A Utah Family Travel Writer's Adventures with Altitude
Me: Who broke the new butterfly net?
Bode: Hadley did it.
Hadley: Why do you blame me for EVERYTHING?
Me: Well, did you break it?
Hadley: Yes.
2 very different kids, 2 sets of grandmas, 2 darling Christmas outfits for each
It’s never boring around here, that’s for sure.
Hadley and Bode have been to plenty of ski schools over the years but none quite like the one at Winter Park. As we dragged out gear from our condo to the mountain, we encountered a mirage in the white wonderland: The resort’s complimentary wagon service, which has several stations around the resort for parents to haul kids and their gear.
We snagged one up and raced over to check the kids into ski school. As we filled out Hadley’s form, she complained, “Why can’t you put my name down as ‘Kitty Cat’ for once?”
It likely would have been a first for Winter Park’s ski school.
One gleaming thing that sets them apart from the others is that all kids are outfitted with a FLAIK device around their calves. This GPS tracking device not only follows their whereabouts (awesome in case they got separated) but at the end of the day, we were given a report card and a URL we later accessed that tracked their on-mountain location, skier stats, and runs skied.
FLAIK GPS Tracker
Though Bode finally caught onto skiing at the end of last season we have been tiptoeing around him, waiting for him to fall off the “I love skiing” precipice.
At the end of the day, I hesitatingly asked him, “How was ski school? Thumbs down or thumbs up?”
“Thumbs up. And all my fingers, too!!!!!”
I’ll count that as a win.
Private Amber
I’ve only had a couple of private ski lessons and I can’t recommend them enough. I spent most of my skiing existence never improving and it wasn’t until I took a class a couple of years ago that I realized I had to make some major adjustments since converting to parabolic (shaped) skis. I have wanted to take a moguls class to learn how to better navigate those blasted bumps. I almost had a chance a couple of years ago until 1.5 feet of snow flew and our mogul lesson turned into a powder one. Whoa was me. 
But since turning 40, I’ve resolved to throw caution to the wind by tackling my fears. And big, daunting bumps of snow are on that list.
Jamie and I met our instructor Chris at the Private Lesson Center next to the Zephyr Express chairlift. He listened to our request and mapped out the plan for the day. “Let’s start on some easier runs so I can help you work on your form and we’ll then move onto the bumps.”
It was the perfect strategy. Chris is a 22-year veteran of Winter Park and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone more knowledgeable about the resort and skiing than him. On the slopes, he broke down our form, built it up again and had us skiing smoothly and with confidence. When it was time to hit the moguls, he had me follow in his tracks as he pushed me to my limit but still respected my boundaries. 
We won’t mention that the only time I fell was when I stood perched above the mogul field and hadn’t even started yet.
When we rested on the chairlift, he entertained us with stories of the resort, deepening our love for the area. We lunched on delicious fare at the Lodge at Sunspot with panoramic views of the Continental Divide. To say it was a great day is an understatement.
But most importantly by the end of the ski class, I’ve never skied moguls better.
Before and after class
On the other hand, walking with my sore muscles? An entirely different story.
Bowling, Movies and Food, Oh My!
Bowling isn’t on my must-do list when I am in the mountains but trust me on this one: The new Foundry Cinema & Bowl is THE place to hang out in Winter Park. This is no ordinary bowling alley with pinball, foosball, billiards, shuffleboard, ultra-hip Restoration Hardware décor, Old Shell gas pumps, a circuitous train, flat screens, three luxurious movie theaters and even a glowing pink sink in the women’s restroom that has become a destination unto itself. 
The Foundry has an on-site restaurant so you can eat while you play or view movies (must-tries include their wood-fired pizza, Kobe Beef Sliders and the rosemary-crusted cashews). It offers 8 certified USBC Spec Brunswick Lanes with cutting-edge technology. We were blown away when it automatically set-up the bumpers whenever my kids got up to bowl and changed back for the adults.
