The 5 of us recently returned home from the winteriest and snowiest of Christmas vacations one could possibly imagine. We spent a week at Grandma Amy and Grandpa Tom’s house in the mountains of Colorado, and were joined by: Joel & Melanie, Emily, Derek, and their son Cole, plus Tom’s son Trevor. Although the house was full, Amy and Tom went out of their way to make sure everyone had what they needed, and we ended up having a great week to remember. Before getting into it I just want to thank Amy and Tom again for everything – we had a great time and will remember it forever.
Although the week was good, it started out a little rough. We would normally fly out of the small airport up in Bellingham, but that wasn’t an option this time, so we were stuck with SeaTac. It was a work day and traffic was unreal, so it ended up taking us two hours just to get our car dropped off and shuttled to the airport. On our way down, a metro bus shot a rock into the windshield of our new van, leaving a decent size crack (repair coming tomorrow).
Luckily once we made our way into the airport, things started getting better. Although I generally try to avoid SeaTac airport whenever possible, I have to give credit where it’s due – they did a great job with security. No one had to take their shoes off or pull any electronics out of their bag, you just had to go through a single-file line and allow a dog to sniff you. It was really efficient and they got everyone through security really quickly.
Emily and family had flown in an hour or so before us, so Amy and Tom were there in a big 15 passenger rented van to pick everyone up. It was Thursday the 20th, meaning it was the first day of Winter and the shortest day of the year. By the time we had a quick bite to eat and started pushing through Denver traffic towards the mountains, it was already getting dark. It was pitch black out by the time we reached their house, but Trevor had a fire going and every light in the house was turned on, so it kinda glowed like a beacon in the night.
This was our first time visiting their house, so they gave us a nice tour. It’s a very unique house because it was hand built with logs, and the logs weren’t local, they’re from British Columbia. The house was initially built up there, then deconstructed and transported to Colorado, then reconstructed. Every log had to be sanded and treated, and the house is pretty huge, so the amount of work that was put into building this place just blows my mind. The main living area downstairs is really open, and there’s windows everywhere, so during the daytime the views are gorgeous in every direction. There’s also decks going around the whole house, so you can sit outside anywhere (including the hot tub) and soak up the mountain air. Upstairs is mostly bedrooms and a tv area, but they also have a pool table up there, which I enjoyed.
Just across from the house is Tom’s garage/workshop, and it’s incredible. The RV is parked in there, along with the motorcycles, four wheelers, dune buggy, and pickup truck. There’s a nice full-sized bathroom, kitchen, and laundry. There’s a woodworking shop, an office, a huge closet, a loft with couches, tv, and workout equipment, plus a full ski shop with everything you’d ever need for a day on the slopes. There’s two bedrooms: one full of bunk beds for the kids, then one for Jessica and I, then the RV ended up being Joel and Melanie’s bedroom. I’ve never seen anything like it, but it was very cool. Kinda like the ultimate mother-in-law meets the ultimate home garage.
Their house is somewhere between 8,500 and 9,000 feet elevation, and that type of elevation is no joke, so we intentionally had no plans for the first two days we were there. You basically just need a bunch of downtime to allow your body to acclimate. For me I couldn’t sleep at all the first two nights because I couldn’t shake these splitting headaches. I was drinking a ton of water, but it didn’t matter. The difference for me came when Amy gave me a canister of pure oxygen to breathe from. That thing saved me and killed my headaches. After a few days your body gets acclimated and you don’t need the air, but it was crucial during the early part of our trip.
Anyway, Joel and Melanie weren’t going to be there until Saturday, so the plan for Friday was to take it easy around the house. The kids went out sledding that morning (the first time of many), and proceeded to get spoiled by having an adult on a four wheeler there to tow them back up the hill each time they went down. Then later that afternoon Jessica and I decided to take the truck down into town and experience some real pond skating. We went to the community pond, which was right across the street from Silverthorne elementary, and ended up sharing the ice with kids who were out there playing around for their P.E. class.
I had never ice skated outdoors before, and didn’t really know what to expect. What I quickly figured out is that ponds that aren’t groomed with a Zamboni are quite bumpy and hard to skate on. It soon became a game of just trying to stay on your feet and not run into any of these kids, who were all just running around the ice in just their boots. Since everyone in our family now owns ice skates, we just brought all of them along for the trip, and this was the first of multiple times using them.
Saturday was the day Joel and Melanie arrived, and it was also the beginning of all the activities Grandma Amy had planned. We started at the sleigh in Frisco, and were unexpectedly greeted by horses (and riders) who were there doing photos. After meeting the horses we all took turns doing photos on the sleigh, then headed over to this cool little art/pottery shop in town. Basically we had a reservation in their studio to do any kind of painting/glass etching/wood burning activity you could want. Jessica, being the professional art teacher she is, was quite at home in this environment and dove right into helping the kids, as well as making stuff of her own. I’m not quite as comfortable in this type of activity as she is, so I stayed back to take photos, help wash hands, and compliment the various pieces being created.
