​We decided to take the entire family to Madison, WI to support Emma at JOXC Nationals. It was a relatively quick flight to Chicago where we rented a big fat black SUV and drove to Madison. We got in rather late on Thursday evening. We let the kids sleep in the next morning and Mike and I snuck away for a bit to go running and exploring. We ran from our hotel along the lake and towards the Capital building. The run was beautiful and so easy since we were now running at sea level. The inside of the Capital building was pretty spectacular. It was decorated for the holidays with the biggest Christmas tree I had ever seen. After making our way back to the hotel, the kids were still in their pajamas. After getting everyone ready for the day, Mike dropped Emma and I off at the course so that she could do a run through with her team. While she was running, I stood in a very long line to grab some swag. Emma joined me after her run and we stood in line for a little bit longer. I ended up standing in line for almost 2 hours to grab some shirts and sweatshirts. That was so crazy. While Emma and I were at the course, Mike took the other kids to the Madison Zoo. They had a great time seeing the tigers, lemurs, turtles, birds, iguanas, alligators, and other animals at the zoo. They arrived at the course to pick us up right when we were checking out. We then headed back to the hotel to let Emma shower and change before meeting Kim, Al and Haley at a restaurant for dinner. It was so nice of them to come and support Emma for her big race. 

​Sometimes it is quite necessary to get out of town and just go to the mountains.  Lucky for us we live relatively close to a plethora of mountain ranges.  We thought it would be fun to spend the long weekend at a cabin up near Twin Lakes, CO.  We rented the coolest cabin on VRBO that was tucked nicely up nicely along a mountainside and only a 5 min drive from Twin Lakes and 20 min from Leadville.  Since the kids didn’t have school on Friday, we headed up on Thursday evening and stopped at Rudy’s to eat dinner.  We drove the Sienna and the 4Runner so we could do some off roading in Mike’s car. We got to the cabin a little after 9pm and although it was dark, we could tell that this would be a ton of fun for the weekend.  It was an actual wood cabin with all the amenities for a comfortable stay. Peter got his own room on the main level while all the girls joined us up in the loft.  In the loft there was a bunkbed for the girls, a fun living area, a giant bed for me and Mike and a spacious bathroom area.  Madeline slept in her little pack-n-play.  The rest of the cabin was cozy and spacious.  In the basement was a pool table and a foosball table with another set of bunkbeds.  It wasn’t until morning that we saw how amazing the views were from the cabin.  We woke up to the most amazing sunset and we didn’t even have to get out of bed to enjoy it because we could see it from the tall windows outlining the back of the cabin. The girls had fun in the morning grabbing their coats and exploring outside the cabin.  There was a fun little firepit and lots of rocks to play on.  We had a lazy morning and enjoyed stuffing our faces full of Mike’s amazing French toast before heading off on our first adventure!

​My mom and I planned a surprise baby shower for Ruby. We bought cute plates and table décor ahead of time and even had cute cupcakes and other treats that we brought with us. Ruby was so excited and surprised. She got some really cute things for baby Cali. It was so fun to be able to do this for her as her family. 

​After getting back from the lake we spent some time relaxing at the house before heading out again but this time to go horseback riding. Grandma Anne and Grandpa Franz watched Madeline so Mike and I could take the big kids to go on a horseback riding adventure. John, Amy and Kyle came with us too. Abby was really nervous, so they spent a few minutes with her on her horse before everyone else got on their horse. Everyone aged 16 and under had to wear helmets. Peter wasn't that thrilled with wearing a helmet, but he did it anyways. The ride was through the most beautiful scenery. We rode through grassy meadows and then up through aspen trees and other dense tree areas. We even got to do a water crossing. It seemed like we were heading up for quite a while before reaching a plateau. We loved riding at the top of the plateau and some of us got excited with our horses and tried to pass each other. Some of the horses got really snippy with the horses in front of them. We all had to try and keep a decent distance between our horses. All in all, everyone had a great time riding horses through the wilderness and no one fell off or got hurt. We all rewarded ourselves with shakes afterwards. Some of us got the famous Bear Lake raspberry shakes and others opted for some sort of candy bar shake. You really couldn’t go wrong because they all tasted delicious!

