Winter Park Weekend

Chris’ Mom and sisters left on Monday and three days later we were off on our first post-mission family trip… a little weekend getaway to Winter Park. It was going to be three days long but with Megan’s soccer game in Denver and Ryan having to report to the High Council early Sunday morning, it changed to a two night one day trip.  We drove up on Thursday evening after Megan’s soccer practice, checked out our great friend’s condo and played a few game before heading to bed. 

Saturday morning we slept in, ate cereal for breakfast and then did a really gorgeous 6 mile roundtrip hike up to Columbine Lake. Makes me so happy to be outside with my family.

The lake was beautiful.  We stopped to relax and eat a few snacks.

Such a beautiful trail.  Loved all the wooded pathways, log bridges and stone steps.

Such a great hike.  Once we got back to the van, we pulled out all the makings for a perfect sandwich and ate around a shaded table.  And then we headed back into town.  We drove through the town of Winter Park and parked at the Ski Resort to take a look around.  It was really cute.  Fun architecture, cute shops, a playground and giant games throughout. 

The smallest kid is still small enough for a shoulder ride from Dad.

As we walked through the resort we could hear live music being played from a gazebo in the center.  We sat down to listen for awhile.  A couple of songs later, the kids started to do some swing flips on the grass.

Emily and Megan playing some intense games of Connect Four.

We came across this large Chessboard and Chris was eager to play a game.  He has been teaching Luke and matt how to play for the last year and they love it.  On this day, Chris told them they could be on a team together against him.  Ryan watched but didn’t say a thing.  Chris said that if he was playing either one of them by themselves, he would’ve won, but both of them together was quite the challenge.  One of them was always able to catch his tricks and think through good moves.  It was so fun to watch—especially at the end when Chris shook their hands and then fell dramatically to the ground.

Love this picture of Matt studying the board.

They didn’t even plan it but ended up sitting in the chairs to match their shirts.

Before we left, we decided to take a ride on the free people mover.  So fun.   Dad took the boys and I took the teens.

Instead of eating at one of the cute restaurants at the Resort we decided to head to Safeway and pick up frozen pizza’s and ice cream and take it back to the Condo.  We ate our pizza while playing Istanbul, then headed over to the pool to swim and then came back for movies and ice cream. 

Saturday we headed into Denver for Megan’s first season game and then to Torchy’s for lunch before heading home.  Then Chris and Ryan headed to the golf course and Katie took the rest of the kids to a SWING DANCING NIGHT with Hansens and friends.  Another great day.