Crested Butte, Colorado

We had an incredibly fun time in Colorado.  There was some worry about the lack of snow, but it all turned out well in the end.  We got to Gunnison just in time to pick up Uncle Brian from the airport and make a quick visit to the "airplane" bathrooms.  Extremely exciting for a couple of us. The rest of the group showed up shortly after and we all caught up over a nice lunch.  Where I immediately placed myself on the adult half of the table.  

Saturday morning we rose early to prepare for the first day of skiing.  The kids aided us in this by never really adjusting to the mountain time zone.  Everyone had a great day of skiing, though I had many issues.  I fell constantly on the easiest run.  Now, I don't have a lot of pride in my skiing ability, but I knew that I had been a lot better three years earlier.  I realized too late for that day that my boot was not tight enough.  Once this was remedied, I was much more confident and had a lot more fun.  Conveniently, this happened on the day that 13 inches of snow fell.  It was fun to ski in the powder, but I think I enjoyed seeing the excitement of all the employees' more.  It was like Christmas morning to them.  

I've known since the last ski trip that I prefer the green runs.  Perhaps one day I will actually enjoy skiing blues as opposed to feeling like they are something I am trying to survive.  I have no intention to ever try a black diamond run.  However, Eric is completely different.  He sought out the hardest runs he could find.  Why?  I have no idea. I assume he thought they were fun.  Honestly.  I know, it doesn't make sense to me either.  But, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to my brother-in-law re-cap my husband's hijinks.

Now, you might be wondering what we did with the children while we were frolicking on the mountain.  Grandma and Grandpa graciously volunteered to watch them for half days on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday.  I took all of Sunday.  This system worked out really well, despite the fact that Molly and Will both had nasty colds for pretty much the entire time we were in Colorado.  I have to say my favorite memory was walking in the door on Tuesday and seeing Grandpa going for a high score in Pac-Man with no children in sight.  I knew they were fine once I heard the distant sounds of Mario Kart.

Our evenings were spent recuperating from the day of skiing.  The hot tub was utilized, supper was eaten, and card games were played.  Only one night did we not make it to 10 pm.  I don't think we really made it to 9.  Ironically, it was the night of a KU game, which started at 9PM Eastern.  Since we were in Colorado, it came on at 7, but we still couldn't stay awake for the end.  

On Wednesday morning we loaded up and headed out.  The entire drive through the mountains, William kept asking if we were still in Colorado.  Finally, I told him that if he could see mountains, than we were still in Colorado.  This came back to haunt me several hours later as we drove through eastern Colorado.

Next stop:  Kansas!