Though our scores would have been much higher if they had just stayed in place.
It has been a while since we bowled and Jamie was bombing out (though for his street cred I’d like to insert he later got his groove back). On the scoreboard, each of our names was represented by the first letter. We were about four frames into our first game and “J” was trailing Bode “B,” Hadley “H”, and Amber “A” by a lot.
Our helpful waiter came by, looked at the kids and said, “You know ‘J’ can put the bumpers up. It will really help his game.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him “J” was actually my husband.
Needless to say I tipped him extra that night.
=====
Stay tuned for Winter Park Day 3: A Family That Skis Together, Plays Forever.
In case you missed it: Winter Park Day 1: Tubing Cruising for a Bruising. Thanks to Winter Park for hosting!
I have three new-to-me resorts on my bucket list this season: Winter Park, Copper Mountain and Steamboat. To put the end cap on our Winter Break we decided to hit nearby Winter Park, just a 70-minute drive from our house and the closest of Colorado’s big resorts to the Denver metro area. Dubbed “Colorado’s Favorite,” Jamie, like scores of locals, learned to ski here and has many fond memories.
And not-so-fond ones, like busting his knee when he fought with a tree.
As for me, I had a clean slate and kept it that way with an absolutely epic trip that has landed Winter Park in the accolades as one of my favorite Colorado resorts (no small feat, given the stiff competition).
Day 1
Skate. I always crack up when people tell me they don’t visit the mountains in the wintertime because they don’t ski or ride. Really? Do you have any idea of all the off-mountain activities? Winter Park is oozing with them including three different places to skate: The pond at the Village at Winter Park (with free lessons), Cooper Creek Square in the town of Winter Park under a canopy of lights and music and the partially-enclosed “Ice Box” Ice Rink at the nearby Fraser Valley Sports Complex.
Though I longed to take a whirl on the pond across from our condo (I even had my skates in the car after a recent outing to Evergreen Lake), time was not on my side because I was too busy skiing, eating and tearing down the new Coca-Cola Tubing Hill at Winter Park.
Tube. When we arrived on Thursday afternoon, we signed up for a one-hour block (cost is $22 per person, 36-inch height requirement). The four-lane, conveyer-lift-serviced tubing hill had only been open a week so tweaks were being made on two of the lanes, leaving only two open. No worries! We each grabbed a tube (no double riders), stood in line and then were sent barreling down to the great unknown.
Unlike all tubing hills I’ve visited, this one had a blind curve partway through the course, which caused me to have a minor anxiety attack as nearby Bode (who was linked to me) squealed with glee. After realizing I was not going to die, I relished in the adrenaline rush and we raced to the magic carpet for Round 2. 
Run after run we tore down the mountain and on our second-to-last run, we grabbed tandem tubes. Bode rode with me first, Hadley with Jamie followed. The tubing operator gave us a generous push and we flew down the mountain, bracing ourselves around the curve and prepared to stop. Only we didn’t. We kept right on going, gleefully bashing right through the padded protective barriers. Bode and I doubled over in laughter as the staffer took one look at us, grabbed his walkie talkie and said to his fellow staffer, “SLOW THE NEXT GROUP DOWN,” and he adjusted the mats that were strategically placed to do just that.
When Jamie and Hadley came down–though they didn’t go nearly as far or as fast–they too broke through the barriers.
For once, being a guinea pig really paid off. All good, my friends. All good.
Thanks to Winter Park for hosting! Also check-out:
Winter Park Day 2: The Mogul Queen, Kitty Cat on the Slopes & Bumper Funnies.
Winter Park Day 3: A Family That Skis Together, Plays Forever.
My Denver Post column today talks about teaching kids to be money-smart and the Tooth Fairy’s criminal record. And yep, the two go hand-in-hand.
One of my 2013 resolutions is to do a better job teaching my kids to be fiscally responsible. Last year, I successfully introduced a chore chart but failed to implement a sound savings plan.
