Crested Butte

The long awaited and much anticipated trip to Crested Butte lived up to all that we hoped it would.  I think the kids would have been totally and completely content just swimming in the pool and sleeping in the hotel, everything else was a bonus.  We got to ski one day, the kids took lessons/daycare and we had the whole ski day to ourselves!!  Ryan hadn’t been skiing in at least 15 yrs and it didn’t even take him a full run to get back his mojo.  He loved it and so did I!  I’m not exaggerating when I say my wildest dreams came true that day.  I’ve always wanted to have a family ski day and this was just the first tiniest step to get us there. 

It was such a process getting everyone dressed and ready, clothes labeled, bottles packed, and all the other million things we had to pack for each one and then attempting and failing to get my ski boots on for 20 minutes and then finally jamming them in with all my might hoping I didn’t break my foot in the process (note for next time, leaving ski boots in a cold car = impossible to get on).  The next obstacle was willing Sadie to walk faster in her heavy ski boots for the mile trek to get to ski school.

By the end of this arduous process I was feeling slightly frazzled.  As we started dropping each kid off at their designated spots my emotions started peaking to the surface.  Strange time to be emotional I know, but for me stress = emotional.  I gave Sadie hugs telling her for the 100th time to ask if the food has peanuts/tree nuts before she eats it as I’m squeezing back tears.  I think this is always where the tears start.  It is just so darn stressful putting my total trust in a complete stranger to keep my sweet Sadie safe.  I feel stupid every time, but at least it ingrains in them how serious it is!  Then we dropped off Piper and Finn together, it’s always hard leaving your baby with, once again, a complete stranger.  I was just praying they’d help each other feel safe and happy.  Once our kiddos were dispersed on the mountain I could finally let my troubles slide off as we flew down the mountain.  It was blissful.

All went well, no emergencies, and the girls loved their ski lessons, Finn was the only one that was less than thrilled with his situation that day. I think he was pretty sad all day, poor guy.

Contrary to Sadie’s face, this was the most delicious pizza We’ve ever tasted. 

We pretty much fell in love with Crested Butte.  It’s 5 hrs from Denver, no easy drive, but it is so worth it.  It’s tucked away all on it’s own, no busy crowds like all the other ski towns up I-70.  It is just so small and quaint and breathtakingly beautiful with jutting cliffs on every peak.  On our drive home we were seriously trying to devise some plan where we could drop everything and move there, or any other small town in the mountains.  We haven’t found a feasible plan yet.  I can’t tell you how much we would love that!  Living the quiet life up in the mountains, letting our kids run free and giving them all of the adventures the mountains can offer every single week, every day!  ……We’re still waiting for some brilliant plan to come to us to make this possible. 

Oh and only in Crested Butte do the locals dress up for every ski race or event they can think of.