Sunrise in Red River

 

Ladies Man

Today Barrett had Namaw, Audria, and Ann all to himself!  It doesn't sound like it took him too long to convince them to go outside and play in the snow with him.

 

Even Namaw rode the sled down the hill!!!

I don't think Barrett listened to all the instructions about making a snow angel!

Audria's looked pretty cool though!

 

Ann was taking a lot of the pics of them playing outside.  I promise, she was here too!

Any guesses as to what the guys did tonight after dinner?  Well...they didn't have enough energy to run around the house playing Nerf war, so instead they shot their guns from their seat on the couches.  Somehow they convinced Brody to hold a Mt. Dew bottle on his head and let them shoot at it!  Notice all the guns aimed at him?

Then Caleb convinced Barrett to let him shoot at his belly.  Barrett thought this was hilarious!

Finally Brody and Barrett set up the Mt. Dew bottle and took turns shooting at it and knocking it over.  It wasn't too hard since they were standing 2 feet away!

 

Skiing in the Sun

This morning all the guys (minus Barrett) and I bundled up and headed for the ski slopes.  Barrett gave Caleb some advice on snowboarding before he left.

Daddy Steve and I started off skiing on the practice slope a few times while all the others headed to their lessons.  The guys were taking a full day of snowboarding lessons while we'd signed Brody up for a 1/2 day of ski lessons.  The kid area was PACKED!  I watched a few times and I think Brody spent more time standing there waiting than actually learning anything!  By lunch time he'd had enough of the chaos of lessons.  We tried to convince him to go ski with me and Daddy Steve, but he was done!  He was ready to go back to the house and sled down the hill.  I guess that was less stressful for him?  We all met together by the bunny slope to eat our sack lunches.

I was finally able to convince Brody to do the bunny slope a few times with me.  I think next time we go skiing we might opt for the private lessons rather than group lessons.  He picked it up really quick while I was working with him and said he wanted to stay and ski longer, but we'd already called the girls to come pick him up...so back to the cabin he went.

 

Daddy Steve and I spent the rest of the afternoon skiing together while the guys were in lessons.

 

I had fun spending the day skiing with my dad!

Around 3:00 Daddy Steve and I headed back to the Jeep.  It was then that we realized that our shoes were in the other Jeep (not the one we had the keys for!)  As we turned in our skis and boots the worker looked at us and said, "Did you not bring other shoes to wear home?"  Thankfully we were able to find some dry spots to walk across to get back to the Jeep.  When we got back to the cabin I put my gore tex gloves on my feet and walked gingerly up the stairs towards the warmth of the fireplace!

Nerf WAR

Mike was a little unsure as to why I packed so many guns for the boys.  They wanted to take their new rifles...but they also wanted to take their Nerf guns and ammo.  I threw in a few extra guns (assuming that some of the "big boys" would want to play too).  I managed to pack them under the boys feet in the back seat as we traveled, so there was plenty of room for them.  I think the "big boys" were very glad that I packed the Nerf guns!  Tonight there was an all out WAR at the cabin.  This wasn't just a sit on the couch and shoot each other kind of war...this was a lay down the rules and run all over the house kind of war!  The key fighters were:

Caleb

Tyler

Brody

and Mike

 

and no...the women did not avoid being in the line of fire.  The guys were shooting from both levels of the house, so it was virtually impossible to avoid projectiles!

Tour of the Red River Cabin

 

Our family stayed in the master bedroom (the boys slept in their sleeping bags on the floor).

Downstairs/master bathroom

 

Daddy Steve & Namaw's room

The loft. (Caleb & Audria and Tyler & Ann took turns sleeping in the loft vs. the 2nd bedroom upstairs).

Upstairs bathroom

 

Driving to Red River

We ate breakfast, packed up the vehicles, and were back on the road by 9 this morning.  The first part of the drive was very flat...and not much to look at!

Not far into New Mexico we encountered a recently repaved road.  I think it might have been a road paved by Lightning McQueen (like the road he paves at the beginning of his time in Radiator Springs).  Whew!  I don't get carsick, but even my tummy was starting to churn!  We had the kids pretend like we were on a roller coaster.  They thought it was tons of fun!

We saw a ton of wildlife as we drove through the desert and foothills.  Mainly antelope and mule deer.  Brody stayed on the lookout (rifle at the ready) almost the entire trip! 

 

We were excited to see some snow in Red River as we drove through town and then up the mountain towards the house we'd be staying in for the week.

I think Brody and Barrett were the most excited to see the snow!  They waited (very impatiently) for me to find our suitcase and dig out their snow gear and then they ran outside to play in the snow.

 

When the kids finally came back in side, they huddle around the fire Mike made.  It didn't take long for this fire to heat up the entire house!

Before dinner, we headed into the town of Red River to register for lessons for tomorrow (snowboarding lessons for Mike, Caleb, & Tyler and ski lessons for Brody). 

We got back to the house just as Namaw we pulling a hot pizza out of the oven.  Yummmm!!!

 

Stop One...Amarillo

We left at 10 am this morning for a week long vacation in Red River, New Mexico!  Daddy Steve and Namaw had our Jeep loaded to the brim with everything from ski clothes to kitchen utensils to a space heater.  Caleb & Audria drove their Jeep with all their gear.  In our Durango was Mike, me, Tyler, Ann, Brody, & Barrett.  Mike & Tyler traded driving, Ann & I sat in the middle, and Brody & Barrett played/watched movies/talked to us from the back.

We stoped for lunch at a Dairy Queen in a small Texas town.  I think it must have been the only place to eat in town...and church had just gotten out!  I have never seen people waiting so long for food at a fast food restaurant in my life!  Thankfully, our family was served quickly (I'm not sure our kids would've lasted much longer), but Tyler and Ann waited over an hour for their food!  Insane!  The good thing?  Everyone had a warm lunch in their belly...and when Tyler and Ann finished we got back on the road.

Since we were unsure as to when we'd be able to leave today (when we were planning a few weeks ago), we decided in advance to drive halfway today and the rest of the way tomorrow.  Thanks to Ann, we were able to get a great rate on rooms at a Hilton Homewood Suites.  Our family shared a room with Tyler & Ann and Daddy Steve & Namaw shared a room with Caleb & Audria.

When we first arrived at the hotel, the boys were in awe of the ginormous bed!  Barrett tried to claim the entire king bed for himself (and we let him pretend for a while), but he finally conceded to a sleeping bag on the floor.

After we unloaded all the gear we'd just packed up 7 hours earlier, we climbed back into the vehicles to eat dinner.  We decided to eat at Famous Dave's.  Namaw and Ann got salads, so the rest of us (minus the kids) shared the feast for 4-6.  It was a delicious feast of BBQ food. 

 

Everyone was tired when we got back to the hotel, so we got ready for bed.  Daddy Steve told the boys a bedtime story and then Tyler, Mike, and I watched a movie while everyone else went to sleep.