In parenting circles, whether or not to tie chores to an allowance is a controversial topic. I ultimately decided what worked best for us was to keep them independent. However, I still wanted to teach my kids how to work to earn money so I offered additional tasks with a monetary reward.
Example: Giving Mommy a backrub is worth $2 (and its weight in gold).
Then, there’s “free money” where the kids don’t need to do anything. There is no more beloved bestower of gratuitous dough than the Tooth Fairy and my first-grade son is on the cusp of a toothless windfall.
But free money comes at a cost and that is usually my sanity.
Read more: Johnson: How much is a tooth worth? Fiscal lessons from the tooth fairy – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/smart/ci_22312923/how-much-is-tooth-worth-fiscal-lessons-from#ixzz2HJ3S3KN5
I’ll be honest: I love that my kids are almost back in school and I will have several hours to work and play. But when they are home for an extended amount of time, I’m reminded just how much I love being with them without the pressure-cooker of school, activities and homework. I was worried we would get stir-crazy but we had the perfect mix of fun, excitement and R&R. Haddie goes back to school Tuesday, Bode on Wednesday and then it’ll just be Jamie, Fat Kitty and me.
Here’s a quick pictorial summary of our happenings!
Class Party
Our winter break started with Bode’s holiday party at school. I brought my family’s traditional bells and those first graders were about as cute as can be playing Jingle Bells. 
And yes, that is Hadley who invited herself along as my very helpful “assistant.”
Everywhere he goes, Bode makes a new best friend and this entire school year, he has been raving about his buddy, Brody. When I was busy helping kids at the party, I heard Bode say, “Excuse me, Mommy.” I turned around and, grinning ear-to-ear, there were two BFFs standing together. As polite as could be, Bode said, “Mommy, I would like to introduce you to my friend Brody.”
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Johnson.”
And then, because the formality was about killing me, I give him a fist bump as greeting.
Great Eats
To celebrate the kick-off to winter break, we went to see the Hobbit at Harkins Theaters in Stapleton and also hit one of our favorite restaurants, Zengo, which is now offering bottomless brunch on Saturday and Sunday (hail any restaurant that offers Saturday brunch!)
It would appear Bode LOVED their churros with Mexican hot chocolate dipping sauce (as did we all).
What would you think of a restaurant that only survived gourmet, healthy food? On New Year’s Day, we ate at Cherry Creek’s new True Food Kitchen. 
Based on Dr. Andrew Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet, this restaurant paired popular trends in cuisine with healthy living. Even the kid’s menu was delicious and I’ll be doing a full review on it all later. Bottom line if you live in Denver: GO.
Christmas Treats
One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is to bake delicious treats for our neighbors and friends. This year’s line-up was caramel corn, almond rocha, sugar-and-spice cookies, snowball cookies, cream cheese cutout cookies, shortbread, coconut penuche and caramel toffee squares. Hence the reason our kitchen looked like this. 
And then, of course, we went skiing at Loveland on December 24, had our huge Christmas Eve fete and a fun Christmas Day.
Evergreen
To burn off a few calories, we went skating at Evergreen Lake (one of my favorite winter activities in Colorado) with our besties Nolan and Rowan.
And then we added the calories back on when we stopped at our favorite breakfast place in Colorado: Country Road Cafe in Kittredge. Don’t believe me? Take a gander at that basketball-sized pancake stuffed with raspberries. I took a risk from my favorites and tried something new: their Timber Ridge Tamale Benedict, which was two pork tamales topped with two eggs, pepper jack cheese, pico de gallo, sourcream, red chile cream, avocado and cilantro mojo drizzle.
It was a risk worth taking.
New Year’s
Remember when I graciously planned a New Year’s Eve bash at my friend Lisa’s house without telling her? It turned out splendidly! Haddie made beignets….
And we all miraculously made it until midnight to ring in the New Year (I was the person in question). One of the highlights was winning the Newlywed Game because many of our answers resolved around the pumpkin. I.e. “Name something your husband has too much of.” Pumpkins. “What is something that annoys you about your husband?” Pumpkins.
