Ski Trip!

We went on our first, of many, skip trips as a family of 4, this past Feb! And how was our ski trip you ask? Well, it had it's ups and it's downs : ), as any trip would with a sweet nursing baby and a toddler who may or may not have been "scared of the snow!" But all in all, I am glad we went because, a) the mountains are a beautiful place to be and both Zack and I really do consider the Rockies one of our favorite places to be b) we were with my amazing family c) daddy was in a dream, boarding every day! 

At the airport with Rani and Grandp, Benjamin's first flight!

Who knows how many times this girl has been on an airplane, she is a seasoned travler and was anxious to get back! She had a great flight!

Lots of books, a fun daddy and the IPad were all she needed to be happy!

Benjamin nursed and then slept and it was really, as good as a flight could be! We were tired when we got to Denver, but VERY grateful that it went smoothly!

And a certain someone was so excited to finally  be in the mountains, something we had been talking about for so long!

She had to do a little dance in the rental car building, to show her excitment! (And I think, to show off her awesome snow boots that Grandpa gave her!)

Rani and my little sleepyhead, what a great traveler he was on the way there!

But don't let this fool you, for Benjamin had a rough go on the flight home and my little girl who was prancing around in those snow boots of hers was acting as a snow loving imposter! : )

First morning, everyone is getting ready and Bekah was all too happy to stay back and observe. She said no when we asked her if she wanted to ski as well.

But that was okay, it was  the first day after all, maybe she just wanted to hang around the condo . . . .

she thought her cute little boots were great though!

So, we stayed in and it was fun and cozy, hanging in the warm condo, watching all the beautiful snow fall down, thinking about how much fun they were having because of all the fresh powder ( yes, I was a little jealous!)

But at the same time, I was excited to spend time with my kiddos and my mom, real quality time, where the landary and the chores around the house were not an issue! It was great to play with them all day!

Grandpa would always come home from skiing to eat lunch with us and hang with the kids:

And Benjamin even got out in the snow for a little walk,

to try out his extra snuggely snow suit!

Now, this was the afternoon of our first full day there and this is when I realized, Bekah had no intention of going outside into the "scary snow." Hmm . . . might pose as a problem if we wanted her to go to ski school!

Not only was she scared of the lovely : ) snow, she had a runny nose that was driving her crazy, I guess she wasn't feeling her best, so staying inside was all she wanted to do. We got there on a Sunday afternoon, and she did not LEAVE the condo until Wednesday morning! Ski school was not looking too hopeful . . .

So, we stayed in and did other things, like got our hair done by Aunt Rani!

(notice bekah's hand on Uncle jeff's foot, she just LOVES uncle jeff and is always wanting his attention!)

Daddy also made sure he came home for lunch from a "dream like" day of boarding. Really, this was one HAPPY daddy! The guy LOVES to board and looks forward to the day where he can teach this little man of ours, how it's done!

Sporting the snow bunny braids, minus the snow : ).

View from our condo:

Okay, so on Wednesday morning, I had decided enough was enough, and we HAD to get this girl out of the condo! So, what does a mommy do when all else has failed?? She BRIBES!

"Hey Bekah, if you put your snow bibs on, I'll give you a gummi bear!"

"Okay!"

"Hey, if you put your boots on, I'll give you another one!"

" . . .okay  . . ."

"Hey, if you go outside with daddy and I for just a bit to try on your ski's, I'll give you some more!"

And that is basically how it went, I felt like a dog trainer, giving her a "treat" every time she did something I wanted her to do! But, I'm good with it, I just wanted her to at least get out there and TRY it and if after that, she decided it was scary fine, it was scary, but we can't say it's scary without trying it first!

Not crying, but, not happy . . . I had to get her dressed in front of TV, to keep her "distracted."

Still quite concerned with her upper lip that gets all sore when she has a runny nose:

Trying to make it exciting, by taking a family pic before heading out . . .