​Bear Lake is a lot bigger than I had expected. We were so excited to spend the morning playing at the lake. We headed over first with our kids and got the sunshade set up, so we had a cool place to sit while the kids played in the water. We brought the three kayaks that were sitting in the garage of the big house and the kids all took turns going out exploring in them. Mike headed over with Peter and rented a jet ski and each of the kids took turns going for a ride. It was hilarious watching the girls bob up and down as Mike did donuts in the water. I wasn’t sure if they would love it or freak out. They love it and asked to go again and again. I must admit that I was a little freaked out when we got going above 40 miles/hour but boy was it a rush. Eventually everyone else from the house showed up at the lake for some fun. Everyone took turns on the kayaks but only our kids ended up wanting to go on the jet ski. 

It has been almost 6 years since the entire Kelsch/Wilhelm clan has gotten together. We spent a glorious 4 days together in Bear Lake at the coolest and most interesting house for my parent's 50th Anniversary. We called it the Big House. With three levels, 9 bedrooms, a theatre room, an indoor gym equipped with a trampoline, play set and half basketball court, an area on level 2 devoted solely to video gaming, and slides connecting each level inside the house and outside the house, it was a kids dream house.  We spent most of our time in the house just chilling and letting the kids roam and do whatever they wanted. Each one of adult couples took turns fixing dinner. We played games, watched movies, took naps, and explore the sites in and around Bear Lake. It was great catching up with everyone's families and bonding like old times. I sure hope it's not another 6 years before we do this again.

Today was a fun day filled with nostalgia, cultural and play. We started out by heading to the New Sanno hotel in Hiroo where we enjoyed a fabulous breakfast buffet. This amazing hotel is for military, retired military and government employees and we spent a lot of time there when we lived in Yokosuka. It was our home away from home. The kids LOVED the breakfast buffet, especially the French toast and the omelettes. We would occasionally order breakfast to our room and we would always ask for the special strawberry jam. Today’s breakfast did not disappoint. I think Andrew ate 5 French toast slices in under a minute. Then he went back for more. I got my special strawberry jam so that made me happy. 
After a quick stop in the souvenir shop after breakfast we headed up to see the construction that was happening on the Tokyo LDS Temple. It was pretty crazy to see that the entire temple was under construction and the church building next door was totally gone. It will be exciting to see the finished product. Since the LDS wards are now meeting in Senzokuike and Kichijoji (which are both too far for us to want to travel in church clothes) we opted for a nice walk in Arisugawa park across from the temple. It was nice to have some quiet reflection there. 

The morning started out with a run around the Imperial Palace twice with Bob Poulson...a good friend and one of my running coaches back in high school. He still coaches the high school runners for ASIJ. I ended up running almost 8 miles in the heat. I’m definitely not used to running in the heat yet. I’m glad it was a social run. Andrew and I met up with Bob later to eat udon for lunch. It was fun to catch up with Bob. After lunch we said goodbye and headed back to the hotel to rest. I think at this point we are slowing down. Disney kind of did us in I think. 

After some time resting, we got ourselves up and headed to Nihombashi to the Pokeman Cafe. When we got there we discovered that you had to have a reservation for the cafe. Oops. I quickly got online to make a reservation for Monday morning only to find out that the entire next month was pretty much full. Oh well. We walked through the Pokeman store and bought a few things before getting back on the train. 
We decided to head to Harajuku and Shibuya. We walked from Omote-Sando to Harajuku via the main road passing the Oriental Bazaar and Kiddyland...two places I remember going to as a kid. Then I took Andrew down the crazy side shopping street in Harajuku called Takeshita street. There were lots of unique stores and a lot of crepe vendors. It was so crowded but lots of fun. We hopped on the train in Harajuku and decided to head to Shibuya. We saw Hachiko first and then went to eat ramen at Ichiran. It is a popular ramen restaurant set up so efficiently. You pay for your meal through the vending machine, wait for an open stand, sit down and hand your ticket through your personal stall, and wait for your meal. In your seating area is your own waterspout for refilling water. It was so clever. We enjoyed our ramen and then spent the rest of the evening shopping in the crowded streets of Shibuya. We bought crepes and even found a Krispy Kreme. And, of course, we walked the big intersection a few times before jumping on the train to head back to our hotel.

