It has become our habit to go to Copper Mountain every January for our long-weekend ski vacation. We’ve been to several other ski areas here in Colorado, but we always decide we like Copper better, so we’ve given up on trying a new place every year, and just stick with what works. We get a condo right at the slopes, and love the convenience of being able to walk right out to the lifts in the morning – so beats having to drive in early and get all suited up in the car! I decided not to ski this year actually, but am looking forward to some tubing and snow-shoeing.

Wednesday.

• Much of the day was spent running around trying to get everything done and ready for the trip. Brian was working from home, and we finally got on the road (with several errands still to run in town) a little after 4.
• Didn’t hit much traffic, but it was SOOOO windy! And having the luggage carrier on top of our tiny little car didn’t help.
• Owen did not like it at all, espeically once it got dark. But he loved going through the Eisenhower tunnel, as it was finally light and quiet for a while. I’ll never forget his look of utter amazement watching out the window. I even felt sad to see it’s end coming, even though tunnels usually terrify me.
• We were glad to see that our favorite ski-rental place in Idaho Springs was still open. Unfortunately, right now we have to rent skiis on-site because we have no way to carry them in our tiny car with two kids and lots of luggage. But maybe someday we’ll be able to rent there again. We always look for it when we go by.
• We finally arrived at Copper Mountain Resort and checked in, had a minor issue with the lift tickets that were part of our package, but got it worked out and settled in to our room in Tucker Mountain Lodge, same building as last year so we were happy. I think we were in bed around 10pm, not too bad.

The pill likes cheap viagra india would work finest if guzzle using water. The first reason behind it is the human hormone 50mg viagra sale known as dihydrotestosterone (DHT.) When there’s too much DHT, then it sticks to the follicles and then is able to cut off the nutrient flow from the bloodstream. In today’s world men are increasingly falling prey to such illnesses and sexual disorders as they are 100% natural and do not pose any side effect to you, but it cialis tablets in india is always advised that you check for allergic reactions before using any product. Close to 70% of erection problems have been attributed cialis discounts to the use of the all-natural Tongkat Ai.

Thursday.

• Up bright and early, Brian and Lily had to rent skis and we know what a madhouse that place can be if you don’t get there when they open. It was long and tedious as usual, but they still made it to the lifts by opening time.
  
• Owen and I headed over on the bus to East Village for Critterland, but after getting our tickets, discovered they weren’t open for another hour. So we headed back to the room and got ready for lunch instead.
• Made tacos, Brian and Lily joined us after having had a great morning on the slopes.
• After lunch, Brian headed out to ski, and Lily came with us to Critterland (after Owen woke up from his nap).
  
• He had a blast on the tiny tubing hill and climbing on the snowy playground. Didn’t want to leave! Brian even found us there after skiing down to East Village and watched for a few minutes.
• We hadn’t brought the stroller so I was having to haul Owen around most everywhere in my arms (he would get too distracted walking and take forever to make progress anywhere) My arms ached by the end of the day, but I try to remember to be grateful that I have such a load to carry.
• Hung out in the room and the kids had baths, then Lily decided she wanted a little more skiing so we arranged to meet up with Brian at the base of the lifts.
  
• They skiied until the lifts closed, and Lily said the last run they did (that included a blue slope) was her favorite ever!
• Then we had dinner at our favorite pizza place across the creek. It’s nothing fancy but usually the first place we eat here, ultimate comfort food! Turned in early for the night – we were all exhausted!

Friday.

• It had started snowing the night before, and by the time we got up, there was almost a foot on the ground!
• Brian and Lily were excited to hit the powdery slopes, but as it turned out Lily did not like skiing in powder afterall and after a challenging first run, was ready to be done for the day. Which was okay since we had tubing and snowshoeing plans anyway. She was a little upset about the whole ordeal, but got calmed down pretty quickly once we had her skiis off.
• I had dropped Owen off at daycare already so Lily and I soaked in the hot tub for a bit before heading over to East Village for tubing.
  
• We got there right as our session started. Unfortunately, since there was so much fresh snow on the tracks, it was much slower-going than normal, and even the fastest track was just a gentle glide down. But still fun, and not crowded, I think there were only 4 other people in our session.
  
