Head Happenings: April 2019

I've been running mach 2 with my hair on fire and have not been posting as much as I'd like to on this here blog. I'm a few weeks late but I'd be remiss if I neglected to write about our recent ski trip in Colorado. You often hear people talk in travel terms as either taking a "Vacation" or a "Family Trip" to delineate the situation and set the stage for the type of experience they had. For us, our spring break trip was what I have been referring to as the "sweet spot". We still have all four kids attention in the car (I'm certain this window is coming to a close with Peyton on the cusp of teenage-ville), but we shared stories and laughed, played games and listened to audio books on the round trip journey. I can say without hesitation that we had the best road trip thus far for our family...it honestly was a blast!

We played different games and I had some small prizes that they seemed to enjoy getting when they won. I'd tell them 10 Fun Facts about the big cities we drove through and quiz them throughout the trip (it was a fun way to learn and pass the time).

The beauty that is God's creation is truly spectacular!

Almost the entire drive was along I-40 from Fort Smith, Arkansas all the way to Albuquerque, NM and is part of Route 66. I'm always looking to make a memory so I TripAdvisor-ed some fun restaurants and found the most adorable little diner where we stopped to take in the scenery (which was beautiful!)

Adam humored me and made a few stops for posterity. One of those stops was in Texas at the Cadillac Ranch. There were all kinds of people spray painting and taking pictures, so we fit right in traipsing out into a huge field to take pictures with old Cadillacs that are rammed into the ground.

And when one is in Texas, you must eat like a Texan, right?! We definitely enjoyed our steak dinner!

We decided to do something totally different this year and drove to south west Colorado and skied at Purgatory in Durango. It was very family friendly, kid friendly and easy to get around. We enjoyed our time there. The kids all had a refresher course in ski school the first day so Adam and I enjoyed a date together doing one of our most favorite things. Peyton and Lawson joined us for Day 2 and then Emerson and Ava Jane got in on the last two days. It was a bit surreal, having always imagined taking trips with our kids and teaching them to ski, when we were all on the six seater lift. Adam and I were all smiles as we sat making a memory with our little family.

The kids had a blast and enjoyed skiing. It's something I can see us doing for many years to come.

Our dare devil Lawson, taking a little break in the snow.

One afternoon we split up Adam, Peyton and Lawson then me, Emerson and Ava Jane. These two cuties did a steep blue with me that included moguls and they conquered the mountain without falling! I was super proud of these two little people!

My time with the big boys was so so sweet--a memory maker for sure!

Watching the big brothers ride up the mountain together...made my heart just leap with joy. I pray that they are always good friends!

We had great weather, lots of snow, played games (Dutch Blitz is quickly becoming a favorite right now), watched movies and pretty much enjoyed the heck out of our week spent together.