One of Andrew’s only requests on this trip was to go to Tokyo Disney Sea...the only park of its kind in the world. We have fond memories of this park and scary ones too as this was the place where we were when the big earthquake of 2011 happened. It was a crazy time. We weren’t worried about a big earthquake this time but instead focused on how to get in as many rides and fast passes as we could throughout the day. We started at Journey to the Center of the Earth and rode that and then got a fast pass for it. We rode the Indiana Jones ride twice and Raging Spirits. Those were our favorite rides. 
Part of the excitement of Disney is stuffing our faces with yummy treats while waiting in line. We ate cinnamon churros, caramel popcorn and Mickey popsicles. We walked all the way around the park looking for real ice cream and finally found a gelato stand. We saw parts of the Easter themed mid-day show on the water (we know...Easter is over but clearly the Japanese didn’t care) and didn’t spend more than 45 min in any line waiting for rides. That’s not to say there weren’t lines that extended all the way to 100-120 min...we just weren’t crazy enough to stand in them. The longest line we waited in said 35 min for the Nemo Searider. It ended up being 45-50 min. By the time we got to the ride...it stopped after 1 min. Technical difficulties. We hurried off the ride to catch our fast passes for Raging Spirits. They gave us a fast pass for the Nemo ride to use later but we never used them. Guess we will never know if that ride was good or not. 
​
It got pretty hot in the middle of the day so we headed down in Ariel’s underground grotto and rode the jelly fish ride. Then we headed over to the carousel in the Arabian coast section. We even went back to the elevator at the Leonardo Challenge area where Andrew was said to have pushed the button right when the earthquake started. We had to go back and snap a photo. 
​
We saw a variety of characters throughout the day. All Andrew wanted was a picture with goofy. As we were leaving the park we finally saw goofy. I told Andrew to quickly just run up next to him. The timid kid came out and he didn’t do it. I caught a photo of Andrew where the caption should read...I missed my chance😢 Poor kid. Oh well. At least we made it until 5pm...not 10pm like we had originally anticipated. I guess that’s what happens when you are not used to so much walking in the heat. Still...it was a super fun day. You really can’t go wrong when you are at Disney!!!

We left Kyoto today and headed on the Shinkansen bound for Tokyo. After a quick 2 hr ride at speeds that would blow your socks off, we arrived at Shin-Yokohama where we got on a local train towards Yokohama. After maneuvering our way through this enormous station towards the Keikyu line, we found some gigantic lockers to store our suitcases in while we ventured down to Oppama station where we used to live. We met Kei and Koto Murata who took us to an amazing ton katsu restaurant near the station. Kei, Takeshi, Rin and Koto Murata were our neighbors for the 3 years we lived in Japan and they were some of the best neighbors we have ever had. The girls used to love playing at the park together and Kei used to teach me how to cook Japanese food at her house. I called it cooking with Kei. We have stayed in touch these last 6 years. It warmed my heart to see Kei and to catch up on life in person. Her English was definitely better than my Japanese. I think this visit meant as much to her as it did to me. As we walked to the station after lunch we just kept looking at each other saying how much we had missed each other. After a sad goodbye, Andrew and I headed up to the old house in Shonan Takatori. We managed to remember how to get there and even didn’t miss the tiny street that took us to the shortcut with the steep stairs. And yes...we didn’t stop on those stairs even though it was so hot and a million stairs to climb. After a few photos by the house we headed to the Seiyu (grocery store) to buy some treats for old times sake. We were definitely like little children in a candy store as we cleared out ALL of the Bontan Ame candies. That’s right...we took every single box. We had anticipated hiking the Takatori trail but it was way too hot and we were already getting tired so we decided to head back to Oppama station. We reminisced on the way back down about life in Japan while we enjoyed our ice cream. It was fun to remember the great life we had while living here.

