Monday, December 9, 2013

'Tis the Season!

You're probably wondering how our trip to Breckenridge ended. It ended well! Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving. We woke up early and began cooking. We watched football and movies in between. We had a nice spread to choose from! Georgiet even made lumpia!


We spent the last day of the trip, Friday, hanging around the house in our pajamas and packing. We returned unused/unopened food items to the local grocery store because there was no way it was going to fit to travel home with us! We played games late into the evening and shared lots of laughs together. Later in the day, Mark, the kids, Aaron, Georgiet, Zay and Bastian played in the snow some more! They had another, more serious, snowball fight! Mark also took Abi and Bastian on a nature walk close to the house.






We woke up early and cleaned out the refrigerators and packed up the remainder of our items in the car. Our family of four and the Blancos started the drive home about 8AM Saturday morning. The other two Brewer families flew home. Their flight didn't leave until about 5:30PM; so, they drove (about a 2 hours trip) to Denver and toured the city until it was time to check in for their flight. We and the Blancos finally (and I mean FINALLY!) got home around 3AM on Sunday morning. Longest drive EVER!

Sunday morning it was business as usual. I was up and out of bed by 9AM. Our dogs were boarded part of the time we were gone. So, I went to pick them up from the kennel. This was their first ever stay in a kennel, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised! The kennel staff seemed to genuinely care about their well-being which eased my mind!

From Sunday afternoon until Tuesday evening I ate, slept, and breathed Christmas Banquet planning! At our church the women's ministry holds an annual Christmas banquet to raise money for a local charity. This year, and last year, I handled all the registration for the banquet. Most of the time it's pretty fun because you get to meet and talk to so many new people. There are kinks that occasionally rise that can almost ruin my day, but for the most part I really enjoy it!

The banquet is hosted by the church, but in registering attenders, we also register volunteers to host/decorate a table (or more). This year I decorated two tables. One was kind of last minute because one of the scheduled decorators was unable to do so this year. I found the most beautiful plates for this table.


This Eiffel Tower used to be black! I spray painted it gold to match my plates!
 
 
 I LOVE these plates! They are SO pretty!
 
 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' theme
 
 The top box had battery operated lights!
 

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Breckenridge, Colorado Family Vacation Day 4

I woke up super early on day four. My sister texted me about our dogs (she's dog sitting). One little beep from my phone and I'm up. Once I'm up, I'm up! So, Bastian and I hung out until everyone else woke up. Once the house was awake, the kids bundled up and went to play in the snow.
 Abilene
 
 Bastian
 
Zay

Austin

For breakfast we planned to hit up the crepe stand again because of it's yummy goodness! Mark had a bacon egg and cheese crepe. I had a egg, cheese, and mushroom crepe. Austin had a bacon, swiss cheese, spinach, and mushroom crepe. And Abi had a pepperoni  pizza crepe! Stuffed, we decided to cruise Main Street. I love this small town. All the little shops are so cute. Most of the shops sell manufactured items in combination with homemade items. We only got a few shops in before the late nights and walking caught up with me.







 
 An ice castle the town is in the process of building
 Throwing chunks of ice on to a frozen pond


MS sucks. I was so exhausted. I wanted to walk the entire street, but I just couldn't. So, we decided maybe trying an activity that let me sit down would be helpful. We headed to the gondola station. The gondolas are free to ride. Another perk I love about this town! Our group of eight (Me, Mark, Austin, Abi, Aaron, Georgiet, Zay, and Bastian) could all fit in one cart. We hopped on and headed up the mountain. All of the kids were frightened, except for Bastian. He was having a party on his side of the cart!!
 Abi and Bastian on the gondola
 
The skiers at the top of Peak 8

After the gondola rides, I couldn't push myself anymore; so, we headed back to the house. I went straight to our room and laid down and slept for a couple hours. The rest of the afternoon we just hung out around the house. We had frito pie for dinner and played games again. Taunya and I were up a little late baking pies for Thanksgiving. I made Austin's favorite, pumpkin cheesecake and an apple pie. Taunya made FOUR pumpkin pies! I'm looking forward to the spread of food on our menu!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Breckenridge, Colorado Family Vacation Day 3

Day three seemed to fly by! We spent most of the day hanging around the house with Roman so that Liz and D could go skiing. Roman has had a really rough time here, particularly at night. While at home he sleeps through the night, here he wakes about every 20-30 minutes crying. Poor guy!

Weeks before we make any trip, I can count on Mark to research our destination. For at least three weeks leading up to this trip Mark researched things to do with kids, things that we must do when we visit. He even checked the Main Street Live Cam several times a day! One suggested activity from many sources was that we must try the crepes! So, D and Liz met us on Main Street after they were finished skiing to try out some crepes!