• We scarfed down a bagel inside the lodge and then took the bus all the way to West Village (our condo was in Center Village) for our snowshoe tour. Took a while to figure out where to go, but we met up with our guides, got fitted in snowshoes, and were off.
• I was worried Lily would have trouble keeping up at first, but as it turned out our guide was having a bit of trouble with the elevation (she had just arrived from Indiana) and we had to take very frequent breaks.
  
• It was so beautiful and peaceful though with all the fresh snow! Apparently on clear days you can see some avalanche slopes that appear to spell the word “SKY”. Maybe next year I’ll spend some time over here snowshoeing on my own.
• We tried to pick Owen up on our way back, but he was asleeep so we ate some lunch in the room and relaxed for a bit before going back for him. I actually let Lily stay by herself in the room when I went back, which she thought was pretty cool 🙂
• Brian again skiied until lift-close, he was going for nearly-complete exhaustion, and pretty much acheived it. He was saving total exhaustion for tomorrow.
  
• We tried out a new place for dinner – the CB Grille. Just over the bridge from our building so it was an easy walk. It was very nice – great food but Owen was not really into the whole sitting still and being quiet thing and was a bit challenging.
• The night did not go so well, Owen had some trouble getting to sleep and ended up in our bed. But was still ready to go at 6am the next morning!

Saturday.

• We were all up a little earlier than we wanted to be thanks to Owen, but Brian and Lily headed out to the slopes (with the assurance that it wouldn’t be a repeat of yesterday!).
• They skiied and skiied and skiied some more – from 8:30-12:30 with no breaks! I had lunch waiting for them in the room when they finally got back.
  
• Today was the one day (especially in the morning) when the Secret-Passes that came with our lodging came in handy – it was busy! The other days it was so dead that the front-of-line passes weren’t useful.
• Lily immediately headed to her room for a nap after eating, but Owen just wanted to play, so he took a bath and discovered the fun of playing volleyball from the tub. Got me and the bathroom pretty wet but he had a blast!
• After Lily woke up, she was ready for more skiing, so we dropped her off with Brian and Owen and I headed back to Critterland.
  
• He had fun again, the snow was much deeper this time though and hard to navigate.
• We all met up back at the condo after the lifts closed, took their skiis back to turn-in, and Owen finally settled down for a nap while Brian and Lily went to the hot tub.
• Owen was so cute – he quickly figured out the pattern of going into our building, how to go to the elevators, ride up to our floor, and walk to our room. He still doesn’t have much in the way of verbal skills, but is really starting to “get” stuff suddenly.  He surprised me several times on the trip with his ability to understand and do things I asked of him.
• Brian was amazed at how far Lily has come with her skiing – she was rocking it yet again! Even handling some of the blues okay. Definitely well past the bunny-slope days! And Brian felt like he had acheived his goal of total exhaustion, and satisfied his skiing needs for the year.
• Dinner was at our typical Mexican place. It isn’t very good, but we always end up eating there anyway, because, well, it’s Mexican. And only a short walk from our building. It wasn’t as horrible as it had been a few times before though. And the atmosphere is perfect.
• We had wanted to rent a movie, but the machine wasn’t working so we ended up watching “Oh Brother, Where Art Though?” on cable. It was entertaining, but can’t remember the last time we actually watched something on TV – forgot how tedious all the commercials can be!

Sunday.

• Nothing too interesting today, just got up and packed, loaded the car, and headed home. (You know it’s a good vacation when you don’t even have to see your car from check-in to check-out!)
  
• We had heard that the interstate the night before was a mess, sure glad we hadn’t been trying to drive home then like so many other skiiers! It was a real luxury having a hotel night both before and after the ski-part of the trip, makes it so much easier with little ones for sure. Hopefully this is something we’ll be able to keep doing in the future.
• It was a little windy, but not as bad as the trip there, and travelling in daylight is so much easier! Not to mention the lack of traffic, we just breezed right home with no trouble. Stopped in Castle Rock for lunch at Boulevard Pizza.
• Got home, house was FREEZING! Okay, only around 50 degrees, but slowly it warmed up.
• We are already talking about our plans for next year- mostly the same as this year but I want to do more snowshoeing, or maybe try out one of those ski-bikes. And we can’t wait until Owen is old enough to ski!
• Copper seems to be the perfect place for us right now, and being able to stay right there within an easy walk of the lifts is byfar the best way to go! Winter Vacation = Success, now we can look forward to spring 🙂