We spent a wonderful weekend away at the YMCA of the Rockies with some good friends, escaping the holiday chaos of regular life and just enjoying some down time with fun people.
It was bitterly cold for much of our time up there, with the temperature never getting into double-digits until the day we drove home. The big girls attempted a walk once, and made it a quarter of the way around the house until they were almost blown away in some serious wind gusts. Fortunately, there was a side door.
After that, everyone was quite content to stay in, eat, craft, and play.
We brought a Christmas tree up (thanks to Grandmom and Grandpa's friends for letting us cut down an extra!), and the girls painted some salt dough ornaments that they made for it earlier in the week.
Then the big girls made a gingerbread house
and some of us were quite quick to sample the results!
We also braved the cold on Sunday to go over and explore the nearby Stanley Hotel. The big girls and some of the adults found a Christmas concert, but the kids were fairly unimpressed because it was all in Italian and fairly stiff, so they left to get some hot chocolate and wander around, and catch up with the rest of us who arrived late--post nap time.
We happened upon Santa Claus, who was visiting kids in one of the ballrooms, so while the big girls pleaded exhaustion (after attempting to sleep in the same room the night before, but without much success at the sleeping part) and went home, Aspen stood patiently (?) in line and then proceeded to charm the heck out of Santa.
She explained that she wanted a Luna Baby (a baby doll she saw, and then proceeded to name months ago) and then chatted him up about who knows what, but he was quite sorry to see her go.
Back at the cabin, we had a lovely dinner followed by a dance performance.
It was excellent, we all thoroughly enjoyed it!
There was even some audience participation as daddy got put on percussion duty to create a dance-able beat.
There were even some gymnastics moves thrown in for good measure.
And of course, little sisters can't stay on the sidelines of such awesomeness forever!
Then we cozied up in pjs,
roasted some marshmallows, and went to bed.
By the next morning, the ornaments had dried and the girls had a good time decorating the tree.
We then spent a cozy day indoors, entertaining ourselves by reading,
and playing,
and watching copious amounts of movies.
The big girls and dads even ventured out to the Arts & Crafts Cabin while the littles napped, and the girls painted some pre-made ceramics:
and did some leather work:
bringing home bracelets for their sisters.
Everyone had a great time
it was over too soon,
and we are looking forward to going up to the mountains again together!
P.S. And by the way, Aspen turned 35 months old while we were there.
She slept on a cot for both naps and nighttime, we are officially done with the Pack-n-Play!
She also has deemed herself a big enough girl that she no longer needs a high chair, those are "for babies." So she sits in a regular chair (at our new dinning room table--merry Christmas, early to us!) and often uses regular plates, forks, and glasses now, instead of the kid-specific ones. She still needs a paci to go to sleep, but we are working on giving it up slowly, by removing it after she's down so that she gets used to the sensation. It's not helping that her two-year molars are finally coming in, making her mouth very uncomfortable in general.
Aspen continues to love screen time, she's currently into watching Dumbo on repeat. She loves to sing songs from lots of her favorite movies, as well as "Jingle Bells." She's getting better and better with recognizing the need to go to the bathroom. She's a fairly picky eater, but will still drink smoothies to get fruits and veggies in, and likes random things like spanikopita, salmon, and coffee. And, of course, she's still a snuggly love who is deeply dedicated to her big sister.
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