Rustic Mountain Weekend

After work Friday night we started our epic adventure up to the mountains. We were a little unsure of just what we were getting into but hoped we would have a great time, it was after all our first back country mountain adventure with the kiddos.

Once in the parking lot at base camp we met up with a couple other skiers who were also heading up.  We got our snow stuff on and loaded up our gear. Then we climbed into this rickety old beat up mountain suburban. We started the bouncy ride up, we had 8.5 miles to go,  6 miles in an off roading suburban and 2.5 by snowmobile.  I have to admit I was a lot a bit nervous on the way up and all I could think was "what have we gotten ourselves into and thank God our mother's don't really know what's going on!"   Both of the kids loved the adventure up.  Elin hummed the whole way up.  I held her cradled in my arms, what adventurous kiddos we have  Our house, was a 10 by 20 foot single room A frame. There was a wood burning stove, a loft, a bed and a propane camp stove.  About 50 feet from our house was a mountain comfort station for your "comfort” all I have to say is brrrr.So there we were ready to start unpacking for dinner. Coughing babies in tow and ughha bug I was still nervous. We got dinner reheated, BBQ chicken sammies with beans and chips and then we walked over to the main lodge and to check in with one of Mike’s buddies who was up for the weekend.  We then headed back to get the kiddos to bed. They were both exhausted.  We almost pulled the plug as Elin was having a hard time settling down and we couldn’t figure out if it was her congestion, the side effect of the medication, being away from home or the combo. 

We were so close that Mike headed to the lodge to see about leaving and I stayed with Elin.  By the time he got back she was sleeping comfortably on my chest and then we decided that we would reevaluate in the morning.  I have to be honest I am glad that we took the doctors advice and got her some “cold fresh air” as she had a good nights sleep and woke up the best she had in the past 2 days.  So breakfast time it would be and then we got ready to head to the mountain to play.  Thomas happily played with his tractor in the snow, since his Grandparents had just gotten a bunch of snow in Minnesota he has been asking for to fly there.  This little guy played his heart out.  We decided to head up the mountain about a half a mile to the meadow.  In the meadow we propped down a sleeping Elin and got to building a snowman.  After that we made a couple trips on the sled and then decided to hike back for lunch.  All this stuff usually is quick, but with 2 littles in tow everything took much longer.  On our way back Thomas decided he wanted to put his snowshoes back on and go for a hike.  We made it about 50 feet on a trail before he decided he wanted to be carried and was hungry.  Elin had just woke up and was looking around chatting about everything she saw so the timing was right.We had some lunch and were greeted by little fluffy mountain grey jays.  The kiddos loved watching and feeding them.  These are the mountain scavengers and are known to fly onto your hand for food guess they are the seagulls I grew up with.  The guys filled up the wood pile and then we decided we better get out and ski before we missed our chance.We switched out our gear and put on our stuff and headed back to the meadow.  I'm not going to lie, it was hard for me to whip the smile off my face as I knew I was going to ski again. It has been a long 3 years waiting until there was the right opportunity (not pregnant, babies not crying, ect) and this was perfect! Once at the meadow I dropped everyone off by Mr. Snowman and continued to hike up. Then I clicked into my skis and down I went. Yahoo it great even if it was short!
Then Mike and Thomas were able to ski and then we took a picture before heading back towards our cabin. Our exit was slightly epic. I took Elin slowly in the pack down on skis and Mike and Thomas went by sled. Elin was saying something that sounded like "wow" and I sure hope it was! What a fun day playing in the snow. Elin napped and Thomas played with Dad and in the snow a bit longer after we got back to the cabin.
For dinner we were joined by Ryan and Ryan, Mike's buddy and his friend. After some good food and conversation the kids both were sleeping before our company had left. They were exhausted. Thomas actually came over and asked if he could go to sleep, which is so rare for him. The Ryan's left about 8:30 and Mike and I then cleaned and packed up a bit as we knew we'd be rushing in the morning.
Morning came much too soon thanks to daylight savings time and we were up getting everything ready for the snowmobile. Thomas played in the snow and Elin watched the birds. Then we headed back down the Mountain. Seriously, this was one chill fantastically fun family vacation. I couldn't feel more blessed and grateful that we have memories along with videos and pictures to last a lifetime. I can't wait for our next adventure, which is in 8 days to sunny Florida.