Mountain Retreat

I don't know what constitutes a "vacation" and what defines a "getaway"...but we spent the long weekend up in the mountains for one of those...vacation or getaway...with my mom and Lauren. When we went last year we had such a nice time that Jason said we should make it an annual thing. And we did...adding an extra night to make it even better.

You might recall I mentioned it a few weeks ago when we had such a rainy weekend that we SHOULD have been in the mountains that weekend...but we postponed due to my broken foot and Lauren's work schedule. We had much better weather and even though my foot is still in the boot, it was completely do-able.

You might also recall how Jason had to work a Saturday and Sunday not too long ago...that was because they needed his help and in exchange for putting in two weekend days he was able to get two days of comp time from them so J took off Friday and Tuesday without having to use vacation time. So fortunate!

So, Friday J was off and stuck around the house doing some packing and chores while I took the boys up for Dalton's doctor appointment. But after that we swung back by to pick him up and took off for our 3 hour drive to Steamboat. We stopped at Noodles for lunch before leaving town hoping that Dalton would nap. He never did, even though it was totally during his naptime that we drove. Not good.

He preferred instead to hang with the rest of us and annoying his brother with his foot:


My favorite pointy mountain on the I-70 drive (had to take this one for Kelli):


When we finally gave up on the idea of D falling asleep (about an hour and a half in) we whipped out the best road trip invention EVER: the portable DVD player:


We made it up to the same hotel as last year and got all checked in and settled. Dalton was in a hurry to make an important call:


Easton took us on a tour of our amazing suite:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And we just hung out and played some super-cool hide and seek, browsed the menus of restaurants in town, and waited for my mom and Lauren to arrive (Gramoo had to work that day).

Shortly before dinner they came and we went outside to wait for the shuttle to take us wherever we wanted to go:


We chose the Rio--one of our favorite places in Boulder and Denver--simply because of their margaritas. And since we took the shuttle, Jason and I both had two of those bad boys. Yum yum. We were ready to party.


Gramoo entertaining the boys with some "purse toys" she always keeps on hand:

If you saw the size of her purse, you'd wonder why she only had two small things in there. :) Love you, Moo!

They have these dog statues all around town (as you'll see later). But here we are waiting for the shuttle again:


And on the shuttle...I don't know why busses seem different to me, but somehow they do (even though they shouldn't)...so anyway...clearly the boys aren't in carseats in it (no one yell at us, please, now that I'm actually thinking about it all again, it wasn't the wisest decision I've ever made). But this picture was too cute not to share:


Anyway, back to the hotel and our huge tub where the boys took a swim:


Literally...


And then we put them to bed, even in the strange place, both boys went right to sleep after we left the bedroom:




Dalton fussed on and off all night...like he was getting sick. He'd had his shot earlier in the day and I wished I'd thought to bring him some ibuprofen. Instead we just toughed it out. At 4:30 Dalton woke up for some milk. And Easton woke up then too, normally Dalton's noises don't bug him enough to wake him but Easton also said he was thirsty so we let him have some water. After that we put D back in the bed and E back in his, and everyone just tossed and turned. Despite the quiet, despite trying, no one was able to go back to sleep. So at 6:00 we gave up and the boys came into the king sized bed with us to watch some TV:


And make a call:


And snuggle:


And chill:


And finally fall back asleep (in D's case) at about 7:15:




At that point I took E out to the couch to keep it quiet for D while the rest of us showered and got ready for breakfast:


Dalton woke up on his own after I got out of the shower and we all went down to the hotel breakfast that was part of the package:




After breakfast we walked to "Gondola Square" where they have some family activites set up. Jason bought 10 tickets and we let the boys jump in the bounce house for a bit:




Then Easton did the climbing wall...two tickets for two climbs:




At one point he said, "I'm all done" but we encouraged him to keep trying. We didn't MAKE him, just encouraged, and he kept going to about here:

The people working there said they'd never seen a little kid go so high.

His favorite part was repelling down:


Sherlock Dalton looked on:


There weren't a lot of things either of our boys could do because of height or weight restrictions. So Lauren and I used up some of the tickets by doing the gyroscope together:




And with the last two tickets Jason did the climbing wall too:




Here is a few videos from our morning:

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We walked around to browse some of the souvenir-type shops when Easton just stopped to pose. Seriously. He did that until I took his picture:


Then he was able to move on:


Lauren spotted a burgundy moose shirt in a store window and she and my mom rushed in to buy it (burgundy and moose are my mom's "things"). The rest of us waited outside and played ring around the rosie with this sculpture:






Till Easton ran into the fingers of this dude and hurt his belly a bit:

He only hurts himself doing "normal" stuff like that...walking into corners, crawling into a coffee table, tripping. When he's climbing and flipping he's, like, extra cautious or something but with simpler things he spazzes out and gets hurt. Silly.

It was getting warm so Gramoo offered to treat us to some Frappacinos before we took BOTH boys back for naps. Jason and I tried to get both boys down at once but it wasn't working. So I got D down first and then once he was asleep I took E in for his nap. I was even able to sleep for about 20 minutes with him. We all needed those naps with our early early morning, however, unless very sick or something Jason NEVER naps.

