be beat, and neither can nights spent playing pinochle, eating brownies, and watching family movies together.

Ski hair, don't care.

The view from our condo porch was awesome.  The ski was finally clear as we were checking out, so we needed to snap a picture before heading out.