Vail

Ryan has the opportunity to go on a couple of conferences each year and they have them literally all over the world.  A few months back he started trying to convince me that we should go to the one in Vail. Honestly I wasn't really excited about it.  It was far away from the kids and let's just be honest, I prefer the pool and the sun over the snow any day.  Well I'm SO glad he convinced me to go!  It turned out to be really fun to branch out and do something different. 

Our flight was really early so the day before I met my mom in Vanceboro to pass off the kids.  We had to leave them for five nights which was by far the longest we have been gone before.  The one thing that made me feel okay about it is that our kids seriously adore their grandparents.  We are so thankful that all the grandparents pitched in so that we could go on this trip and the kids had a blast.

It has been years since I have gone skiing.  Luckily two couples that we know here are hard core skiers and they gave us all of their winter wear to borrow. 

I had never seen anyone wear a ski helmet on the east coast. We were surprised that every single person was wearing them in Vail.  Considering my ski skills I was glad to have one! 

Nothing like starting a vacation with a 6 a.m. flight 

We are off! 

Starting our vacation with a coffee date in the Atlanta airport. I think I know just about every inch of this airport at this point.

We had a great view the whole time flying

When we arrived we had some time to kill before we checked in and the conference started so we ate lunch and explored.  

We had a great view from our hotel room of the gondola and Vail mountain,

This town was so pricey. I got a laugh out of this expensive hot dog on the kids menu and it didn't even come with anything! 

The next morning Ryan went to the conference and I had the most relaxing morning I have had in a long time.  

Then it was time to conquer the mountain! 

Here we go! 

Riding up the gondola 

Pictures don't do the view justice.  And it was hard to take pictures because I had to take my gloves off and fish out my phone!

I look like a giant marshmallow. Lots of layers! 

A few thoughts on skiing.  1.  I am really terrible.  I don't know if Ryan will ever agree to ski with me again.  2.  Skiing out west is a lot different than on the east coast.  3.  I think we took the longest path down the mountain possible.  4.  Check it off the bucket list, I'm okay not doing it again, lol.   

I survived! 

Afterwards we went for a late lunch at the foot of the mountain

After Ryan went to the conference for the evening session it was time for dinner.  Whenever we go on a trip we always choose one night to have as our special date night out.  This restaurant was fabulous! One of our best dinners ever! 

Normally I would not order hot chocolate as a dessert but I had heard from a friend that this place was famous for their hot chocolate recipe which made me want to try it.  It may have been the most impressive hot chocolate I have ever seen! 

They asked if we were celebrating anything and I said our anniversary (dating).  I can always think of a reason to celebrate. 

Ryan with his homemade ice cream and donuts

We loved waking up and going out on the balcony to see the view. It was stunning! 

The next day Ryan went skiing again and I decided it would be a better use of my time and money to go to the spa. :) I did ask him to take a few more pictures for me. 

The whole trip I was hoping to see snow and the last night when we went out to dinner it started snowing!!! 

Check out my snowball 

Ryan was not impressed when I hit him in the back with a snowball

Our final morning we woke up to a nice light snowfall. What a way to end the trip! 

And since Ryan was at the conference that morning before we flew out I did something very out of the ordinary and went to a place to eat breakfast alone. I was really wanting to try this Nutella crepe! 

My mom sent me these pictures of the boys while we were gone.  I loved hearing from the boys about all the fun things they had done with the grandparents.  Trips out to eat, to the park, playing Legos, etc.  To quote James, "he really wants to stay with his grandparents for a 100 nights next time."  

I missed them so much!

We made it back to New Bern late that night and I couldn't help but smile when I got this text. I love that my dad still always checks on his little girl.