Today we rented bikes to tour around Kyoto....but they weren’t just any bikes...they were electric assist bikes. Oh yes. Biking really is the coolest way to see the Shrines and Temples around Kyoto. We headed first to the outskirts of Kyoto to Tenryuji Temple and the Bamboo Forest in Arashiyama. It took about an hour to get there and probably a little longer since we got a little lost at the beginning trying to get headed in the correct direction. I’ve been told by my son that I have a terrible sense of direction. I would disagree in most cases but he was right in this case. I got us going in the wrong direction at first. Andrew was the most excited to see the bamboo forest and it did not disappoint. There were crowds of people walking through the short stretch of the bamboo forest. It makes me wonder how I ever got that shot with no one in it several years ago. I think it was mostly luck with a little help from Mike who waited patiently with me for a small window of no people. It was still amazing to see all the bamboo and be in such a beautiful place. 

Next we headed back to the center of Kyoto to see Shimogamo-Jinja Shrine but when we got there we couldn’t find a place to park our bikes legally so we moved onto the next shrine. They have very strict rules where you can and cannot park your bikes. Good thing is we weren’t too far out of the way for the next shrine and we got to bike along the Kamogawa river. The next stop was Ginkaku-ji Temple, also known as the silver temple. At this point we could tell we were starting to burn. Oh no...I had put sunscreen on but missed a few spots. Andrew...well he completely forgot to get his arms and they were already red. Or was it just that he didn’t listen to me when I told him to put it on 🤔We spent some time walking around the grounds and enjoyed some Katsu don and ice cream before heading to Heian-Jingu Shrine. This shrine is pretty spectacular looking. The grounds are enormous and the garden extending all the way in the back of the shrine was outstanding. We had fun walking through the gardens. ​

After an exciting 5 days of adventuring from Reykjavik to the Golden Circle and across the southern island of Iceland, we were all ready to head home.  There is nothing worse than having to rush to the airport so we were delighted when Mike told us that he booked us an afternoon flight back home.  We slept in, cleaned up the cabin, packed up the van, and said goodbye to our cute little cabin and treacherous snowy road we parked on the last few days.  Before heading to the airport we made one last stop to the Blue Lagoon for some much needed relaxation time.  The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa located near Grindavik on the Reykjanes Peninsula pretty close to the airport.  We got on our swimming suits, rinsed our bodies and put on the required conditioner in our hair, and headed to the warm water blue lagoon.  The story of how they discovered this silica based water is quite fascinating and dates back to 1976 when they were drilling down into the lava fields to find hot water to pump into their mills to produce electricity when they discovered this light blue like water.  After realizing that the white in the water was coating their machines and ruining them, they quickly deposited the water in a nearby lava field.  At the time no one dared touch the water except for one man who had bad psoriasis and noticed a change in his skin after working with the water and steam at the plant. After asking many times he was finally given permission to bathe in the waters and it was then that he discovered that they were truly healing waters.  Many people on the island starting bathing in its waters. Still, it wasn't all that safe with the rough lava floors and nothing to control the heat.  So in 1992 the Blue Lagoon company was formed.  People from all over the world come here to soak in the healing waters.  One of the fun parts about being here was that you were able to get a silica or algae mask for free.  Mike and some of the kids enjoyed that.  There was also an in-water bar where each of us got a free drink. The kids loved walking around the warm waters sipping on their fruit smoothies.  There were definitely warmer parts of the lagoon than others.  We explored as much of the lagoon as we could and even Madeline, who up to this point wouldn't get in a hot tub, enjoyed the warm soothing waters.  After spending a good 2 hours in the water just relaxing, we got cleaned up and headed to the airport all rested up.  I wish every end of a vacation could end with a trip to the Blue Lagoon.

