Winter Weekend Whirlwind!

We live in Colorado, and I always feel like we never get up into the mountains nearly enough. So far in 2011, however, we've been lucky enough to spend two weekends away from the "city"! This past weekend, our entire family spent two nights and three days at this amazing cabin near Grand Lake.
We couldn't have asked for a better weekend. With weather climbing near sixty in Denver, we were blessed with sunshine, clear skies (and roads), and temps in the thirties. We arrived on Friday afternoon and immediately shifted into relaxation mode. The kiddos definitely enjoyed the cozy leather couches and watching movies on the big screen tv!

The cabin is a very traditional log cabin, so it has peaks and angles everywhere. And what better thing to do with all of those nooks and crannies then to make secret rooms! Wes played games and Opa told stories inside this "cave". SO cool!
Saturday morning we headed outside to play in the snow. The mountains have gotten TONS of snow this year, so we had to make good use of it. First up? Sledding!
Auntie Abby is so much fun!
So is Oma...
Nolan, Heath, and Cohen got rides from their daddies...Landon just stayed safe in his Opa's arms.
Sledding eventually morphed into snow fort building...

And if that wasn't enough snow fun, Wes, Mark, Brad, and I got to go for a quick afternoon of skiing at Sol Vista. We had free passes, so we headed over for a few hours. Wes and Brad both tried snow boarding (they took turns using Mark's gear) for the first time, and I got up on skis for the first time in a year!
This is Mark and Brad...
And that pretty much wore us all out! The rest of the night involved eating and relaxing...
Mark and Abby prepared two delicious dinners, thanks!
Sunday morning we had to get an early start back to Denver so we could see the Monster Jam show (that post to come). So, we ate breakfast...
...and snapped a few family photos against a beautiful background.
We had a wonderful weekend away. It was so nice to leave behind laundry, cleaning, and carpooling and just be together as a family. Thanks Mark and Abby, for planning such a great trip! Hopefully we can make this a yearly tradition :)