Showing posts with label family gatherings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family gatherings. Show all posts

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 CafĂ© 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!

Friday, November 1, 2013

Uh...What Just Happened?

Let's see here... what's just happened. Or better yet, has been happening?

The run down of 2012: I had vision problems in my right eye (like the lingering camera flash long after a photo had been snapped). I had foot pain in both of my feet. I saw an optometrist at the VA, prescribed glasses. I saw a podiatrist at the VA, prescribed orthopedic insoles. Mark's mom passed away unexpectedly. Mark lost his job. Mark started a new job. We had our floors redone in our house. Austin played A LOT of baseball! That's it in a nutshell for the big events. For the small events, I put them in pictures!

Rodeo 2012 with the cousins
 
 Valentine's Day 2012 Abi and Luke
  
Abi turned 8 

A LOT of baseball! 

Mark, Austin, Abi, and I all joined in to build Austin and Abi loft beds!
 
 

Abi's finished bed

 Austin's finished bed

Mark and I attended a Hunger Games party to celebrate the release of the movie!


 More baseball!

Easter 2012


Our Church family egg hunt!

 Austin had some fun science projects

Both enjoyed schoolwork outside!

Summer wouldn't be summer without our pals!

The Usual!

Austin's team played several tournaments close to Galveston. So, we made a mini-vacation out of it with the team!


Kemah with the team!

Summer also wouldn't be summer without a trip to the lake with Aunt Debbie with Uncle Chuck!

Swimming with cousins at Grandpa's house

Ready for Vacation Bible School

Mark and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary!

Abi was a tiger for Halloween 2012

Austin's team won 2nd place in a tournament for Halloween

Austin's team won 2nd place in the CFSA League play for 10U select teams

There were lots of family dinners

And lots of waiting on baby Roman, my nephew, to arrive

A KJ52 Concert

And meeting Manafest

And baby Roman made his appearance November 12, 2012

Thanksgiving with Papa


 
And cousins
 
Christmas Lights 2012

Decorating for Christmas!

Pancakes and Pajamas 2012

Lighting the Advent candles 2012

Brewer Family Christmas 2012

 Christmas 2012

 Christmas Morning


Christmas morning with cousins!


A lot happened last year. It was a tough year for our family, but also a year of many good memories.