There were just a few more things that we wanted to see before our trip was over.  Iceland is known not only for its amazing glaciers but also for its amazing waterfalls.  There were so many cool waterfalls to choose from but since this trip was all about exploring the southern island, we choose two that were the most conveniently located from the main highway...Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss.  The weather was kind of yucky today with overcast skies and intermittent rain but we didn't care because the days we really needed sun we had it. So we set off on another somewhat long drive but not as long as the day before.  It was about 1.5 hours to Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. This is a unique waterfall where you can take a path to walk behind the waterfall.  When we got there it had temporarily stopped raining which was good.  The closer we got to the waterfall the more we were grateful that we had on our rain-gear because the mist from the waterfall was pretty strong.  We braved the platform in front of the waterfall to get a family photo before stepping over the TRAIL CLOSED sign like all the other tourists to walk behind the waterfall.  It was SO WET.  At first I had my big camera out, constantly wiping the lens until I gave up, put it away, and just enjoyed the experience because let's face it...when do you ever get to walk behind a waterfall in Iceland??? I probably spent more time behind the waterfall than everyone else.  Madeline wasn't a huge fan of all the water mist in her face so she and Mike went ahead.  Peter and Emma stayed behind with me to grab some photos with the GoPro...what an ingenious camera that one is.  

After this interesting experience I'm not sure the kids were really up for more waterfalls as we were all a bit cold but we got back in the car to warm up and eat snacks on our way to Skogafoss Waterfall. Skogafoss Waterfall is one of the largest and most elegant waterfalls in Iceland. Luckily, it is also one of the waterfalls that can be accessed even in the wintertime. This waterfall is situated along the Skoga River at the cliffs of the former coastline. It was fun to walk along the snowy, and sometimes slippery, path along the river to get to the base of the waterfall.  The kids had just as much fun skipping rocks in the river as they did enjoying the beauty of the waterfall.  We could've spent more time there as well but the weather was kind of rainy and cold so we only stayed for about an hour.  The trail you can take to get a view from the top was closed and dangerous this time of year so we stayed at the base of the waterfall to enjoy its beauty.  ​

Today started out with lots of excitement for our adventure across the southern part of Iceland all the way over to Jokulsarlon Lagoon and the Ice Caves, bordering Vatnajokull National Park.  However, after only 20 minutes on our journey we realized that the heater wasn't working.  After all the mess of getting a working van the day before it turned out that this van also had similar problems.  We stopped at the nearest gas station to fill the radiator fluid compartment with a little bit of water.  Hoping that would be a temporary solution we continued on our journey since we had a reservation for the Ice Caves at 1:00pm.  However, that did not solve the problem, so we stopped again at another gas station and got radiator fluid this time.  Well, that seemed to do it.  It seemed that the radiator compartment had a small crack and was leaking fluid.  As long as we continued to top it off we would be ok.  So that is what we did the remainder of the day.  The rest of the drive, with heat, was a pretty great drive.  Most everything was still covered in snow.  Both the mountains on one side and the land heading out to sea on the other side were just breathtaking. We really lucked out with the weather again today as it was sunny and not too windy.  

We made it to the lagoon an hour before our tour so we ate lunch and then headed down to the water's edge to see the spectacular icebergs that had broken off from the nearby Breidamerkurjokull Glacier (part of the larger Vatnajokull Glacier) floating in the lagoon.  It was quite a site to behold and nothing like any of us had ever seen.  The Jokulsarlon Lagoon flows through a short waterway into the Atlantic Ocean, leaving chunks of ice on a black sand beach.  We stayed in the lagoon area and had fun exploring.  As we walked closer to the Glacier we saw a wedding couple getting photographed.  Brrrr but also so very cool.  Time flew by so fast that hour and before we knew it the big kids and I were grabbing our crampons and heading into the giant glacier truck to head onto the glacier for our ice caving tour.  It was really sweet of Mike to stay behind with Madeline during our tour.  