We even almost nailed the question, “What cartoon character does your husband most resemble?” The other couples were waaaaay off-base, such as Phil’s answer “The Incredible Hulk.” His wife’s? “Homer Simpson.” For Jamie, I immediately thought of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, so wrote down Charlie Brown. Jamie’s answer: Linus.
Me: “Linus. Why did you choose Linus?”
Him: “Because it was Linus who believed.”
Following the game, one of my friends joked, “I had no idea your lives revolved so much around pumpkins.
They obviously do not read this blog.
Harlem Globetrotters
One of Jamie’s bucket-list items has been to see the Harlem Globetrotters so we were thrilled to score tickets. I knew they were funny but I did not anticipate two hours of non-stop, interactive, gut-busting hilarity. Bottom line: We loved them! When I asked Jamie about his favorite part, he immediately said, “Watching Bode.”
He nailed it. Though we all loved the game, Bode was out-of-his-gourd excited for everything. The above picture on the right is when he grabbed Haddie to rush the court to do the YMCA, one of only countless fun moments that evening.
Sweet, Sweet Skiing
I have lived in Colorado for 10 years and there are still several major resorts I have yet to ski including Copper Mountain, Steamboat and Winter Park. Last weekend, we spent a few days at the latter. Stay tuned for all the fun details of our Winter Park vacation. 
Just let it be known you may not hear from me for a while. After such a fabulous Winter Break, reentry into the real world is going to be bumpy.
Bode: The King of Efficiency
“Bode, why do you have a Band-Aid under your nose like that?”
“Because my nose is bleeding.”
“Did you try using a Kleenex?”
“Yes, but I got tired of holding it there so put a Band-Aid on instead.”
Bode: The King of the Insects
My little man loves to play games and we’ve spent plenty of time doing just that over the winter break. We’ve enjoyed Cranium Conga, a fun “guess what I’m thinking?” game that got our whole family acting, sculpting, guesstimating, and picking hilarious words.
And funniest of all was Bode.
One of the questions he had to answer is, “I can run faster than a ______.”
He’s a pretty athletic little dude so we threw out answers like a cat. A dog. A rabbit.
We were struck down on all accounts. His final answer? “I can run faster than an ant.”
Aim high, little one. Aim high.
Right before school let out for winter break, we had a humdinger of an emotional meltdown as Hadley lamented how she absolutely could not perform in her first violin concert that day and gave me an itemized list as to why. (Hating and being horrible at the violin were #1 and 2).
I don’t know how many professional violinists you know but I doubt they were very accomplished after only playing a few months.
Jamie and I tried to console her that she was one of 50 kids performing and she would blend right in but she was irrational and it escalated into a pretty heated disagreement.
Frustrations from the big blowout were not my finest moments so–despite her crazy–I wanted to do something nice for her. She had a sleepover scheduled with her bestie with the caveat her attitude improved, she apologized and she cleaned her room. While she was at school, I did a secret service of the latter item, hoping to surprise her.
Funny No. 1
I was sitting at the kitchen table with Bode when she went to her room.
“Hey wait. My room is all clean! Did Daddy do it? My elf on the shelf?”
Bode whispered to me, “Mommy, was it you?” I responded affirmatively.
“It was Mommy,” he called back. “What do you say to her?”
(Does anyone else find it funny my first grader was trying to coax his older sister to say “thank you?”)
Her response? “I say that I don’t have to clean my room now.”
So much for that little thing called gratitude.
(She eventually did say “thank-you” when she figured out her brother wouldn’t back down until she did. I’m totally hiring the little dude).
Funny No. 2
But back to the dreaded concert. When Jamie and I arrived at school, she was in a much better mood and all seemed forgotten.
Her beloved music teacher Mr. V did a wonderful job and the little performers far exceeded expectations…earplugs weren’t even needed! Hadley was mostly hidden from my view on the second row but I listened intently for a rogue violinist and breathed a sigh of relief when it was all over.
