Epic Snow Trip 2018

Last year for Christmas my dad gave our family a Christmas check to do what we wanted instead of getting little gifts and things for everyone. We went on an Epic Snow Trip  and learned a lot for this year of what we did and did not want in another trip. We decided after much research and debate to try out the YMCA Snow Mountain Lodge facility in Granby, CO (outside of Winter Park). It looked a little more family friendly compared to last year with a ton of activities included in the stay. It was perfect for us! The kids had so much fun and there wasn't a whole lot of stress involved in the trip like I remembered last year. 

Headed out... how awesome to try a trip out in our new van!!!!

Adam and I got a little tired while driving so this one took over : )

First morning... bundled up and walking to the cafeteria for breakfast

The building behind the kids is the lodge we stayed at and we are walking up the little hill to the cafeteria. It took about 40 mins. to get everyone bundled up the first morning and once they understood and appreciated the warmth we got the routine down and were able to get dressed faster the rest of the trip

Check out this icicle!

They got a bunch of snow the week before we came and it didn't get warm enough to melt yet

Jackets and other miscellaneous item drop off zone

Lucky kiddos get Lucky Charms every morning for breakfast while on vacation! 

We decided to check out the tubing hill and ice skating rink after breakfast the first morning... waiting for our tubes here

Hauling the tubes to the hill

Weeeeeee!

This picture turned out pretty cool!

 Me and Benny... just observing

It was a little fun but the snow didn't allow the kids to get going too fast and once at the bottom of the hill they had to carry their heavy tubes back up or else... 

... daddy had to come to the rescue!

Linked together for the last ride!

Benjamin

Joseph 

Joshua!

Next stop... ice skating! Amelia was the only one who had ice skated before so she was very excited to go again and Joshua wanted to be just like a hockey player. He got on the ice and tried running : ) And Miss Lydia had experience roller skating and was excited to try it on the ice!

Using the little balancer

She's a pro!

Back to the lodge for some PB/J lunches in the common area outside our room... this was the perfect set up for us! It was like an extension of our room that was huge and had a fireplace and games and these tables for lunches

These 3 crazies and daddy went sledding while me and the baby boys took a nap after lunch : ) 

After sledding and naps we headed to the pool... we did not get any pictures swimming as Benjamin would not let go of Adam for his life and I was having some gravity/pregnancy belly issues being out of the water. A fun side note: we found out the next week that the baby who had been breach for about 6 weeks had turned! I was recalling our time swimming in the pool and how strangely my belly felt the whole time and I remember once specific time I was trying to get out of the water and the second my belly was out everything tightened up and my whole body felt like stone. I could not move another step out of the water. I had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions over the week because of all our activity and thought this was possibly another one but also found it strange to have a contraction from standing in water not really doing any activity. Well, now that I know the baby turned I am certain it was at that very moment! Anyways, other than being really cold we had a good time swimming.

We followed swimming with a visit to the rec center area for some roller skating before dinner.

Here's the pro... practicing in the hallways!

It was busy at first then everyone started out for dinner so they had the rink to themselves!

Jo didn't enjoy this as much as ice skating... roller skating really is pretty hard, we thought it may have been better even with roller blades? Everyone still had fun regardless!

This is blurry but look at that cute little crooked gum line smile!

This one trying to find ways to keep himself entertained!

Joshua decided to turn in his skates for basketball : ) This was what I loved about this trip... there was something for everyone, it was all right there so if a kiddo didn't like skating after 5 mins. we didn't feel like we wasted any time or money and could just let him turn in his skates and do something else while everyone else continued on. It was so awesome!

The next morning we decided to try out cross country skiing. We debated trying to get to Winter Park and try some skiing again with the older kiddos but decided against it and thought we should take advantage of this well known nordic center here. I am glad we did! I thought it was a great experience aside from a few meltdowns and frustrations from the kiddos... it was cheap and a good first time on skis experience for everyone!

Ready to play in the snow again! This day was a lot warmer than the previous

Signing papers

This one was so excited to have his very own... he's finally getting old enough to be included in more activities and he loves being a big boy!

Snapping in!

Have we ever raved about this backpack! This was one of our best Craigslist finds when Amelia was 1 years old... $50 like new on Craigslist and 5 kids later it still looks like it's hardly been used and holds up so well we love it!

Ready to go!

Um this is kind of cute ; )

How beautiful is that background... anyone love the mountains in Colorado!

And they're off!

What's going on in that backpack?

He napped the whole 1 1/2 hrs we skied!!! 

I did not trust myself on skiis so I walked alongside Jo and helped him every other minute when he fell ; ) he still did great but about halfway through I convinced him to take off his skis and just walk with me... those little legs can only go so far!

Thank you nordic center for the wonderful experience!

After skiing we did another PB/J lunch at the lodge and more naps for me and the baby boys while Adam and the older 3 went rock climbing, did some archery and played dodgeball!

Dinner at the cafeteria!

After dinner we headed back to the rec center for the last night of entertainment. We started out with some ping pong

Even Benny got in on this action!

Some basketball

Curious about the rock climbing wall ... someday little one

More roller skating for the girls

They fell so much I told them they now know what Benjamin feels like learning how to walk!

And one more game of dodgeball!!!

The last morning we packed up, headed for breakfast, went ice skating one more time, shopped at the gift shop and headed out! We were going to have lunch in Winter Park but accidentally drove through not realizing we were at the end and headed over the pass so we decided to stop in Idaho Springs. I had hoped it would still be a good experience and it was! We ate at Beau Jo's pizza which apparently is pretty well known for their Colorado crust that is thick and you dip in honey : ) They had a fun little arcade room too!

That's it for our Epic Snow Trip Round 2... what will next year bring?!?! Thank you Beepa Vaughn!