It was about a 30 minute drive through extremely off road terrain before making it onto the glacier.  It felt like we were driving on Mars.  Our tour guide and driver was hilarious and reminded us of the guy from the boat in the movie "Secret Life of Walter Mitty."  His demeanor was super chill but he also took the time to tell us cool facts about what we were seeing along the way.  Once on the glacier we made our first stop at an above ground ice cave.  We all got out, climbed up a small hill with the help of ropes, and explored in and around the sheets of ice left over from an above ground crevasse. The kids LOVED this part of the tour.  We could have played there for hours.  I gave Andrew the GoPro and let him go off and explore at the top to get a great video of the panoramic view we saw.  Then it was back in the truck for one more stop before the caves.  Since there wasn't too much wind on the glacier today we got to do a small glacier hike down to another open crevasse.  The walk along the various glacier sections was SO COOL.  It reminded me of hiking Mt. Rainier.  We had to be careful to follow our tour guide exactly so we wouldn't fall through any weak sections of the glacier.  It wasn't surprising to me that my kids were the first ones right behind the guide.  I love that my kids are so adventurous.  It is the one thing that gives life so much flavor.  I hope they never lose their love for adventure.  After walking for about 15-20 minutes on the glacier we came to a roped section and had to take turns heading downhill to the bottom where we were able to walk right up to an above ground open crevasse.  The crevasse was roped off inside so you could only go in so far to see the amazing blue colors reflecting off the sheets of ice.  It was spectacular.  We didn't spend too long here, only long enough for everyone to have a turn peeking into the crevasse before heading back to the truck.  Our last stop was at the actual ice cave open to the public through this tour.  It was a wet trek through the cave and it was fairly dark so we took advantage of the lights on our helmets.  There were only a few sections where you could see the spectacular blue sheets of ice by looking up.  The amazing blue color can only be seen when the layer between the ice and the sky isn't so thick.  I had researched how to take pictures of the ice but it was way more difficult than I had expected.  Trying to set up a tripod in a river of flowing water and trying to take a photo when everyone didn't have their lights on was almost impossible.  I took only a few photos down a small cavern before heading back to the group.  The main area of the cave was much better for photo taking.  All the pictures I had seen online had clearly been on photography only tours on the eastern side of the Island in caves that were much larger than this one.  Someday I will go on one of those tours.  Still, we were in awe of the sheets of ice that permeated most of the cave.  It's a good thing it was a pretty short cave because after walking in the frozen water, even with our good waterproof boots, we were all getting a bit cold.  We climbed out of the cave and were back in the truck heading back to the lagoon.  By the time we got back we were starving and were super happy that Mike had fish and chips waiting for us to eat. You would have thought we hadn't eaten in days the way we stuffed our faces.  ​

We were up by 7:00am to get ready for our first day in the Golden Circle.  Mike went out and tested the car, which started with a little love and prayer. We left it running while everyone ate breakfast, got ready, and headed out for the Silfra fissure. The sky was clear when we left, but in typical Iceland fashion, it started to snow like crazy as we got near Thingvellir National Park. As we got closer to the park, we could see the giant lake and it was really pretty. We got to the parking lot and walked over to the snorkeling adventure where Mike and the boys got suited up for an exciting swim down the Silfra fissure.  In the 45 minutes it took to get everyone in their group all ready to go it was blizzard, sunny and nice, and back to snow and blizzard by the time the girls and I headed back to the car to wait for the boys to finish up with their excursion.  After getting the girls warmed up in the car, I headed back over to the snorkeling area to see if I could see the boys floating between the tectonic plates. They weren't at the beginning so I walked along the beautiful trail down to the end and waited where I eventually saw them finish their incredible journey along the Silfra fissure.  I was surprised when I didn't see Peter come out of the water.  The poor kid had gotten sick at the beginning and ended up not being able to go.  We think his suit had gotten too tight around his neck.  Oh well.  There was definitely more to see in Iceland so all was not lost.  

After gathering everyone back at the van, we decided to head up the snowy trail to go on the Almannagja Ravine Walk.  After scrambling up the somewhat slippery trail we finally made it to the walk that led us up in between the North American and European plates.  We walked around up on top, looked at the beautiful view of Thingvellir National Park, took a picture next to the Iceland flag, and headed back down the trail. When we got back to our car, the rental car company was already there with someone to swap our van for another one. Hopefully this van wouldn't give us too many problems. We hopped into the new van, which was essentially the same van, and headed to see the Oxararfoss Waterfall. This was one of the coolest waterfalls we have ever seen.  It was such a fascinating waterfall with tons of rock boulders at the bottom.  The kids had fun enjoying its beauty and playing in the little nook they found near the waterfall. Mike had written Iceland in the snow and we took pictures of the kids next to it.  As we were leaving we noticed that all the other tourists did the same.  It was kind of funny what we started.  
​