Me: “Hadley, you did a great job!”
Her: “I didn’t play.”
Me: “What do you mean? I saw you playing.”
Her: “I just pretended to play. I moved my bow around but didn’t touch the strings. I was too afraid of messing up.”
I LAUGHED OUT LOUD. This is not the first time she has done this.
Funny No. 3
When Hadley was two years old, the Primary (young) kids at church were singing a couple of songs dedicated unto the dads for Father’s Day. Hadley was in what is called Nursery; kind of the preschool to the Big Primary Kahuna. The kids were singing her favorite song: “I’m so glad when Daddy comes home,” a little ditty she had been singing since she could barely talk. I hesitated, wondering if my little social butterfly would be ill-at-ease performing a song she’d never practiced in front of huge congregation. So I simply asked if she’d like to sing it with the big Primary kids. The response?
Ohhhhh yeah!
In fact, she could barely sit still leading up to her debut performance. I even tried to do a practice run as a refresher but she got mad, saying she wasn’t going to sing it now. Silly me.
When it came time, she practically skipped to the front of the chapel and plopped herself front and center. And as if expecting all eyes should naturally fall upon her, she prepared herself to perform.
The only problem was that I failed to tell her they were singing two songs, the first of which she did not know.
The music started and for a moment, Hadley faltered. She cautiously looked around as if thinking, “This was NOT in my contract.” But while the other young children either looked bored out of their minds or like a deer in headlights, the Hurricane took a different approach.
“She is…she is…she is….” Jamie laughingly faltered.
“What? What is she doing?”
“She is lip-syncing the words!” he finally spewed out.
Sure enough, my little Hurricane was faking it, evidently so as not to disappoint her publics.
But the best reaction of all was when the second song came on, her song. She immediately perked up, SHOUTED the words, and acted out the actions such as “put my arms around his neck, hug him tight like this.” The kid gave an Oscar-worthy performance.
When it came time to “give him a great, big kiss,” Jamie and I were about ready to pee our pants as she dramatically swept out her arm and blew him a smoocher.
She was so proud of herself and had no idea that she, the youngest kid up there, had left the entire ward in stitches. And had made the biggest, funniest, cutest fool of herself imaginable.
So, the moral of the violin-faking story? There is always hope.
Though The Broadmoor’s holiday merriment extends all December long, attending the White Lights Ceremony over Thanksgiving weekend is an annual kick-off to Christmas my family will always cherish.
Upon check-in, we received a synopsis of activities so long it rivaled my children’s own list to Santa (a major undertaking, indeed). On Friday, there were two Christmas movies in the Little Theater, jewelry making and even silk scarf paining. Saturday’s holiday offerings were almost overwhelming. From Breakfast with Santa to story time with Mrs. Claus to family bingo to an entire ballroom filled with winter wonderland fun, we had a glorious, fun-filled day.
Cookies Galore
We’ve done plenty of sub-par cookie decorating but cookie painting? Colorado Springs-based Art & Style Baking headed up cookie painting with a variety of holiday-themed shapes and edible fondant, paint and glitter. They even provided each child with a “Cookie Artiste” certificate. 
It should be duly noted the bar has been set WAY too high for future attempts.
Christmas House
There are gifts galore at the Christmas House, which is a must-visit during the holidays. The themed rooms are brimming with whimsical snowmen, ornaments and elegant décor. Santa has his very own house and greets families every Saturday from Thanksgiving to Christmas from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (photos with Santa are $14). During the White Lights Ceremony weekend live reindeer were present.
The only thing missing from this North Pole-esque experience: snow.
Winter Wonderland Fun
New this year, the resort wisely consolidated many of their most popular holiday activities into Winter Wonderland Family Fun at the Broadmoor Hall’s ballroom. Under a big top of glistening lights and ribbons, my kids built gingerbread houses. 
