One of My Favorite Places on Earth

We made it. We're here, we're skiing, and it is awesome.

We flew in yesterday, met my parents and siblings at the airport in Denver, and drove to Keystone. We picked up our ski rentals, loaded a cart full of groceries to make all of our meals, and unpacked in my dad's co-worker's beautiful condo (ski-in/ski-out, something we've never been privileged to experience before; it's spoiling me). JP and I took my family out for pizza as a thank you for providing the lift tickets, and then we went to bed early with plans to hit the slopes as soon as the mountains opened.

(JP, me, and my baby siblings)

And we did. My family skis hard and skis fast, and I was a little concerned that I'd lost my touch after 6 years off the slopes, 2 babies, and a 4 years out of the gym. But I need not have worried. I can still hack it, and while I won't go through the trees anymore (it makes my heart pound to think of some of the stuff we used to do), I can handle black diamonds just fine.

(me and my sis after hiking up the Outback)

We hiked up to the Outback and skied down the South Bowl. It's steep and ungroomed and I had a huge wipe-out which resulted in a nearly runaway ski. It was captured and I got it back on, even with the steep incline, but I skied pretty slowly until we got back onto normal terrain. JP did the bowl again, but I decided groomed runs are a better place for me now.

I've been asked a few times if it was so hard to leave the kids, and while it probably makes me sound bad (please see pretty much every post since 2008 to see how much I love them), the answer is, "No." It was not hard at all. They're totally healthy (thank goodness), they're being doted upon by a loving great-aunt and uncle, and everyone is fine. Is anyone as good at caring for them as JP and I are? Probably not. Are they being cared for with all the love my aunt and uncle have for them? Yep, and they are doing great. I think it's nothing but good that they can be so comfortable in another's care, and it's nothing but good that JP and I can spend a whole day racing each other down a mountain, flirting on a ski lift, and having a blast pointing out every single thing we know Landon will just love as soon as we can take him skiing.

I miss them. I can't wait to bring them here. I know I'm going to want the plane to fly extra fast once we're on our way home to them. But I'm having a really wonderful time hanging out with JP, my parents, and my now grown-up siblings (siblings I can actually hang out with because I don't need to get up early with my kids). My body is so exhausted it feels almost numb, my shins are beaten and bruised from my ski boots, and I'm having the time of my life. This is my first "original family" vacation since I was 20 and I'm so, so glad JP and I can be here with them.