On our way to the crepe stand, Abi said she got to cross one more thing off of her bucket list: pet a horse pulling a carriage. Just to note, these horse were HUGE!
 
 The menu had so many selections! You could choose anything from pepperoni pizza to a smores crepe! Mark had a butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar, I had nutella, Austin had cheesecake, and Abi had a smores crepe.

 The kid-o's watching their crepes being made.
 
After we had our crepes, we all headed back to the house to start dinner. It was mine and Georgiet's turn to cook for the group. I made potato soup with all the fixings and Georgiet made a Filipino dish called Chicken Adobo...it was delicious!

The rest of the evening we played games again. Again, many laughs were had! Day four has more activities on the schedule, I can't wait to share them!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Breckenridge, Colorado Family Vacation Day 2

Day 2 started off a little rough for me. First, the lack of sleep the night before in my sauna, I mean, my room put me a little on the cranky side. Nevertheless, I hopped out of bed looking forward to the eventful day we planned. Once the majority of the house was awake, Javier made breakfast. Again, this is one of my favorite parts of any vacation or family gatherings I've ever been a part of, meals together.
the kids' table
 
While waiting for all of the boring adults to get ready to leave for the day, the kids headed outside to play in the snow.
 

 
Austin working on his pitching with a snowball!
 
On our way down to the down, and I mean that literally, as we had to drive down a winding road, we stopped at a touristy spot to snap pictures overlooking Breckenridge. The view was breathtaking once again. I could have sat there and just looked for a good portion of the afternoon!
 My beautiful girl!
 
 And my handsome boy!
 
 
 The Brewers 2013
 
 All the kids, some showing off their snowballs!
 
 Liz, Georgiet, Taunya, and me
 
Aaron, DeAndre, Javier, and Mark
 


For this day of the vacation we all planned to rent some sleds and head to a local park, Carter Park, to sled. This was a budget friendly event that everyone in the family could enjoy. To rent the sleds was only $5 per sled for an entire day. We rented four between the four families, and took turns using them. Carter Park was also very budget friendly because it was free! We spent at least three hours there!
Zay and Austin coming down the slope
 

 Javier and Lyla!
 
 Abi and Sebastian
 
 Liz, Mark, Georgiet, and Aaron
 
 

 Mark, right before he ate it!!!
 
 Austin and Remington after a successful slide down!
 
 I made one trip...and I survived!
 
 
 The kids took turns sledding with Lyla. This was on their way up the hill.
 And this was their crash on the way down!
 
The view from the top of the hill
 
So, I left something out of day one. While walking back to the house from just a little bit down the street, we saw a fox. A real life, eating, breathing fox! Well, most of us saw the fox. Abi, my lover of all animals, did not. She missed it. She was very disappointed and told Mark she was sad because seeing a fox is "on her bucket list"! Once it was gone, it was gone! At Carter Park she got to cross "seeing a fox" off of her bucket list! As we were climbing up the hill, a very fast fox ran across the property fenced off just above the top of the hill!
 
Our friend, the fox
 
Once we had worn ourselves out sledding, we headed to Main Street for some coffee and/or hot cocoa. Parking was a little tough to find just because we were uncertain of where we could park without being towed. Once parked, the rest of our visit to Main street was by foot. On a map we picked up earlier in the day, we located Columbine Café and headed that way. The service was great! The young lady working behind the counter was super friendly and patient as our large party ordered . I had a coffee called "Moosetracks" that was super tasty! It had two shots of espresso, one pump of mocha, and two pumps of marshmallow! The kids both had hot chocolate. There was just enough room in the tiny shop to seat all of us!
They clear the sidewalks with a mini snowplow!
 
 Walking Main Street
 



Lyla, Zay, Austin, and Cameron warming up!
 

 
We finished our drinks and started our journey of walking from shop to shop. We quickly learned that Breckenridge is not a nightlife city like Houston! Most of the shops were closed around 6pm or soon to be closed! So we visited one or two stores and then decided we return the next day while all the shops were open, and just make our way to dinner. On Main Street they have several restaurants, but we landed at Bubba Gumps. Not exactly a Breckenridge original, but still a cute little establishment! I had never had their food before; so, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I ordered the 'Jenny's Catch in Lobster Butter Sauce', It was delicious! Our waiter, Matt, did a great job. Especially with such a large group split evenly with rambunctious children!
Around a fire pit in the center of one of the shopping areas
 

 

 Outside one of the art shops
 
Lyla dancing after she finished her food
 
We ended the night with putting the kids to bed and then playing games. Many more great memories were made here. We played Balderdash, my favorite game, and then another game that has yet to be named.  There were many laughs and even some tears! Mark laughed so hard he was crying on the floor! I'm looking forward to see what day three holds in store for us!