Don’t they look peaceful? Gingerbread houses are our annual tradition and this was the first year we didn’t argue. Or, as Jamie diplomatically stated, “had artistic differences.”
The kids also decorated Santa cupcakes, indulged in the hot chocolate station, wrote letters to Santa, did holiday crafts and made their very own magical reindeer food. jumped in the bouncy castles and built their own Broadmoor bears.
Sounds exhausting? It was. But if those few hours we spent in Winter Wonderland Family Fun didn’t ignite our Christmas spirit, nothing could.
White Lights Ceremony
The climax of the weekend was, of course, the White Lights Ceremony on the West Terrace at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. An hour prior, my family purchased s’mores kits from the West Lobby Bar to roast on the outdoor terrace’s fire pit. 
This was by far our most civilized s’mores roasting experience ever because we’re usually covered in camping grime.
As a live band exuberantly belted out Christmas classics on stage, my kids joined legions of their peers to dance, sing and whirl their green and red glow-stick necklaces.
All activity froze when Santa was spotted traversing the bridge. Without hesitation, my daughter darted away like a crazed Santa groupie to follow his arrival with Mrs. Claus and their band of merry elves.
Masters of Ceremony Santa and Mrs. Claus greeted their enthusiasts and started the countdown to flip the switch. And just like that, 250,000 flashes of light set the sky and Cheyenne Lake ablaze. As we marveled at this visual spectacle of The Broadmoor’s perfectly manicured grounds coming to life, we hugged one another and relished in the delighted squeals that filled the night air. 
And we knew The Broadmoor was one reason this would be one Christmas season we’d never forget.
With both sets of grandparents far away, our past Christmases have been on the road. In fact, Bode didn’t remember ever spending Christmas in Colorado so we’ve been long overdue to just stay and spend it together as a family. And it was so lovely and low-key.
Bode snugged up with us in bed at 6 a.m. I told him we had to wait until 6:30 a.m. to wake up Hadley but when he started counting down every minute, Jamie finally broke at 6:14 a.m.: “ALRIGHT, LET’S GO WAKE HER UP.”
My favorite Christmas memories as a kid are that first glimpse of the tree literally overflowing with presents. I hold off on putting most of the presents out until Christmas morning so our tree has the same shock value.
The past few years, Jamie and I have opted out of giving each other presents (besides our stockings) because we’d rather have our discretionary income go to our travels and date nights versus materialistic stuff we can buy ourselves. We had a few presents from grandparents and family and that left 95 percent of what was under the tree was for the kids.
It sure sucked for them. ((**please ignore the boxed formatting errors the rest of this post. No idea what’s going on and have no time to fix it)).
Christmas morning is LAME without little kids’ exuberance and unbridled joy. Mine are the PERFECT age where the magic is still alive and they rejoiced over every present. And as you’ll note from the pictures, it was dark when we started and we finished in broad daylight. It even snowed a few inches to make the morning idyllic and a rock-star neighbor secretly shoveled everyone’s sidewalks.
Haddie asked for dresses and got five of them. She has fallen in love with knitting at school and that was her Santa request. As we neared the end of opening our gifts, she expressed disappointment he had forgotten. But then she grabbed The Present, pulled it out and said quizzically, “he gave me chopsticks?
Knitting needles, dear blonde girl. Knitting needles.
Bode asked Santa for an interactive globe and I’m sure he’ll have the countries, ecology and populations memorized by the end of the year.
Neither kids were expecting their main gifts. At an event earlier this month, I received a FREE iPod Touch (amazing, right?) but I hesitated to give it to Hadley. She has zero interest in technology and pop culture and I certainly don’t want to push her into growing up before she’s ready. But ultimately Jamie and I decided it was time and she was out-of-her gourd excited and kept squealing, “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS FOR ME!”
Aunt Tammy gave her an iTunes card so we set her up with her first email address and iTunes account that we will closely monitor (talk about an out-of-body experience.) We downloaded her first-ever album: Taylor Swift’s Red, she grabbed her headphones and headed up to her room.
