The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

Archives for April 2023

Snowmass

Skiing day 3! The temps were a little higher and the sun was out and we were all happy skiers! Bluebird day on the mountain!

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bluebird

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bluebird

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Twinkies!!

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Lunch break!

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lunch

lunch

After lunch we decided to take the single pole/disc lift up to Cirque, the highest point in Snowmass at 12, 510 feet. None of us had ever been on a lift like this before but we were feeling optimistic!

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The boys all got on and made it to the top with no issue. Here’s Maxwell riding up.

disc lift

It was a different story for the girls! Samantha was really nervous but she got on and started going up. I then fell trying to get on but then made it on just two people behind her. About 3/4 of the way up, the wind was so strong and her gloved hands just couldn’t hold on and she fell off the lift! Oh no! I tried to grab her and pull her with me but that didn’t work so I hopped off too and we had to ski back down to the lift. We then had a decision to make – give up and ski on down the mountain and meet the boys later – or try again to get to the top! We tried again and I am so glad we did!! Once we finally made it, the views were worth it! We were eye level with the tops of all of the mountains. It felt like a snow desert up there! So cool.

cirque

cirque

cirque

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cirque

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Ready to live on The Edge!

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We went down a couple of black runs, tons of blues, and had a great day all around!

Snowmass

We got up on Tuesday ready for our second day of skiing…and bundled up even more than the day before! It was colder – I think in the single digits with wind chill in the negative – and not very much sun. This was honestly about the coldest I’ve ever been in my life. But, we just covered every inch of exposed skin and got on with it!!

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The day started a little…rough. There was a ton of snow the night before so the runs were full of fresh, deep powder. We started down a blue. Samantha fell and got stuck in the deep snow. I dug her out (I’m always the clean up crew), she fell again on top of me, my skis came off, I got her skis back on and sent her on her way. I then had to try to get my skis on and find them down the mountain. I went the way they had gone…which I’m pretty sure was an ungroomed black full of fresh, deep snow. I fell and could NOT get my skis back on. Got up, fell again, not going well. I finally finally made it down and just burst into tears because that was NOT how I was wanting to start the day. But, I made it and lived to ski another run! Thank goodness.

Despite the temps and gray skies, we had a great day. Can’t you just see how cold it is in these pics?

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But we were proud of ourselves!

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We eventually stopped for a much needed lunch break…

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and then the sun peeked out for just a bit! Hooray!

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We kept skiing until the lifts closed…

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I sure do love to watch them zoom past me!

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That night we finally warmed up and made it into the village to have dinner…

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A successful day 2 of skiing!!

Snowmass

We flew out to Aspen for spring break last week and spent 4 days zooming down the slopes of Snowmass! It was an awesome trip!! Best weather, best company, best time!

We landed and quickly realized we weren’t in Birmingham anymore when the 20 degree temp hit our face!

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Our room wasn’t quite ready so we got some pizza and checked out the cute village.

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aspen

aspen

Look at that icicle!

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That afternoon we got all of our skis and gear and took it easy with room service. I love vacation! The next morning we bundled up to hit the slopes – the high for the day was 14!!

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We got an instructor to go out with us the first day and that was a great call. He helped everyone get their ski legs back and showed up some good runs to take and gave us good tips for how to navigate the area.

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snowman's

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snowman's

It was SO SO SO cold but the snow was great! We handled it just fine…as long as the sun was shining! Nothing a little mid-morning hot chocolate break won’t fix!

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The kids got right back into skiing and I was so impressed. We were all glad to have Patrick leading the way the first day.

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An awesome first day on the mountain!!

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snowman's

When we got back, we braved the 11 degree temperature in our robe to get in the hot tub! Delightful!

victory

snowman's

Day 1 success!!

Daddy

Daddy died one year ago today. It’s still incredibly unfair.

One of the things that Daddy did best was fully enjoy the things he loved, like his hobbies. I’d also like to think he fully enjoyed his trips with us (despite me and Keath’s – I’m sure frustrating – fighting. It was always him that started it by the way!). As I’ve said before, I always knew that with us was the place he wanted to be most. Trips were no exception. My parents never went on vacations without us. When we were kids we went to Disney…a lot. So much that we got annual passes at one point. When Daddy got his picture taken for his annual pass he was smiling the very biggest, happiest smile ever. A true zip-a-dee-doo-da smile! You could tell he was REALLY happy to be at Disney World with all of us! We all got a lot of laughs out of that picture. He was just so happy to be with us. He loved us so much that there was no place he wanted to be more than on that trip with his family.

daddy

Last week we were on a fantastic ski trip for spring break. The entire time I was honestly overwhelmed with gratitude and joy watching the kids zoom down the mountain. I love them so much and am so thankful to have 3 active, healthy kids. We all just had so much fun together and I’m pretty sure I had the very biggest, happiest smile ever on my face for much of the trip (except when I got stuck on that black run!). There was no place I wanted to be more than on that trip with my family.

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It’s just nice to go full circle and experience things as a parent and be able to look back and realize that’s how he probably felt too. As always, I’m going to continue to try and be more like him and, in this case, that means continuing to fully enjoy the things I love and soak up the good times. I’m going to make sure my kids know that with them is where I love to be most. Daddy gave me that gift and I am forever grateful to know how much he loved me.

Now I need GJ to go find that annual pass because I know it’s still around somewhere!!

Monday

Happy Monday! We’re back from spring break and getting into the swing of things again.

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Make it a great week!