Breckinridge, Colorado

The first weekend of December we had an unexpected weekend in Breckinridge, Colorado--unexpected because we put our names down on a list a few months ago for an Army marriage retreat and didn't know we were actually going until a few days before we left.  And beyond knowing we were going, we didn't have many details.  But it was a great weekend!  With a few mishaps.

The first afternoon we had free to explore as a family.  We decided to take a (free!) gondola ride to the top of one of the ski mountains.  The kids loved it, even though it was freezing cold.  Mila let us know that she wasn't scared at all!  (She really wasn't.)  Siena started getting really whiny.  We went to a restaurant at the top for hot chocolate and she made me hold her the whole time, refusing to eat.  We couldn't figure out why she was so miserable... until the way down when she started puking all over me.

I'm four years into parenting, and this was one of the most disgusting things I've experienced.  It was in my hair, two layers of coats, pants, in my purse, on my shoes.  And all over my hand, which was made it super cold.  I couldn't move without making it worse, so we just finished the ten minute ride down in misery.

And the smell made Tiago start to puke so Hyrum took him and Mila into a different gondola car at one of the stops.  When we finally made it to the bottom I apologized profusely to the guy on duty and went to the car to clean up.  My arm was almost falling off from carrying Siena in the same position for nearly an hour.  There were several more 'incidents' that evening and through the night, but she woke up feeling much better.

We didn't have any free time until the kids were already asleep.  Mila's pack & play was in the bathroom (per usual) so I snuck in to wash my jackets and purse in the dark.  (I also did a load of laundry in the hotel laundromat after tracking down quarters and detergent).  My lightweight down jacket got hung on a kitchen chair, about a foot away from an air vent.  When I went to put it on the next day I realized the stopper at the bottom of the zipper had melted and the zipper was now completely useless!  I couldn't believe it.

[I've had a disappointing year with wardrobe investments.  I finally got to a point where I really liked the idea of finding the perfect ______ and having it forever --- coat, boots, jeans, purse, etc.  I don't mind spending money on something I'll get a lot of use out of.  But last spring I ruined my newish expensive boots with spilled laundry detergent, and then the melted jacket zipper...  I'm now torn on whether it's worth it to splurge on nice items.]

The marriage retreat was awesome because it provided child care.  We had two mornings of classes, one entire afternoon kid-free to explore, and two nights in the hotel, plus food.  The child care was great!  They did face painting, games, movies, and after Tiago recieved Magna Tiles for Christmas he told me he'd used them before at the "hotel in the mountains".  So I guess they had Magna Tiles, too.

Hyrum and I spent our afternoon exploring Breckinridge--the down town area is really cute with shops and restaurants.  We also went ice skating and finished the afternoon at the hotel's saunas and hot tub.  No better way to set goals than from the comfort of a hot tub.

We picked the kids up and went back downtown to watch a Santa Claus run.  We thought it would be fun to take them to a french cafe for hot chocolate.  It was THE worst dining-out-with-kids experience of my life!  We ordered three delicious chocolates, with amazing flavored whipped cream on top.  Unfortunately, they were hot.  And there were no napkins on the table so I had to wait for the cashier to finish and ask her for some.  While we waited for them to cool down Mila spilled the amazing raspberry one.  She started crying.  I had to go ask for more napkins.  (She still didn't give me enough.)  Tiago got mad and smacked the large hot chocolate across the table, of course making an enormous mess.  All three kids were hysterical and we had to put Tiago in time-out outside.  That involved rounding up all the hats, gloves, and coats and bringing the kids outside.  I finally stepped behind the counter and grabbed handfuls of napkins.  And cleaned to the best of my ability and got out of there because I'm sure we were annoying everyone with our noise and chaos.  Luckily we were able to resolve the situation outside, Tiago apologized, and we were on our merry way to look at Christmas lights and go home!  (Sadly, we were down to half the hot chocolate we started with.)

Before returning to Colorado Springs the next day we stopped by a train playground near the ice rink.  It was a really cute set up--with a few big trains on display and a playground that looked just like a train and water tower.  Tiago sold us tickets at the fake ticket booth and then took us on a ride to the North Pole.

It was certainly a memorable weekend--the good with the bad.