Braves Spring Training Weekend

On the go is how I would describe our life right now. Not only are we busy with school, sports, and other extra curricular things, but we've been squeezing in a bunch of travel, too! Last weekend we had hardly gotten back on track from being on Winter Break and then we were off again.  This time we were headed to Orlando for the Braves Spring Training weekend.  

We arrived Friday morning and it was gorgeous there!  A little cool for Orlando, but still so nice, sunny and tropical.

We put on our Braves gear and made our way to the stadium for the game.  The girls had fun cheering on our team.

This guy was SO excited!  He watched every little thing the players were doing and took mental notes of everything happening on the field.

That evening we got changed quickly for the dinner and Hudson was happy to see some of the special guest super heroes!

 Saturday was a full day!  We got to the ball park early and had fun watching batting practice.

Hudson hung out hoping for a ball to come up his way and two of the Marlin's players tossed him balls!

 Then we got to do an autograph session with players and coaches.  Bobby Cox was even there!

That afternoon we went to Universal. We'd never been with the kids so it was fun to explore and ride a bunch of the rides.  We ended the night with the Mardi Gras parade and that might have been the kids' favorite thing!

They loved catching beads and you would have thought we were in New Orleans. The parade was fantastic and so entertaining.

The next day we headed home so Handley could get back for cheer practice, but it was nice to get home and have an evening there to catch our breaths before school the next day!

Snowmobile Tour

On our very last day of vacation we decided to do something different.  We went on a snowmobile tour through a National Forest.  It was about an hour drive from Breckenridge, so not bad at all, but before we could get there though we dealt with extremely tired kids, a car sick kid, and a blizzard.  However, nothing was going to stop our fun so we all took a deep breath, pushed through and made it to our destination.  We actually met up with some of our neighbors who were also out in Colorado skiing for winter break.  We got all suited up and got a quick tutorial about how the snowmobiles work and were ready to go. 

We had a total of 8 snowmobiles, including the guide and all of the kids were riding along with adults.  

We stayed on the trails, but the sights were so pretty.  It was snowing pretty hard that day so the views long distance weren't great, but there was so much snow everywhere that it was all so beautiful. 

After riding a bit we stopped so the kids could play in the snow and then we went to a little warming hut area where they had hot chocolate and cookies!  

Our tour was about 2 hours long total from start to finish and there was only one little mishap during that time.  I flipped my snowmobile on it's side!  YIKES!!!  Handley and I were riding along, going slow and following everyone else.  Then I tried to turn and the thing just kept going straight. I think the ski got caught under a bunch of the powder and I swear the thing just had a mind of it's own.  

Thank goodness it was all kind of slow motion and we landed in a big pile of powder.  Robby came running over to help us and the guide quickly rushed his snowmobile over to help, too.  We were laughing and totally fine, but the guide didn't find it as funny as us girls did. I apologized profusely and everything was fine, but it was something I don't think I will ever live down with my neighbors. 

It was a great way to end our vacation and a fun adventure for all of us!  

The rest of the trip kind of went downhill.  Our fight wasn't until late that night and we happened to be driving through what felt like a blizzard to get to the Denver airport.  What should have taken us 2 hours took almost 5.  They closed down the highway because of ice and a bunch of wrecks so we found an alternate route.  It was a tiny, two-lane road that was winding up and down a mountain side. And it was covered in a sheet of ice.  I might have been freaking out a bit. A tiny guardrail is all that separated us from falling down the mountain.  There were a ton of wrecks on that road also and it got closed just after we got down from that mountain.  

Robby kept saying he was going to be so mad if we missed our flight and the whole time I was just thinking I don't care about the flight...I just wanted to get off this mountain road alive.  We did though and did get to the airport in time.  Our flight was delayed and when we arrived in Atlanta it was after 2 AM.  We were at the furthest gate in one of the furthest terminals.  Oh, and we learned then that the trains weren't running so we had a nice 30 minute walk to get to baggage claim with 3 very tired kids.  Talk about a fun way to end our trip! We made it home and in bed just after 3:30 AM.  The kids and I slept until almost lunchtime the next day and it took us all a while to get back to a normal East Coast schedule, but our trip and all of the fun memories we have were well worth it! 