Due to the high winds, the whale watching tour was cancelled, so we had the morning to relax. We got up around 8:30am….having slept about 10 hours, and meandered downstairs to the hotel restaurant where we had a big buffet breakfast.  It reminded us of the buffet we had at the Hilton in London…so delicious….so expensive, but in the end free thanks to the beauty of the Gold Membership. After stuffing ourselves with good food, we loaded up the van and headed to Costco to get food for our trip. After ogling at all the stuff, we grabbed essentials like bread, milk, and of course 50 American Pancakes.  We then headed next door to the Bonus store and grabbed the rest of the stuff we needed. The Bonus store was quite something with its pink pig mascot, yellow bags, and big refrigerator section with European meats and cheeses.  
 
After getting our food, we got gas (which is cheaper at Costco) and then headed out in the wilderness of Iceland. And when I say wilderness, I mean the great frozen tundra. The wind and snow was ridiculous and visibility was minimal at best. Mike followed the Volkswagen in front of him and tried to keep in between the yellow signs on the side of the road.  It was the most insane driving ever.  Then suddenly, the sky would clear up and it would be sunny, and then back into the blizzard.

January 20

Since Mike was tired today I was able to go out with all the kids to ski while he stayed back with Madeline.  We left a little earlier than we did the day before and made our way across the mountainside all the way over to the Two Elks Lodge area and down Poppyfields so that we could show Andrew and Abby how cool skiing is at the Blue Sky Basin.  We were so happy that we didn't have to wait in a long line at the Skyline Express Lift today.  Once we got to the top at Belle's Camp we got some water and went to the bathroom.  Then we headed once again to the Big Rock Park run and were somewhat disappointed that they had groomed the bottom half of the run.  The day before it was so powdery which made it so much fun.  No big deal...we headed up Pete's Express Lift so that we could ski the runs over there.  Since we had Abby, we let the boys go off and do the Revolution run while the girls tried the Star run and had the best time skiing through the BEST powder in and out of the trees.  It turns out that this was the coolest place to ski.  Being able to ski in the trees but then pop out onto a wider trail anytime we wanted was so much fun.  The girls had fun following me in and out of the trees.  Even Abby was able to keep up with me and Emma.  After doing that run several times and meeting the boys at the bottom of the lift we decided to take Abby on the black Revolution run.  She did really well but there were still tears since the small steep section scared her.  We had fun anyways and decided to head all the way back down to the Skyline Express Lift so that we could go eat lunch at Belle's Camp.  There were SO MANY PEOPLE at the top and it was hard to find a place to eat even though there was a ton of places to eat outside.  The weather was actually quite warm today and so it wasn't too cold to sit outside.  The boys opted to sit in the snowbanks on the outskirts of Belle's Camp while the girls and I found a few open spots at the end of one of the tables.  We didn't spend too long eating but nevertheless, we enjoyed our sandwiches, chips and hot chocolate.  After a decent amount of time resting and filling up our tummies, we headed out again to ski Big Rock Park and then headed over to the lifts we had been doing all morning.  We did one more run with Abby through the trees on the Star run but quickly realized that she was worn out and was starting to fall apart emotionally.  After quite a frustrating and slow run I left her at the Dawg Haus eating area at the bottom of Pete's Express Lift with some money for a treat and my cell phone so that she could rest while we did a few more runs.  Emma and I joined the boys and decided to go down Revolution.  It was as good as the day before but we were even more confident this time.  The second time going down it Emma and I even tried going in some of the trees on the steep sections and then I took pictures of the kids going off the jump at the bottom of the steep section.  It was a fantastic way to end our awesome day at Blue Sky Basin.  After picking up Abby we all headed back to the Tea Cup Express Lift so that we could head back to Lionshead Village.  On the way down the least little section I got ahead of Abby and right after I turned the corner onto the catwalk she fell.  I had the sense to stop at the curve and wait but was getting worried when I didn't see her after 5 min had passed.  Luckily another guy had helped her with her binding which had apparently been a little messed up.  The line at the lift was a zoo by the time we got there as everyone else was heading back to the front side of the mountain.  We took our usual route back to the village and when we finally made it back we couldn't find Peter until we saw him talking to one of the Ski Patrol guys.  Apparently he was going too fast down the already steep and icy bottom section and got a warning.  The patrol guy was nice, according to Peter, and there wasn't a fine so we just laughed about it and reminded Peter to be more careful in the slow zones at the bottom.   

