Snowmass Village

Here are some more pictures of our Snowmass vacation over Katarina's birthday weekend. We had a great time skiing with Christine, and again enjoyed beautifully fresh powder.

















The girls also enjoyed playtime with Lolo and Lola. They explored a mastodon exhibit to learn all about the mastodons and other ice age mammals found in Snowmass last year. The museum worker was impressed with Katarina's interest in (and ability to pronounce) "mastadon." Once he learned that one of her first words was "dino" he declared her a future paleontologist!

Glenwood Springs

We drove to Glenwood Springs over Presidents' Day weekend.

On the first day, we rode the gondola up to Glenwood Canverns Adventure Park, where we enjoyed a fabulous view.

The big girls were able to ride the Alpine Coaster, which is longer than the Alpine Slide at Winter Park. Wheee! Gabi especially loved riding the coaster.

Then we toured two large caves in the porous Iron Mountain.

Outside the first cave, we ended up on a ledge with this gorgeous view - and a 1300 ft drop-off.

We even crawled through the Spelobox to see what exploring caves (not on a walking tour) would be like. We did this same thing a little over a year ago when we went to Branson to catch the Polar Express, but this time we actually shoved Kataraina through the entire Spelobox. She was very eager to go in, but about a third of the way through became claustrophobic and freaked out.

Katarina's favorite part of the Caverns Park was the gondola ride, which she did several times while the rest of us took turns on the Alpine Coaster.

The restaurant at the top of the mountain was decorated with animals native to the area. We stayed all day, from the park's opening until closing, watching the short 4-D movies, playing laser tag, and exploring the sights.

Riding down the gondola at the end of the day:

The next three days of our long weekend, we skied at nearby Sunlight Mountain. The kids did great! We got fresh powder after the first day. Check back later for a video.

After skiing, it was nice to swim in the Hot Springs pool (except for the getting in and getting out part!). I noticed that the lifeguards were fully dressed - from a hat to shoes. The temperature outside was freezing, but the hot pool was 104 degrees F! The springs are powered naturally by sulfur, which we could smell (and taste, if we were unfortunate enough to get a bit of the water in our mouths).

Bella has been begging to go back to Sunlight Mountain every since. That was definitely her best skiing experience so far!

First Ski Lessons

Gabi and Bella started ski lessons at Eldora (near Boulder, CO). We made our first day trip on the last Saturday of January for a half-day afternoon lesson.

Unfortunately, the weather was so windy that Bella couldn't even stay standing up and had to drop out of the lesson. The strong wind swirled the dry powder into clouds of snow reminiscent of West Texas dust storms. The cold air stung cheeks and chilled fingers and caused runny noses, so I stayed inside the lodge with Katarina, where Bella later joined us. Gabi stuck with the entire ski lesson, though.

This past Saturday, we returned to Eldora on a beautiful, sunny day with only a calm breeze. It was actually warmer up on the mountain than in Denver this weekend! We left early in the morning so Gabi could ski a full-day lesson. Bella and I hung out near the lodge in the morning and spent some time sledding before her afternoon ski lesson.

By the end of the day, both girls were enjoying skiing. Gabi's class even went over to the little mountain instead of staying on the bunny slope. It was nice outside, so I took a bunch of pictures and videos. I'm so proud of my girls!

Outdoor Explorations

Morrison Nature Center
On Thursday mornings, Bella and Kati-Lily and I attend a free preschool education program at the Morrison Nature Center. An indoor presentation focuses on one letter each week, with interactive questions for the kids to ask the different animal (and plant!) puppets. Then we hike outside on a nature hunt, looking for the sights (or sounds) that they just learned about. The nature center also has plenty of hands-on activities and displays for the kids to explore and learn on their own.

Looking at a real bird up close

Bella dressed as a daisy

Kati wrapped in a rattlesnake pillow

Bluff Lake Nature Camp
The week before school started, Gabi attended a camp at Bluff Lake Nature Center to learn about the importance of water to all animals and how to conserve water.

Central Park
Stapleton has numerous parks and playgrounds for the kids, including this Dr. Seuss-like playground at Central Park. In this first picture, Gabi is sitting on a seat that moves down (or up) the pole as she twists around.

Skate Park
This skate park is in the Greenway right next to Gabi's elementary school.

Colorado Rockies Baseball
And, of course, we head downtown to Coors Field to watch the Rockies play baseball! This weekend back in August, Joe joined us from Boulder (although now he has moved to Germany).

Gabi took this picture of me with Joe!