Family Ski Trip {Part Two}

The second part of our trip was all about family time.  The kids skied with their ski instructor the first two days and the second two days they were with us.  

We confirmed what we already knew...ski lesson are worth every penny.  We love skiing together as a family, but it is not easy.  Kids fall down, someone gets upset, skis fall off, we slow down the lift lines, etc.  It is all a challenge.  

Parents are the ones that that have to help with all those little mishaps and when you are on skis on the side of the mountain the little mishaps can feel like big ole problems!  At one point I was trying to help one of the kids get back on their feet and ended up falling over myself which caused us both to get tangled.  However, the reward is worth it - three confident and competent skiers!  

Except when I want to take a picture of all of them. Ha! We had gotten them all lined up for a picture and then all of the sudden a huge gust of wind came and literally knocked them all down, tangling their skis.  They were all cracking up!  

Seriously though, skiing together as a family is one of my very favorite things to do for a family vacation.  We are outdoors, being active, having fun and making memories.  

Generally, when we take family trips we let the kids each pick one souvenir.  After dinner one night we walked around town and popped into a lot of the little t-shirt shops on the hunt for the perfect souvenir for each of them.  I loved this evening so much because there is something so magical walking around a town covered in snow and filled with twinkling lights.  

The girls both picked t-shirts, but Hudson knew what he wanted from day one. He had seen this little dog in the gift shop at the hotel and it was all he wanted.  It even was wearing a blue hoodie like he loves to wear.

Our hotel had a lot of really fun things like smores in the evening. 

The lobby had big fireplaces and comfy leather chairs and sofas with lots of games. Hudson loved playing big checkers, so we played it every chance we got!

For someone who doesn't love to ski I will say it again...a family ski trip is one of the best family vacations we have ever taken.  Already looking forward to next year! 

Family Ski Trip {Part One}

Our schools start back super early each year. I feels like we don't get much of a summer, but we do get a lot of breaks off during the school year and while I would love a longer summer, the breaks are nice.  Last week was Winter Break for the kids and we took a wonderful trip out to Colorado for a family ski trip.  We decided to go back to Breckenridge again this year since we had so much fun there last year.

The kids were so excited on the flight out and couldn't wait to get there.

We arrived in Colorado pretty late that evening and settled in quickly because the next day we knew we had to be up early to get our ski rentals, lift tickets and meet up with the kids' ski instructor they would be skiing with for the first two days.

The kids did great and after a quick warm up, picked up where they had left off last year.  That allowed Robby and I to ski all over the mountain, and that we did.  Here is the thing. I don't love to ski and Robby is always telling me I'm better than I give myself credit for. I just get really cold and would prefer to be sitting on a beach somewhere tropical.

However, on this day, I had THE best time skiing with him.  We ended up at the top of one lift only to realize that every single run was a black diamond.  I knew I could do it, but I thought I might not enjoy it.  I usually like to take it easy on the blue runs, but I actually LOVED it and wanted to go up that lift again.  

This amazing view didn't hurt either.  

Shortly after that our awesome ski instructor and the kids found us on the top of the mountain and suggested a family photo.

We skied down with the kids a bit and got to see what a great job they were doing!  

They absolutely loved doing the adventure terrain parks designed just for kids with tunnels, jumps and passes through the trees.

We rode the lift back up with them and went in for lunch together.  

Harper wasn't feeling great, but she rallied and decided to ski the rest of the afternoon.  When we picked the kids up that day I took one look at her and could tell she was done.  The altitude had really gotten to her and I knew it was because we arrived so late the night before and were on the mountain all day bright and early right away.  She had no time to adjust, but thankfully by later that evening she was feeling better.  

The next day the kids skied with their instructor again and we could not have been more impressed with him.  He was great with the kids, so sweet, taught them a ton and made it fun!  He took them to adventure spots, got them skiing blue runs, showed them a special place on the mountain called "jump city" and really made it great for us for the rest of the week because the kids were comfortable skiing all over the mountain with us, which was the whole point of our trip...family adventure and making memories.  

That night I received a text from him and I was blown away.  His kind words about my kids almost brought me to tears. I was so appreciative that he went out of his way to let me know how he felt about the kids.  You just never know how they act when you aren't around and this was such a sweet reminder that we must be doing something right!