A Broadmoor Holiday

We took the girls on a little weekend get-away to the Broadmoor Hotel, in Colorado Springs. Friends of ours go every year at the holidays, and invited us to join them this year. We had a blast!

We stopped in the Springs for dinner with a good friend from college. The girls did amazingly well, sitting through a long, grown-up dinner. Sabine spent most of the time with her friend, S (from the other family we went to the Broadmoor with, we met them through a play group when Sabine and S were Aspen's age.) and Aspen spent most of her time rotating between mommy and daddy's laps, and sampling what they were eating. She favored the steak.



We checked in and got everyone to bed a little late, but it was worth it.





The next morning we explored the hotel a little, they had amazing Christmas decorations, and beautiful rooms and fountains.



As well as halls filled with photographs of famous people who have stayed there over the years. Some were more exciting than others!



Then we quick got ready for a brunch with Santa.



There was some delicious food



A very entertaining Mrs. Claus, who had all the kids singing and dancing



And, of course, Santa.



The big kids were excited to talk with him, and Aspen helped me take pictures and watched from my arms.



The big kids were more willing to eat after the excitement of Santa.



Aspen was more willing to eat if it was off of Daddy's plate.





After breakfast, we explored the hotel and grounds a little. One of our favorite parts of the whole hotel was the library.

















Next, we found the life-sized gingerbread house.





Then, it was on to the rest of the hotel.














Big girl on the escalator! She loves escalators, just like her big sister did at her age. "MY DO IT!"



It snowed on Saturday, which was beautiful and atmospheric, and even better because it stopped in time for the roads to be clear by Sunday. We even went for a little walk outside, to some of the nearby shops.



The girls loved a store that sold beautiful stones and fossils.




Admiring some opals. Sabine specifically asked if they carried any.

Then it was back to the hotel for nap time/bowling.





There was a little down time,



and then once Aspen woke completely up, we trekked through the snow to get to the fitness area for some indoor swimming.



Aspen is fearless in the water. A few seconds after she attempted swimming on her own:



We went out to another fancy dinner







and then got everyone home to bed at a more regular hour.

Sunday morning we meandered around the hotel a bit more







got Aspen a good nap, and headed home. It was a full two days, and we had a wonderful time.

Holiday Season

In other holiday news, we got an Elf on the Shelf this year! Sabine wrote a letter to Santa last Christmas, and very politely requested an elf for this year. On Dec. 1, a mysterious package appeared.



The girls promptly named her Snowflake, and she seems to be settling in with us quite well. She loves her new name (per a thank-you note she wrote, complete with a little present for the girls the next day) and she seems to be having fun finding different places to hide each day. Both girls are eager to look for her in the morning. Sabine often tells Snowflake she loves her, and talks to her sweetly. Aspen delights in seeing her, and always chortles to herself when she sees Snowflake in a new place, "Silly Elf!" and shakes her head.



We had our annual fondue dinner with our good friends. The kids had their mac & cheese version at the little table,



the littlest ones still needed high chairs,



but then they all settled in together as one big, happy crew, to watch Frosty the Snowman,



while the parents got to eat in somewhat-peace.





The did awfully well, playing together before and after dinner. It was loud and chaotic and everyone had a ton of fun. This is turning out to be a great tradition!



In other holiday news, we were invited to Sabine's good friend's house for a Hanukkah dinner. The girls were weirdly not interested in the lattkes (mommy ate both their share) but Sabine got to help light the Menorah, which was pretty cool!



In between celebrations, play dates, and school, the girls get along really well together, and spend down time together well. It's nice to have a snuggle companion in the family.

O Christmas Tree

We are getting in the holiday spirit quickly around here!

We kept with our annual tradition of heading up to Conifer to cut down a Christmas tree with Grandmom and Grandpa, at their friends' property. It was snowier this year than last year. We had to park near the entrance and hike in.



We spotted a good-looking tree pretty quickly, but had to hike in, in the deep snow. Sabine had been unenthusiastic about snow pants at first, so mommy gave her a piggy-back ride in.





Eventually we got the whole family down to the tree.





And everyone, even Aspen, helped saw it down.



While daddy took that tree back up to our car, Sabine and Aspen quickly spotted a perfect tree for THEM. No little tree for the table this year, they've amassed too many ornaments. Their tree was 10 feet tall, and required some trimming just to fit in our house!



By the time the girls had their tree, a snowstorm had come in, so we grabbed all of our usual picnic supplies, and headed up to Grandmom and Grandpa's house, instead, for a much cozier eating venue. Aspen took a good nap in the car, so we had a nice lunch at Grandmom and Grandpa's, played with the trains (of course), and mommy's old doll, Pansy, who Aspen grew very fond of. We got our trees home and into water, then had a nice dinner with Nana, Aunt Dani, and the boy cousins before crashing after a long, but successful day.

The girls were up early and got to decorating first thing Sunday morning.



The highlight of the family tree was the angel, who goes on top.



Aspen was particularly distraught that she had to give her up to put her on the tree, and still points to her and greets "HI! Baby! Angel!" every day.



Then they got to the kids' tree, which, as Sabine pointed out, is much more colorful than the one in the living room. Sabine was excited to see a bunch of old favorites, as well as the new ones that came along this year (from our visits to the North Pole, etc.) and Aspen really liked the ice cream ornaments, and the Doc McStuffins ornament.





It turned out pretty nicely, and they did manage to fill that tall tree up!