Spring Break in Colorado

 We were invited to spend spring break in Snowmass, Colorado with friends.  We were thrilled to say yes!

This is the view from the deck of the house where we stayed.

Patrick:

Charlie (talking on the toy phone):

Jack (playing music with his friend Andrew):

We skied four days.  On a day off from the slopes, we went to Aspen for the day.  It wasn't too cold outside so the kids were able to play on a snow-covered playground.

The scenery was fantastic!

These are our friends Jason and Elizabeth, who invited  us on this wonderful vacation.  Jason and Jim have been friends since kindergarten!

We visited the Aspen Fire Department. It is a volunteer fire department and one of the volunteer fire fighters gave us a tour.

The firefighter was so kind to the boys.  They really enjoyed the tour.

Nick, a friend of Jim's and Jason's from grade school, lives in Snowmass.  The three of them (and one other boy) were in a band called Chaos in grade school.  We wives were treated to a reunion concert of sorts.

The crew:

Chaos pretty good:

 Jack and Patrick both went to ski school 4 days, and Charlie went to daycare.  We were able to watch Jack and Patrick while they were in school.  Here are some pictures of Patrick learning how to ski.

Look at that smile!

 Jim and I had a blast!  The weather was perfect and we had some nice snow, including fresh powder!

We caught up with Jack's class as they were exiting the lift one day.  By the end of the week, Jack was taking the lift to the midway point on the mountain.  It was amazing to see his progress.

I think he was just as excited to see us as we were to see him.

I circled Jack so you can see which one he is.  

Did I mention the views were phenomenal?  And I don't just mean Jim.

On the last day, Jack's class participated in a race.  

By the end of our trip, Jim and I were skiing down moguls!

We had an amazing time and hope to go skiing as a family again!  When we got back home, Jack's track season was starting.  He told me he didn't want to do track, he would rather ski.  Hmmm....I don't think that is really an option, buddy.