As things were winding down, Ava and I took a chance to go for a walk around downtown Frisco. There was so much snow everywhere, so Ava kept stomping her boot and yelling “Footprint!”. I’m not sure why I asked, but for some reason I said “So what do you think Aves, you really want to play hockey in the Olympics someday?” and without hesitation she responds “I’m never giving up on my dream Daddy. I’m never giving up.” She had this dead serious tone that was so genuine, it must have brought a tear to my eye because she later told Jessica she made Daddy cry on our walk.
Sunday was without question my favorite day of the trip. Basically most of us headed out to the Keystone resort that morning, then split up. Tom and Trevor went skiing, while our family, Amy, and Emily’s family stuck together. First we visiting the “Chocolate Village”, which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s probably 25 feet long and 5 feet deep, featuring a chocolate waterfall, a working railcar system, tons of famous characters and superheroes, huge nutcrackers, and all kinds of random things to try and spot. Everything was made of chocolate and it was unbelievable!
After that we headed down to the Keystone ice rink, which is this enormous outdoor skating area on a frozen lake, but unlike the free pond Jessica and I had visited a couple days earlier, this one is constantly being groomed by a Zamboni. All I can say is it was the best ice I’ve ever skated on. You’re looking down and it’s actually kinda scary because it’s clear straight down. You can’t help but worry for a second about falling through, but when that huge Zamboni drives by without any issue it gives you a little peace of mind.
I ended up renting a hockey stick and puck, just to skate around with, but when we got out there I saw they had an entire area set aside just for hockey. It didn’t take long before I made my way on over there and found myself getting into a pickup game with a bunch of random people. Besides my skates the only gear I had were elbow pads, but it didn’t really matter. No one was geared up, although I quickly figured out that most of these guys I was playing with were much more experienced than myself. It took all I had just to keep up with them, but when you play with people better than you it elevates your own game. The pinnacle for me was scoring just a single goal in the game, even though I’d been out there nearly 90 minutes. You’re up there playing at like 10,000 feet, on the best ice you’ve ever skated on, with unreal mountain views in every direction. As our kids like to say, I was living my best life out there.
My second favorite part about playing hockey that day was breaking my rented stick, which was just a cheap wooden stick. Before getting into the game I was using it to practice slap shots, which probably wasn’t good for it, then after playing in the game for a while, I was battling for a puck, and snapped it like a toothpick. I came skating back into the lodge with the stick in two pieces and Amy busts out laughing. Then Jessica gets this worried look on her face like we’re going to be responsible for it. I just went to the counter and asked for a new one and it was no big deal. After another half hour of hockey, Jessica had to come get me and say she knew I was having the time of my life, but everyone else was hungry and ready to go, so I had to call it a day. It ended up being a day of skating and hockey that was so unique and memorable, so I’m very thankful we were able to make it a part of the trip.
After skating Amy took everyone out for pizza, which ended up being delicious even though our server was clueless. We were able to meet up with Tom and Trevor, then head back up the mountain. Later that night, Tom made a deep fried turkey outside, and I swear it was my favorite thing we ate all week. Same for Jessica. We couldn’t believe how good it was, and if I wasn’t afraid of burning my house down, I’d do it at my house as well. Either way props to Tom, because that turkey was the bomb.
Sunday was Christmas Eve, and we woke up that morning to a heavy blanket of new snow. It must have been going all night because we had gotten dumped on. The plan for that day was to go on a Christmas train with Santa down in Georgetown, which is about halfway down the mountain towards Denver. The problem was that due to all the fresh snow, we didn’t have a safe route down the mountain towards I-70, which is the main freeway you’d take to go towards Denver. So we had to go the long way, with all 13 of us in the rented van.
Jessica and I sat in the furthest back bench seat, which was stupid on our part. There’s no suspension back there, so every bump is jarring, and the good ones make you wonder if you were minorly concussed. The heat was blasting back there, the windows were all fogged up so you couldn’t see out, and it was so bumpy, that for the final 20 minutes of that trip I was just trying to concentrate on not throwing up in the van. It ended up taking 2 hours and 45 minutes to get there, and I think everyone was a bit miserable when we arrived.
As we walked down towards the train station, they had all these fires burning. There was even a guy roasting chestnuts on an open fire, which was incredibly authentic for a Christmas train. It was all quite picturesque, but when the smoke from those fires reached my nostrils, my nausea battle went into overtime. I held it together, but was miserable for the next 15 minutes. Once we got on the train and I was able to sit down and drink some water, and things started getting better. But between that and the altitude sickness earlier in the week, I was hurtin’ a little bit.
The Christmas train ended up being a big highlight of the trip. The kids got a bunch of interactions with Santa, and the views were incredible. It was a bummer trip getting there, but worth it in the end, and something we’ll always remember. We ended up getting a family photo on the train to signify it, then we lucked out on the way home because we were able to take I-70 back up the mountain, meaning the trip home was much shorter than on the way out.