January 21st

Today was our last day in Vail and it was another beautiful morning. Peter and Abby stayed behind to rest and help me pack up the car while Mike took Andrew and Emma out skiing in the morning. They went up the normal route from Lionshead Village and skied down Hunky Dory, which they LOVED.  They said it was the best run of the day since they had just groomed it.  They did Northstar before heading to the back side of the mountain.  Northstar apparently was not good because the moguls were deep and ice.  Once they were on the back side of the mountain and into the Blue Sky Basin, they skied down the Grand Review run and LOVED it.  They also skied down the Slot run and the black Hornsilver run before heading back to meet us at Vail Village.  Overall, they had a great morning and by the time we all met at 11:30 we were all ready to head home.  
​

​January 19th

After a snowy start to our ski vacation we were all eager to get up this morning to hit the slopes with fresh powder.  Since Andrew wasn't feeling well and Abby was too tired to ski, we left them back at the room with Madeline.  Mike, Emma, Peter, and I headed to the Gondola at Lionshead Village and made our way towards the Blue Sky Basin which Mike and my favorite place to ski when we were here a few years ago.  From the top of the Gondola we headed down the Game trail to take the Game Creek Express Lift up.  Since Vail is such a big mountain it took us a little while to get all the way over to the east side of the mountain before dipping into the back side.  First we took Hunky Dory down to the Mountaintop Express Lift.  This was such a cool run with the freshest powder we have ever skied in.  It was a nice treat after walking on mostly flat terrain for 5 minutes from the top of the lift to the top of this run.  Peter, Emma, and I took a short mogul run off of the main trail and met up with Mike at the bottom and then headed down to our next lift.  From the top of Mountaintop Express Lift we took the Timberline Catwalk all the way to the Sourdough Express Lift.  This is probably one of the only catwalk trails that is actually fun to ride.  It is nestled between a wall of trees on both sides.  With the trees covered in all white it was quite a site to behold.  Finally, at the top of the Sourdough Lift we were able to pop on over to the backside of the mountain.  We took the Poppyfields run all the way down to the Skyline Express Lift which takes you up to the top of the Blue Sky Basin.  It took us about 1 hour from the start of our day to get to the top of Blue Sky Basin and it was TOTALLY WORTH IT...even with the 15-20 min it took to get on the Skyline Express Lift up to Belles Camp.  We took the kids down a little bit of Cloud 9 until we reached Pete's Bowl and skied down Big Rock Park.  This run is like zigging and zagging in and out of beautiful giant trees.  It is a hoot of a run to ski.  After getting to the bottom we spent the majority of our morning going up Pete's Express Lift to ski Resolution which was the coolest black between Big Rock Park and Grand Preview.  Emma and I were a little nervous at first but it turned out to be very doable, especially with lots of great powder.  It was so fun to be able to ski where there weren't a lot of people and to try and perfect our skills of getting in and around powdery moguls.  We spent most of our morning in this area of the mountain before heading back up the Skyline Express Lift to Belles Camp to eat lunch.  We said goodbye to Mike while he headed back to see if the other two kids want to go out and ski.  Peter, Emma, and I had lunch at the hut at the top of Belle's Camp.  We split a sandwich, chips, hot chocolate and a treat and after that we were ready to hit the slopes again.  We spent another 2 hours doing more of the same runs before making our long trek back to Lionshead Village.  It was such a fabulous ski day with the most perfect weather conditions and lots of powder to ski on.