welcome 2015!! (and sometimes the 3rd time is not a charm)

After New Year's Eve last year and attempting to all sleep on someone's basement floor was a horrid disaster, I vowed to only spend New Year's Eve at home for all of eternity.  Long-time readers will remember my definition of the perfect way to ring in the new year that happened here.
Well, this year Amy teased me with the promise of pj's and Indian food and when the Petersen's planned a visit from Virginia, we couldn't refuse.  We headed up to Winter Park to join the aforementioned and the Voigts who own the Fraser house with the Lineberrys.  We left as soon as our favorite Indian restaurant opened and could fill our order for dinner for 8.  The hour plus drive with all those delicious smells was pure torture.  
As some people were still out skiing when we arrived, we headed to the hill adjacent to the house for some high-speed sledding.  One hard bump that left my booty bruised for weeks was enough for me but Ryan and Ben got some softer trail-blazing runs in.
As everyone trickled in from their day on the slopes, we enjoyed snacks and drinks and the kids started dinner with pizza.  For many of the adults, it was their virgin Indian food voyage though I was admittedly too busy inhaling mine to listen very closely to what everyone thought.

The kids had their own celebration including the Madagascar countdown on Netflix and they all started their sleep journey's about 8:30pm. 

 After some shifting of kids, Ben did get a couple hours of sleep before it all started to fall apart about 11pm.  Thankfully he would stay in his bed for 1/2 hour stints at that point but our raucous rousing and no door on the kiddo loft meant it was all just too loud for him to settle into sleep.  We adults managed lots of drinks, a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity, and a Prosecco toast to the New Year before I drug a very-awake Ben downstairs just before 1 am to sleep on the floor next to our air mattress.  

double-trouble gingers

Thankfully Ryan, who was between us, snored through most of Ben's babbling as he had to be up early to ski the next morning.  For silly Ben, sleep did not come until 3:30 A!M! Yep, there I was, already in pain from being up so late and having a few drinks on top of a stomach filled with spicy Indian food, on an air mattress next to a snoring log, almost nodding off over and over until Ben would chime in with a statement or chant or unrecognizable babble and I would "shoosh! shush!," him once again.  Thankfully he wasn't loud enough to be heard by the Petersen's in the next room.  I woke up at 7 to Ryan clanging around making pre-ski breakfast but thankfully Ben was able to sleep a bit longer.  I might not talk about it lots on this blog, but I am an early-to-bed, 8 hours of solid zzz's needing, earlier-to-rise, happiest in the wee hours of the morning, early-riser, kind of person.  When I woke up that morning and made coffee...(duh! dear husband, ALWAYS FIRST!!!!!) I just sipped it slow and repeated the mantra that this this too would end and that I would survive.  I actually didn't feel too bad but I feared the task that lie ahead of me in getting Ben to the slopes solo, at the time of the afternoon I thought his lack-of-sleep breakdown would begin, and rent his skis and deliver him to his Dad waiting on the slopes would surely be the end of me.  I did end up accomplishing the task but there were tears on both our parts, and many of the thoughts I was thinking about Ryan, and about the people in the rental shop giving me the stare-down, are not fit-to-print in a family friendly publication such as this. 

Ben was still crying as he and his dad boarded the lift the first time and there were still tears as they made their first run down. Ben's third time skiing was far from a charm. We made some adjustments for warmth and added a ski clip to keep Ben's ski's in a pizza shape and the subsequent runs went much better with Ben begging to get back on the lift each time.  This hill was lots less steep than the hill he conquered last year at Breck and I think he needs something a little steeper to really practice.  Though for all factors present on this day, this hill was probably perfect.  There's a little video here that cuts off right before Ben says, "ok. let's do it again." Thanks to our hosts having season passes (or Winter Park's defunct computers saying we did,) Ben's rental was only $11 and skiing is always free for kiddos under 5 with their parents.  As Ryan and the spectators grew colder, we warned Ben of the last run and he wailed wanting to go back up.  Per Sarah and Hailey's recommendation of hot chocolate and cookies, it didn't take too long to convince Ben the lodge would offer nice, warm refuge.

This was Ben's first time not using the magic carpet or t-bar to get up.

awaaaaay they went!

Happy kiddos! Hailey is a great skier for her age (6 weeks older than Ben,)

 and sings non-stop while she skis.  It's about the cutest thing ever.

We arrived back at the house to load the car and Amy offered smothered burritos for an early dinner before we left.  We couldn't refuse that and finally headed home a little after 6.  We were caught in a light and unpredicted snow that was actually heaviest near our house.  It was nothing like last year's white-out conditions when we drove over Berthoud Pass, but I held my breath for most of the drive home nonetheless.  
On the following day we picked Luke up at MeeMee's and left Ben for a bit while we enjoyed Thai lunch and saw the movie, The Gambler.  It was entertaining though more artsy than expected and as it was our first theater movie together in more than a year, we were just thankful for the outing. 
We all got to enjoy a couple more days soaking up each other and the holidays before Ryan returned to work Monday, and Ben to school and swimming on Tuesday.  With that another successful and togetherness-filled holiday season had come to an end.  It was "just Winter," and it seemed she might stay a while.