Finally got the boots on . . .

She liked comparing how big mine were to hers!

Another gummi bear for the hat,

and another one for the coat!

So the plan was not to take her to ski school that day, but to go with her to an area with a "slope" and see what she thought of "skiing" with me and sledding with daddy.

Daddy sledding by himself to show her how much "fun" it can be:

And she did sled, no tears, but no laughter either,she was pretty serious about the whole ordeal!

Then, we put her between my skis and we tried to ski down the "incline" together!

Since I have been skiing my whole life,it was a very exciting moment for me, to go with my little girl!

Bekah's face can tell you what she thought of it!

Oh well, maybe next year! At least she wasn't crying I suppose!

She was all too happy to head back to the condo to get the final reward, a heart lolipop leftover from Valentines Day!

"Bekah, was that fun?"

"yeah!"

"Do you want to go tomorrow then?"

"No, I might stay with MayMay."

We did the best we could! There is always next year!

I did get out twice to ski though and that was heavenly! Being up there in the mountains without a care in the world was a great feeling! But, i sort of did have a care, Benjamin wasn't taking the bottle, so I had to head back sooner, rather than later, but, it was better than nothing! I'll take what I can get!

One day, we even had an extra moment to stop at a moutaintop restaurant and have a "hot chocolate date!" Zack and I have been skiing over 10 times together! It is definitely a special part of our relationship, the love of skiing and the mountains, that we share!

My sweet little boy, all bundled up!

After the "skiing", Bekah felt more adventurous to take a trip into town to go shopping!

family pic, teehee, benjamin makes me laugh in this pic!

Breckenridge has such a cute little town to walk around in!

MayMay and Grandpa, the ones who make these annual family ski trips happen! We are so grateful!

Staying inside didn't seem to bother Bekah, with her BFF always around!

The condo was great beacuse it came with all sorts of toys and games, like Connect Four, which Bekah really liked!

And for Benjamin, well, at first, I wasn't sure if we should stay, he was so miserable the first night. It was so sad and I really wondered if we should go home. The altitude really got to him, he was so fussy and all he wanted to do was nurse. The first day and night were extreamly hard, but around noon the next day,

he was back to his happpy self! What a prayer answered. It was heartbreaking to see him so miserable!

I have heard of friends needing to leave early because of their unhappy babies, so I didn't know what to expect. Thankfully,we stayed and spent time with our family in a gorgeous place, with, a happy baby!

And at times, a happy toddler!

The last night we were there, we went  to dinner for MayMay's birthday!

Bekah was ready for a "night on the town!" Purse and all!

The always sweet birthday girl and her hubby:

The Beautiful Couple:

This pic is so funny , the way Benjamin's feet look so big!

Attempt at a family pic! This dinner reminded me of how easy it is to take Bekah out to dinner now,

she is great!

It's this little fella, who, when he wakes up, needs some "entertaining" so, we all passed him around, so we could have a chance to eat. It was wonderful having so much help with him!

we love you MayMay!

At the airport, heading home, we had no idea what was in store for us,

but let's just say, that at one point on the flight back, Bekah was crying, Benjamin was crying and even Mommy was crying, all at once!

-Benjamin had gone through 3 changes of clothes  due to diaper explosions and was now swaddled in a blanket since all he had to wear was a diaper.

-He was crying at the top of his lungs and no amount of nursing was going to fix it.

-I was crying becase my sinuses felt like they were going to explode ( I had NEVER felt that way on a plane before, it was so painful!)

- Bekah took one look at her mommy and baby brother and burst into tears herself.

- And Zack probably felt like jumping off the plane! 

Yes, we were THAT family!

And that was our first family vacation, as a family of 4!

Wonderful and difficult moments all mixed together, to make for one memorable trip!

I am thinking it won't be as hard next year, Benjamin won't be nursing and Bekah will like the snow? I hope? You never know! : )