Steamboat Spring Break - Day 2

As promised, we were up at 7am and I was cooking breakfast for everyone. We were hoping to get on the hill by 8:30 for a full day of skiing but the rental collection took a bit longer than expected so we didn't actually load the gondola until about 9:00, which was fine. We got to see Mike, Sky, and Eli which was such a special treat. We have missed them so much!
4 of the guys (and Tim) were pretty decent - good skiers/boarders so we decided to give them a run of the mountain. We took them EVERYWHERE and had them ride everything to see how it went since we would be turning the boys loose for the rest of the week. The other guys that were not very confident or hadn't skied/boarded before had a full day of lessons.
We grabbed lunch at Rendezvous Saddle and then Kate met us for the rest of the day. She is a work horse and a phenomenal athlete. She has one speed, fast and furious. It was awesome to ski with her again. It was so fun to be back to see my girlfriends who are so inspirational and so fit and athletic. Everyone in Richmond (that we know, of course) makes such a big deal over the races that I do and the places that I come in but what they don't understand is that I was way below average with my fitness in Steamboat. The women (and men, of course) out there make it a way of life to ski/run/hike/bike/board/etc...every single day. I miss that lifestyle. I do a pretty good job of getting after it in Richmond, thankfully I found a race buddy (Creighton) that will push me and motivate me but it's still nothing compared to these ladies out here!
Anyway, Kate took the guys on a locals tour of the mountain and it was all they could do to keep up;) We even had them skiing the "hike to" sections on the top of the mountain where it is nothing but double-black diamonds (the steepest stuff on the entire mountain). They loved it but were begging to go in at 3pm. They were wiped out;) It was awesome.
I told B I would take them back (truthfully, I was feeling a bit tired too. I had run a bit the day before and my legs/lungs were feeling a little busted) so he could stay out and ski until the hill closed. He and Tim kept the tour up and running and the guys and I headed back to the hot tub, it was fabulous! After a nice rest, we went downtown to the Rio for some dinner and shopping. Angela, Kim, Kate, and Craig met us out for dinner. It was so great to see everyone, there are no words.

Steamboat Spring Break - Day 1

Our plane left Richmond at 5:30am which meant that we needed to be at the airport by 4:20am to meet everyone...which meant that we needed to leave for the airport by 3:50am....which meant we needed to get up at 3:00am. Unfortunately, the time change occurred on this night so we actually got up at 2:00am to get ready to head to CO. My intention was to go to bed at 7pm so I would be rested for the day but that didn't really happen. Tim came to stay with us so we could car pool to the airport and we ended up ordering pizza and staying up a bit later (until 10pm). I was anxious b/c I knew we needed to be sharp for travel (including 2 layovers and plane changes) with seven 17-year old boys. It was fine though, we woke up ready to go and all the boys were at the airport in plenty of time. The flights on the way out were all delayed a bit which was nerve wrecking because there are so few flights going into Steamboat. If we were to miss our flight, we would have been out of luck for hours. However, we made it no problem.
As we flew into the Yampa Valley, I got chocked up and found myself with tears flowing down my cheeks as I was drawn into the beauty of the Valley and all the areas that we had explored for years before moving away. I didn't think it would hit me that hard but I definitely miss the peace and serenity of living smack dab in the middle of the Rocky mountains. It was good to be home.
All of our luggage made it, Alpine Taxi was there to pick us up, and our condo (The Phoenix) was ready for us when we arrived. Life is good!
We got to the condo, unloaded everything, and immediately headed to Gondola Square to get rentals for those that needed them and to re familiarize ourselves with the mountain. We did dinner at Slopeside Restaurant that evening. Everyone was wiped out and it was close and easy. It was a great start to the week and we were all ready for bed pretty early so we could hit the slopes on the first chair in the morning. 

Brio

Doc & Jill wanted to go out to dinner before we headed off to Colorado for the week so we chose Brio. I haven't been there in ages and really do love that restaurant. Dad was working so Mom decided to join us as well. She and I (and Jill a bit later) met at the bar a little early for a few glasses of wine to catch up on the week. It was nice to spend that time together. The boys joined us for dinner. They have a great children's menu, probably the best that I've seen. Cy chose a salmon, broccoli, and mashed potato dinner...it looked amazing and he ate all but the potatoes. I had a delicious piece of salmon plated over roasted sweet potatoes and grilled asparagus. Delish!! We ALL chose a dessert at the end of the meal, which I never do, and it was divine.

Hiking Adventure with the Anders

Emma and George came over to spend the afternoon with Cyrus. It was a brisk and windy day, perfect for an afternoon hike in the woods behind our house. We had a great time out there, the kids pretended they were explorers and super heros. It was so much fun to watch them. The great thing about this age is that they are perfectly content to play with each other and barely check in with me/us anymore. It's really cool to watch them. I love that they are sure good friends and look forward to watching them grow up together over the years.

Snow Day!!

Winter has been SO crazy in Richmond this year, and everywhere else on the planet I guess. Pesky climate change! It was DUMPING snow when we woke up this morning. It was super heavy and slushy snow and we were waiting and waiting for them to call it a snow day and just as we were heading out the door (at 7:30), it was called! I was a bit bummed actually b/c I was up, dressed, and coffeed...and Cy was up. There was no sleeping in in the Cooke house. So, we got our trusty snow gear out of the attic and headed out for some snow day adventures!! We had so much fun until it got to be too cold and then came in and had hot cocoa and a fire:) It was a perfect snow day!!

Henley and Doug's Wedding Brunch

Jill and Doc threw a wedding brunch for Henley and Doug today. When Brad was growing up, they lived in the Crestwood neighborhood and there were like 6 families on the street that became the best of friends. I love hearing the stories, I wish neighborhoods like that still existed! Brad had not seen the other kids in about 15 years so it was so nice for them to catch up. Sallie and the girls came up so that was nice to catch up with her/them for me:) you could tell it was a true southern gathering bc there were 1000 casseroles and not one of them contained anything green:)!

Caught In The Act...

My little helper. What a cool age 3 is, he doesn't even seem like a toddler to me anymore. He is so verbal and his cognitive skills are endlessly amazing. He is a thinker and a doer and I totally can't keep up. I love watching him process things in his little mind. I love when he corrects me, "Actually Mom, its...". He is so rational now and is so compliant if we're good at explaining why we're doing what we're doing. He's still asking a million questions a day but I continue to try to foster that in hopes that he will always be inquisitive and be this in love with learning. We can't drive anywhere without asking "what street are we on?". He has to know the names of the streets and can tell me which roads we need to take to get home from the grocery store and from Trader Joes :) I know everyone says that it gets better and better with kids as they grow but if I could just freeze time, and keep my son at this age, in this moment forever I would do it.

Cool shades that he loves bc they look just like mine:) So Metro...

Chillin' in my office, I had to bring him to a meeting at work and he just hung out and played on the computer, 3 is so different than it used to be I think:)

Can finally reach the sink and loves to help with the dishes. Hallelujah, I can't wait to pass this job off!