Dalton was up first...so he got some horsey rides and such:




While Big Bubba slept in the big bed:


Once everyone was up--Gramoo and Lauren too--we went down to the hotel pool. We talked about going to Steamboat's Hot Springs but I think we decided it wasn't worth the $12/person this time. But how awesome would it be for E to have a heated hot springs pool like that?

Instead we settled for the very pleasant and mild Steamboat Grand pool:




Check out Lauren's trick:


Jason keeping Easton company as he warms up in the hot tub:


Dalton burned out on swimming before the rest of us. Another reason it was good to be right at the hotel. He and Jason were able to head back while the rest of us still played:




And video:

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We headed up to the room again to kill some time...Dalton was watching Wiggles, and was clearly excited about it:

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Easton did a little climbing...big brother:


Little brother:


Spidey:


Our balcony and view:


Dalton giving Lauren heart attacks:


Finally it was time to head up in the gondola for our sunset dinner on the top of the montain:










Mmmm, enjoying our dinner and wine:


The boys were tired and bored at the fancy restaurant. E still behaved very very well. And D was downright sick with a runny nose and miserableness :( Easton played violin with his forks:


And balanced a spoon on his nose:




We finished our fancy dinner and went outside to check out the sunset...didn't capture it real well with the camera:


A group photo:


Lauren keeping Easton from falling off the mountain:


Pose!


A family shot:


Just Mommy and Daddy:


The gondola ride back down as we watched the sun set even further:






Neither boy fell right to sleep, despite being very tired, I'm sure. And Dalton continued to be sick and fuss on and off all night. But at least we all stayed asleep till 7:30 the next morning.

While getting ready in the morning, Gramoo gave Dalton a towel cape:


And then we did the included breakfast again before heading to the alpine slide. First you ride up the lift:


Then you slide down. It's a blast.












We were standing in line for our third and final trip when about 5 raindrops fell from the sky and they shut everything down. People had to ride back down on the chair lift instead of the slide. We still had tokens so we hung out a bit on the nearby playground to see if the weather cleared at all:








When it was clear that it was going to keep raining we left, with plans to come back again. My mom and Lauren stayed downtown to do some shopping while J and I took the boys back for naps/quiet time.

Lauren and Gramoo brought back some nachos for J and I and then played Buzz games on the computer while J and I ate when D's nap was over:


I discovered Dalton had a little reaction to where he got his shot on Friday:




But after asking my trusty friend Google I was able to relax. He's never reacted before but apparently it is common after the 4th or 5th DTaP...and this was his 4th. Interesting.

He's aight:


And you thought Lauren's stunt in the pool was impressive? It's even better on dry land:

I know she's a dancer, I just had no idea she was quite so limber.

We did some horseback riding after that:

Okay. Not really. Gramoo will likely never horseback ride again after one laid down on her leg and broke it on a previous mountain getaway.

Instead we went back to the alpine slide but it was still closed even though it was no longer raining. Poopie heads. :) So we did some more shops browsing...Diddles got to visit with a little pug:


Gramoo forked over some quarters so the boys could ride the horse in a children's boutique while she bought more "purse toys":




E climbed a tree...he wanted to climb every single one we walked by:


He posed with some more of those dog statues around town, and a real one too:






And another attempt at a family photo on our way to dinner:


Jason wanted to eat at the Italian place we ate at last year, but it was not as good as any of us remembered. Jason joked that our standards must be higher now that he works for Microsoft (last year on the trip is when he found out he was hired on).

We stopped by a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some after dinner treats and ate them on the bench outside:


Check out how much gas is costing these days up in the mountains:

Hee hee!

Then it was back to the hotel for some more swimming in the tub:


E looks all freaky underwater:


And some video...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And then it was time for bed once again. Jason and I woke up before the kids somehow. We packed up a bit, went down to breakfast and back up to pack some more and chill before trying to go back to the alpine slide. Feeling tired and chilly I proposed a trip to the Starbucks so Lauren and I walked over to the Sheraton to get drinks for everyone:

(Mine is gone and it still looks like I need more!)

Check out one of E's cool new shirts for this season:


We checked out...said goodbye to the hotel till next year...and drove back to the slide...it was open!


Someone's excited (you're supposed to be 2 to ride the slide but we just put a hat on him and let him walk around so he looked older...don't ask, don't tell):


On the lift again:


Lauren and Jason were going to race:




So me and Moo had the boys:




We raced too...clearly you can see that D and I won:


We had so much fun that Moo sprung for two more trips for everyone. We were able to come up with various combos...I raced Jason and won. Lauren wanted to race me and I was so far ahead of her, till I nearly rear-ended the woman going
s-l-o-w-l-y down the slide in front of me. I would've won that won. Even Lauren admits it. Which is really all that matters. ;)








A little more fun on the playground:





(Yes, I am wearing the shirt Jason wore the day before...all I had left was a tank top, and it was too cold for that. So we recycled his shirt.)

After we finally finshed all our fun sliding and racing and swinging we went to grab some lunch before the drive back home. Eastie sweetly cuddled up with his Aunt Lauren while we waited for a table:


And Diddles with his mama:


We had a yummy lunch finishing with some yummy cookies and then went our separate ways to drive home. Dalton slept all of 20 minutes in the car. We got home, J unpacked, we played in the backyard for a bit and called it a day.

What a lovely long weekend!