Vail = Heaven

Once we arrived in Vail all our troubles melted away, just like the ice in our camping ice chest which the wonderful valet guys graciously cleaned out for us in the circle drive of the Ritz Carlton. Yes, we had arrived...camping gear and all. We were seriously spoiled in every way possible.

We got uninterrupted time with Pappa, Susu, Amy and Holten, had limitless recreational opportunities, amazing hotel service and Michael and I even managed to get away for a lovely dinner with one of my dearest friends from high school and her husband who drove over from Denver.

There were many, many highlights of the trip, but here are just a few:

The view from our balcony. 

Daddy and Gray fishing at the creek behind our hotel.

Dueling fishing poles. Must be a boy thing. 

Holt & Gray listening intently to the live musician during a 

wine tasting happy hour in our hotel lobby. Fun for the whole family!

A little friendly competition.

What are vacations for if not to eat a donut larger than your head?

The boys ready to head out for some glow bowling!

We bowled a game and had a wonderful dinner at the local bowling alley which was really cool and the perfect way to spend a rainy evening.

Daddy and Gray being silly.

We loved this cool sculpture in Vail Village.

Michael also got some mountain biking in and tried to participate in a local race, but it ended up getting cancelled due to inclement weather. 

We drove over to Breckenridge one afternoon to check out their alpine slide. I rode in the chair lift with Pappa while Gray and Michael rode a couple of chairs ahead. The seats are so open we weren't sure how Gray would handle it, but he sat still and didn't seem to get scared. 

Gray isn't quite tall enough to ride alone so we went down together and didn't even hit the brakes once. The whole way down he told me, "Thank you for bringing me here. This is so much fun! We're making memories." So cute!

Michael also snapped this pic as I'm trying to convince Pappa he needs to secure his hat before going down the slide. I think Holt had as much fun as Gray did going down the mountain. 

We had an early birthday celebration for me and Gray helped blow out the candles.

Pappa with Thing 1 and Thing 2. He was entertaining them while we waited for what ended up being one of the best breakfasts we've ever had!

Holt and Gray discovered some kind of Lego movie on Susu's iPad and commandeered it for the evening. She is a very good sport.

Family pic (sans Pappa) in Vail Village.

After five glorious days it was time to hit the road and begin our journey home.