After we returned home from the train, we all had to put it in gear to get setup for a little holiday gathering we were hosting with the neighbors. Everyone started working on putting food out and getting things together, and within 30 minutes the place was ready. It actually felt like we were running a little restaurant together for a minute there.
Their neighbors (and associated family who also came) were all great and I found myself in multiple engaging conversations. We didn’t end up seeing them again during the trip, which was a bummer, but that night was so much fun and we had plenty of delicious food to snack on.
Christmas morning got started early, which was by design. We all met at the tree at 7:00am, which for Trevor (the college kid) was borderline torture. The plan was to open presents early, then have the rest of the day to play, nap, and just hang out. We ended up never even leaving the house, which was fine with everyone considering how busy we’d been. Christmas Day was the sunniest and warmest day we had, so the views that day were insane.
I knew Tom was doing a prime rib that day, and since I had nothing else to do, I decided to basically take on the rest of the holiday meal. It wasn’t that much, but I made a ton of garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, and a vegetable stir fry. It ended up being a really nice chill day, capped off with a nice family meal.
Wednesday was our last full day in town, so Jessica and I decided to get away that morning and do a bunch of outlet shopping in Silverthorne. We ended up getting a bunch of clothes, shoes, and a new suitcase, before enjoying a delicious lunch at Sauce on the Blue. That evening we all made pizza’s at the house, then went out for our last group outing (which ended up being another highlight of the trip) – the Ice Castle in Dillon!
The Ice Castle is this huge castle made entirely of ice, filled with ice slides to go down, tunnels to climb through, enormous icicles hanging in the air, and light shows being shown on ice backdrops. It was cold, but so cool and unique. Everybody enjoyed it, and it was a really cool way to punctuate the trip. After exploring the castle for over an hour, we all went inside to enjoy hot chocolate and compare photos.
Thursday was our travel day, but our flight wasn’t until 9:15pm. It certainly wasn’t ideal to have such a late flight, but the only other option was early in the morning, and we didn’t feel like we could make it. So we basically just hung out that morning and let the kids go sledding one last time. We ended up leaving in the early afternoon, and obviously that was tough. Leaving is always emotional, but in a good way because we really did have an awesome week.
We left early that day because we wanted to head down to Denver and explore a bit. Even though this was my 4th or 5th trip to Colorado, I’d never been to Denver. We took our time driving down the mountain, then started our Denver evening by having dinner at an awesome diner called Steuben’s. I had found this place online and it looked like the perfect place for us, which ended up being the case. It’s a classic American diner originally from Boston that had been redone to have a cool modern feel. The food was excellent (Jessica had the fried chicken and I had meatloaf), great service and atmosphere, very reasonable prices – it was perfect.
After dinner we decided to drive around downtown Denver so we could see as much as possible. A bunch of the buildings were still decorated for the holidays, and there were tons of lights, so we really enjoyed checking everything out. Overall my impression of Denver was that it’s a really cool town with lots of good restaurants and lots of cool stuff to do. I’d like to spend more time there next time if possible.
We ended up arriving early to the Denver airport, which was good, because unlike SeaTac a week earlier, they had us pulling everything out of our bags and taking our shoes off. It’s all typical and makes getting through security with kids a bit hectic, but to their credit, the kids did very well. Unfortunately we found out upon arrival that our flight had been delayed until 9:50, which was a bummer, but there’s obviously nothing you can do.
The flight home was smooth and uneventful, but waking the kids up at midnight to drag them through the airport and wait for our bags was not fun. The bags were delayed, and we were all getting a bit grumpy. Including our ice skates, we had 7 checked bags, plus our carry ons, and we had to catch a shuttle to take us to our van. By the time we got home it was nearly 2:00am and the kids were zombies. We were hoping that they would sleep in the following day, but that simply wasn’t the case. By 8:00am they were all up, because that’s just normal for them.
Friday we were all pretty out of sorts due to sleep deprivation, so we just stayed busy unpacking, cleaning, and trying to get things in order. We went to the gym in the late afternoon, then Costco after. Poor Enzo was so exhausted that he was passed out and drooling all over Jessica’s coat in the shopping cart. Needless to say we were in bed early that night and everyone slept for about 12 straight hours.
Then the following day we drove up north to the Palmer’s house and enjoyed a day of relaxation and football, while they treated us to an incredible holiday meal. Talk about a nice homecoming! By now everyone is officially back to normal, but we still have a few more days to enjoy at home before getting back into our routines.
As expected, it has been an excellent winter vacation that we are very thankful for. Overall I’d say 2018 has been a great year for us. Unlike some recent years, there have been no surgeries or broken bones, we’ve picked up some good healthy new habits, and have had a lot of exciting firsts. If we’re lucky 2019 will go about the same, but I hope it doesn’t go too quickly. To all our family and friends, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