“We just lost our daughter,” Jamie joked.
Hopefully we won’t live to regret it.
As for Bode, his first love is his beloved Wii. I’ve been a “Brand Ambassador” for a few years (or rather, he has) and Nintendo will occasionally send us video games to check out. Of course, their big news is the release of the WiiU, a cutting-edge console with a GamePad controller that enables multiple viewing options, letting users view a movie or TV show streaming from Netflix on the TV while browsing for something to watch next on the GamePad. Their new online network Miiverse, features an activity feed that will eventually be accessed through web-enabled devices such as smartphones.
Pretty amazing technology.
Due to high demand, I didn’t think we’d receive one before Christmas but a few days prior, Nintendo delivered! We kept it a surprise and had the kids buy each other two of their favorite games: Super Mario Bros. U and Just Dance 4. Jamie built up the suspense. As Bode FREAKED out re: Super Mario (his “favorite game ever”) Jamie deflated him. “But Bode, look at this. It is for the WiiU and we don’t have a WiiU!”
And then we presented him with his final gift.
And spent some of the day playing it and karaoking to Sing Party. 
We had a day full of food, fun, games, balloon animals with Uncle Chris, movies (Brave, Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story) and the capstone was when I introduced them to the Borowski family’s favorite tradition: Spoons. I don’t want to boast but I was the world champion with my lightning-fast reflexes but I found myself doing something I’ve never done in Spoons: I let the kids win. On purpose. Oblivious of my efforts to keep the kids happy, I gave Jamie The Look across the table and to his credit, he ended up throwing the last game, thus cementing my kids’ love of Spoons for many years to come.
However, unlike my family’s Spoons marathons, there was no blood or broken tables.
Better luck next time.
Jamie is a pretty low-maintenance guy so when he requests something, I really try and do it. And that request was to hit Loveland Ski Area on Christmas Eve day. Though I was crazy-busy trying to pull everything together for our party that evening, I loathe procrastination. I had shopped and wrapped presents weeks ago so had no problem doing my final food prep work the day prior. I rubbed it in just a little bit with this tweet:
And I’m so glad we did it. This is the second time we’ve skied Loveland on Christmas Eve and we have vowed to make it an annual tradition when we’re in Colorado. Not only is it a mere 40-minute drive from our house but the slopes are gloriously devoid of crowds.
This was our first ski day of the season so a half-day trip was perfect as we attempt to get our legs in shape. Bode was the big question mark. While Hadley has taken to skiing like a fish in water, Bode only decided he liked skiing on our final few days on the slopes last year. Our fingers were crossed he would maintain that same level of enthusiasm.
After getting their equipment in Loveland Valley (the beginner/intermediate area), we were about 20 minutes early for their lesson. I suggested they take a quick run off Chair 7. Both kids were game but then Hadley realized the tech had set her bindings too small for her skis. Uncle Chris took her back inside and I looked dubiously at Bode.
“Do you want to wait for Sissy?”
“No, I can handle it.”
Stunned by his bravado (was this the same tepid kid from last season?) I ignored my doubts and let him go for it. He confidently waved at us from the lift and then bravely made his way down the slope by himself.
He was hooked and we knew we were home-free. Jamie, Chris and I left them with their fabulous, fun and helpful instructors April and Rachel (seriously request them if you are there).
And had a blast! Jamie and I recently bought ourselves new ski equipment from Powder7, which offers killer deals on all-things skiing and riding. We were excited to try them out for the first time and relieved we made some great choices.
Brothers
My favorite gift: skiing with this dude
Of course, a trip to Loveland on Christmas Eve is not complete without a visit from the Man in Red.
On Bode’s first ski day ever on Christmas Eve three years ago at Loveland, I snapped this picture and had to put them side-by-side.
My, how they’ve grown.
And here’s to many more years of spending our Christmas Eve at Loveland.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. Learn More