Breckenridge Hurli-Madness

Every year, we make a March journey up to Breckenridge to stay at Beaver Run (a ski-in/ski-out place at the base of Peak 9) - in theory for a medical/nursing conference, but we all know why the conference is so well attended!  It starts at 7am every morning, breaks from 10am-3pm for skiing, then resumes with a snack bar at 3pm.  It's a wonderful conference, and I usually even learn a thing or two from the physicians who present :)

Last year, unfortunately, we were unable to attend because Ellery was in the hospital with RSV.

How could you forget?
She was SOOO little and pitiful!  That NUK is the size of her head!

This year we loaded up the Jeep (do you know how much STUFF you have to take when 3 people plan to ski???) and headed "up the hill" with two healthy kids (or so we thought....).  All sorts of fun was planned for a weekend spent in Breckenridge sharing a condo with the Jantos' (better known as the Janti:  Jeff, Jess, Emma, & Gabe :)



You can't see it, but I'm sure you realize there is a cartoon-filled
TV that the kids are staring at.  This is what I presume the kiddos
did while Jess & I were at the conference each day. 
Jess & I may have looked like this at the conference,
but no one photographed us.  :)



And we had fun!....Until Ellery had to go to Urgent Care. Because she was already on an antibiotic for an ear infection and spiked a temp to 103, we needed to take her in to make sure her ear infection wasn't worse.  Of course, it wasn't, and after 3 hours waiting, we came "home" with the same ol' same ol' "she's just got a virus" diagnosis we've heard 50 times before.  There is definitely something about this conference that doesn't jive with Ellery Kay!  Two years in a row!  :-/



However, all was not lost.....Tanner got her first taste of being a ski bunny!  I/we had been talking up skiing for the last few weeks, hoping that our little 3-year-old would be brave enough to tackle the slopes.  I bought her a new snowsuit (which was actually the biggest fight because she didn't like the flowers on it - seriously? *eyeroll*), and ended up borrowing all of Emma's ski-gear (Emma's skis have flowers on them, so having matching skis and pants made the experience more tolerable for Tanner Kay.  Seriously.)

Emma & Gabe are going swimming,
TK is going skiing.
What CAN'T you do in Breck?? :)

As far as I know, everything went hunky-dory with Tanner on the slopes, and except a minor "I-don't-like-this-helmet" situation, she loved it!

Umm...OK.  Maybe not.
Oh ya, John DID mention she couldn't stand up very well...
And that she wasn't pleased about that....

Maybe a bit more tolerable now, and at least she's sticking with it!

There's a happy Daddy-daughter picture!  Love it!

Apparently Tanner had a difficult time staying up on skis (not shocking) but really wanted to ride the ski lift.  Seeing as she can get her Daddy to do anything :) ....John took her up on the lift and skiied down a green (easy) run with her between his legs.  When they got back to our condo, John was a sweaty, exhausted beast, to which I raised my eyebrow and said with some snarky-ness...."one run?  Really?"  He quickly told me that he had basically supported her weight while he bent over, "helping" her ski.  No wonder he's dying to get to see Chiu Mei (our chiropractor) this week!  :)

Fortunately, Tanner is NOT afraid of skiing and, I think, is willing to return (too bad we probably won't make it up again this season).  I should probably take her next time, though, just for my marriage's sake.  :):):) 

In the end, it was a fun weekend in Breckenridge and we enjoyed good food, good wine, and good friends.  And, if anyone's interested, I'm reigning two-time Settler's champ, which I'm sure Jeff Jantos is dying over! :):):)