Staycation Day 1 Breckenridge

Last Saturday morning, we were up bright and early to head to the mountains for our 5 day get away.  My parents were settled in and confident that they were ready to take on the challenge of caring for our little Chance man.
After a few hugs and kisses we were out the door and on the interstate headed west.
To be honest, driving on 1-70 still kind of freaks me out.  I almost never drive it alone, especially when there is snow on the road.  However, I never get tired of the drive.  It is always beautiful and surreal.  I'm just glad that I have Max to drive for me so that I can take pictures of the scenery :)

A short hour later we had arrived in Breckenridge.  We had made plans to meet with Kevin and Katie York who had went up the night before. Cook and Elise were also coming up but they had decided to ski on their own for the day because Elise is a beginner snow boarder.  When I called Katie to see where they were, Katie said that they were already on the mountain and to meet them at Peak 10....GASP....I don't ski Breckenridge very often but I  remembered that Peak 10 was the hardest and steepest peak.  I called Cook to tell him we were headed to peak 10, I almost wanted to say I'll just meet you on the beginner mountain instead, but I didn't.  I tried to psych myself up. For some reason I always get really nervous when I have to ski hard runs with Max.  I think it is because he is soooo amazingly good at skiing.
I decided to leave my camera in the car because I knew we were headed to Peak 10, and well...I knew the chances of me falling were very high.  I didn't want to break my camera so the next few photos are my version of a re-dramatization of the days events.

This is the actual map of peak 10 at Breckenridge.  I knew I was in trouble when we headed left off of the lift.  

The first chosen run of the day (by Katie) was "dark rider" a double black diamond.  

Whatevs...I told myself...I haven't skied double black diamonds in a while but skiing is like riding a bicycle right?  If you've done it before you can do it again?  

I had convinced myself that I was just being a wimp and inside my own head, so I decided to follow everyone else down the "dark rider".  

I skied half way decent down the first part of the run.  I even began to think to myself, see how silly you were being.  I almost convinced myself that I belonged on that run.  

I felt like this...

When everyone else felt like this...

But this...is what I actually looked like!

 That's right! I'm sure you're shocked.  As it turns out on the first run of the day.  I crashed and burned on a mogul run.  I ended up losing both of my skis and sliding about 60 yards down the mountain.  (I completely wish I was exaggerating).  Max, Kevin, and Katie were all already down the run just looking at me when I finally stopped rolling down the mountain..  Once they all knew I was okay, Max shook his head, and Katie busted out laughing.
I had to hike back up to my skis, figure out how to put them on in powder and moguls, and then still ski down that god forsaken run.  At least, I was with friends and able to laugh about it.
Lesson learned.  The rest of the day I stuck to blues and blacks (without trees and moguls) which seemed to go a lot better for me.
We all ended the day at the Coppertop Bar and Grill laughing about the day's shenanigans.
After Coppertop, Katie invited us all to her parent's home for the evening.  She said that the house was empty and that we were all welcome to stay.   She then said that she already had groceries to make enchiladas for dinner and that all we needed to bring was something to drink for everyone for the night.  It sounded like a deal and the perfect way to spend the first night of our staycation.

 Wait a seond...Max...this is our staycation! Put the computer and all of the engineering drawings away!

Kevin and Katie York.  Our gracious hosts for the evening.

Champagne to start the evening.  Just because we can!

Cook and his girlfriend Elise

Apparently, expensive champagne can make you agree to crazy things! Like play beer pong, for example.  

 Begin the battle for the beer pong champion.  Guys vs Gals.  The guys won, but only by one cup.  Sadly, I think I am better at beer pong than skiing.

Staycation day #1 was an absolute blast.  

Friday Photo Fix 2/10

Looking back to make sure that we are still playing "chase"

Caught you playing in daddy's ski shop.  You know you aren't supposed to be in here.  It's hard to punish him though when he looks this happy and cute.  

Okay...you can play in here as long as I'm with you.  

Upstairs playing with Daddy.  

Reaching out to "get me"

It's his new favorite game. 

bath time

Looks like it might be time for our second hair cut :-)

We're so happy to be home with our little man! All is right in the world again.  

Mom and Dad Visit and the Lakers are in Town

This past week was really special! My mom and dad came out to visit for about a week.  Our friends had been planning a ski trip for the past several months and Max and I wanted to be able to ski with our friends.  I also wanted my parents to have quality time with Chance so it ended up being the perfect opportunity to ask my mom and dad if they wanted to come to Denver and stay in our house while Max and I went on our ski trip.  We were lucky that they wanted to watch Chance and that they agreed to come to Denver so that we could have a few days to reconnect and ski.  

My parents ended up getting into Denver just before a huge snow storm.  The city of Denver reported 18 inches of snowfall from 5pm on Thursday night to 5am on Friday morning.  I'm really glad that my parents were able to make it into town before the terrible weather and road conditions.  

On Friday morning...I learned that I had a snow day from work which never happens.  We were lucky to spend the day playing in our pajamas, catching up, and relaxing.  

The only bad thing was that Max was not able to make it to work with all of the snowfall.  He had a huge project that he needed to work on before leaving for vacation.  Chance did not understand and wanted more badly than anything to get into the office to play with Max and all of the computer components.  I'm sure this was not annoying or distracting for Max at all :)

But mom...why won't you let me in the office.  I know my dad is in there!

My parents brought along their new puppy "Tink".  She kept running off with all of Chance's little toys.  Aren't daschund puppies the sweetest?  

Notice anything different?  Sigh...Chance is now walking...no running all over the house instead of crawling.  Time is moving way too fast :( 

Playing "High Five" with Grandpa

Try and pick who was having more fun

We wanted to do something nice for my parents for making the trip to Denver so that we could vacation for a few days.  We decided that a trip to our favorite Mexican restaurant downtown and a Nuggets game would be the perfect way to say thank you.  

Chance and I at dinner downtown.  

My mom and dad (the brave babysitters :) 

Chance and daddy at dinner. 

Nuggets vs. Lakers at the Pepsi Center

Chance was so well behaved during the game.  He sat happily on our laps and fell asleep in my mother's arms by half time.  

Of course my dad had to buy Chance a Rocky pillow pet at the souvenir shop. 

My mom overlooking the game.  

The Nuggets played a really great game.  It actually came down to the last 11 seconds and the Nuggets had a chance to make the winning shot.  

Sadly, the Nuggets ended up on the losing end.  At least we got to see Kobe play.  

All in all it was just fun to be in such an exciting atmosphere and enjoy time together.  

Better luck next year Nuggets! Keep playing your hearts out and we will be back to cheer you on again and again.