Feb 6: Experimental Forest, Hot Tub in a Snowstorm, Dance Party after Dinner

This was our last and maybe best day of all at the Winter Park house.
In the morning, after playing and eating breakfast, we took the big boys snowshoeing on a beautiful trail through the nearby the Experimental Forest. The landscape was a mix of stately coniferous trees with views of snow-capped Byers Peak. We walked, climbed and ran on the snow in 14-degree weather, warm in our layers as we looked for animal tracks and jumped through the deep drifts.

Thanks to Shawn for the above photos.

Isaac got his snowshoes as a Christmas present from Grandma and Boopa. I was excited for him to get comfortable on them, but I had no idea how special this would be - trekking through the snow with two of his best buddies, three big 4-year-olds exploring together. I loved watching them. And Isaac really caught on fast.

 

 

 

 When we got home, it was time to warm up with some lunch and some hot-tub time. Isaac, on the second day he'd ever been in a hot tub, was a pro. He heard the word, disappeared, and returned minutes later ready to go:

As if it weren't enough fun already, while they were all out there, it started snowing hard. Warm water, icy flakes on your head - what could be better after a day playing in the snow?

Thanks to Albert for these adorable hot tub photos.

The big boys ate dinner and then got to work planning a performance. There were some conflicts - Isaac wanted to put on a very accurate Lion King show; Zack was okay with that, but he wanted to be the lollipop. But in the end, things seemed to work out, and we watched a show that involved some talking, several determined directors, and a lot of drumming.

Here, the audience is settling in for the show. There is no telling what Jonah just said. 

And it began like this:

 

Our two main drummers:

Soon the younger boys decided to join the performance too.

 A theatrical moment:

And more drumming:

The audience was amused.

 Eventually, the performance dissolved, Shawn put on some music, and it became a hilarious dance party, complete with tricks like air-tossing and recycling truck. The boys wanted to be tossed again and again.

One of my favorite parts of the night was watching how all the kids ran to all the adults, moving in complete comfort between their parents and their friends' parents.

 Of course, both our boys eventually lost their pants. Isaac pulled his back up and kept dancing, but Jonah lost his in such a dramatic fashion that he actually seemed quite embarrassed. Brian tossed him up in the air, as he had done many times already - but this time, as Jonah went up, his pants did not. They must have been caught on something, because this time, Brian tossed him straight out of his pants. We laughed so hard, and Jonah is such a tease that I expected him to laugh too. Instead, he just got really quiet and looked down. Poor guy. But after some snuggles, he was ready to party some more.

 

Finally, the adults started to get sleepy. But the kids didn't stop until we turned off the music.

Feb 5: Snowshoeing, Hot Tub and Super Bowl

We didn't get to use this front porch much, but the view through the columns was beautiful as we took Isaac out for his first snowshoe hike on Sunday morning.

Jonah, all bundled up, rode in the pack.
There wasn't as much snow in the mountains as normal for this time of year, but it was enough to get in some good practice. Isaac did great.

We just hiked around the mountain development where our rental was, but it was a beautiful flat meadow, and the sun was warm.

Isaac and Zack stopped to investigate this ice formation made by water dripping off the eaves above.

When Isaac got tired, we dropped him off at the house and let Jonah move his legs a little. He led us on a walk around the little neighborhood and was very excited about the "fire stations," otherwise known as fire hydrants, that stood out bright red against the snow. The air had warmed up a lot, and we were able to take some layers off. Here, he'd asked us repeatedly to take him to see the fire station.

Back home, we found the big boys relaxing with a movie about trucks that Zack had brought. It showed various real trucks performing their jobs.

In the afternoon, the kids got to try the hot tub. It was Isaac's first time, and he loved it. Jonah really wanted to go in, but he even likes his bath water cold...so he never was brave enough.

Here are all the kids together at dinnertime, having a great time.

As always, our boys were the last ones at the table. The Super Bowl was on in the next room, and they were excited to get to watch TV.

Feb 4: Winter Park with Friends

We'd all been looking forward to a weekend getaway in the mountains with some good friends. Adam had a hard month of work leading up to this week, but he finished (and won!) his trial and three other major deadlines just in time for us to spend four days together, playing in the winter wonderland that is Colorado in February.

After a week of packing, planning food, and taking care of last-minute details (there are so many for a family of four people and two animals!), plus trying to pull together a present for a mom from Isaac's school who has cancer, a snowstorm hit Denver the day we were supposed to leave. The mountains were sadly not getting much, but as the light faded and the first of two feet of snow piled up on the roads here, we decided we'd better leave the next morning.

So we met our friends a day late, but we made it. When we arrived after stopping for sandwiches in town, a few friends were out skiing and Adler was just waking up from his nap. He and Jonah were very happy to see each other, and we sat at the beautiful kitchen booth and ate pumpkin muffins.

The house was in more of a development than our family might choose if going alone, but we wanted to be near the runs for all the skiers in the group. And it was the best kind of development - beautifully built with fine materials and high-quality construction, surrounded by 100 acres of open space. Or, as Adam pointed out, 100 acres that included a few more blocks of future home sites probably postponed until the economy improved a bit. Either way, we had a gorgeous view of a snowcapped peak and lower mountains ringing the valley, and there was enough snow for beginner snowshoeing and a variety of hills nearby for sledding. The layout was amazing - the eating nook for the kids, a long dining table at the edge of the kitchen for the adults, and lots of room for us to all be together and yet spread out. There was even a hot tub outside, which we all enjoyed - though maybe the kids enjoyed it most of all.

Our first outing was to the little sledding hill, once everyone was at the house for the day. Thanks to Shawn and Albert for capturing this beautiful afternoon in the snow:

Each family took care of one breakfast and one dinner. Shawn had prepared make-your-own pizzas with an assortment of toppings for the first night we were all there. Yum...it was a hit.

Our boys, as usual, were the first ones to the table and probably the last ones to leave too.

Isaac's favorite pizza these days is spinach, pepperoni, mushrooms and olives.

Jonah had the same thing without the olives.

After pizza, there was hot chocolate and also homemade cookies for the kids, while we parents enjoyed our pizzas and a few glasses of wine in relative peace. The boys played loudly but happily, running through the house, while we got to talk and relax. The dinners might have been my favorite part of the trip.

Christmas morning