Day 3 of Estes Park

Happy New Year from Estes Park! We spent the day snowshoeing, skating, and sledding - perfect day for winter fun. 

The sun was out all day today and the brilliant blue sky was just what we all needed. 

Our first adventure of the day - snowshoeing! We signed up for a guided hike through the YMCA and we were the only family who signed up, so we had the two hike masters all to ourselves. They were very both very sweet and patient, which was fortunate for our sometimes patience-challenging family. ;)

The boys and one of the guides.

The whole crew in line.

The boys! We did not do a good job of wearing weather-appropriate clothing; in particular, none of us had on ski pants or any type of waterproof footwear. Daniel had a rough time with falling quite a bit, and got tons of snow inside of his jeans and got colder and colder and less and less enchanted with the hike.

The whole gang! At this point, our patient hike guides took us back to the starting point, where Daniel and Will hung out and played Foosball, and Annika and I continued on with our own private guides.

The beautiful frozen river that Annika and I hiked to. I think this was Wind River? Whatever it was, it was absolutely gorgeous and serene. Our guides said sometimes people had their marriage ceremonies in this spot. We turned around at this point and snowshoed back. Beautiful morning!

After lunch, we checked out ice skates and went skating at the Y. There was a small ice rink set up with no walls to lean on for balance, so it was pretty rocky at first.

Annika got the hang of it once faster once Will realized that her skates weren't tight enough. Amazing how much easier it is to balance with properly tied footwear.

Will used hockey skates and did great - definitely skated circles around me. I am a better roller skater, but Will has the Ice Skating Crown!

Daniel never quite got the hang of balancing since the blades were single-bladed instead of the double-bladed ones he has been using in Manhattan, but that was just fine - he had a blast playing on the ice, sliding around the rink, and throwing random snowballs at us.

Our final winter adventures....SLEDDING! We headed back to Rocky Mountain National Park to the sledding hill in Hidden Valley. Given the heat wave with temperatures actually above 0 degrees in the afternoon, unlike yesterday, we didn't have the place all to ourselves. It was an absolute blast. Annika is in the pink coat in the right-hand side - I started to take the picture as soon as she left and I swear she was halfway down the hill by the time I snapped the picture.

Will giving Daniel a push on the Flying Saucer.

Daniel and I, freezing together - still impressed that my hair can freeze when it is dry.

On our way out of the park, we saw all kinds of deer, including this up-close creature.

This evening, we headed to downtown Estes Park for dinner, and had to make a stop at one of the dozens of ice cream/fudge/taffy shops. We are excited to dig into this fudge sampler to ring in the New Year.

In addition to fudge and sparkling cider, we are indulging in what we hope will not become a New Year's tradition - combing out everyone's hair to treat for lice! Woo hoo!! Party!

Happy New Year to you! We wish you peace, love, and joy in 2015.

Days 1 and 2 of Estes Park

We have made it to Estes Park, Colorado! While the weather is freezing cold, we have enjoyed sledding, roller skating, arts & crafts, and lots of games - and the beautiful scenery. 

We had a late start yesterday morning and did not leave the house until about, oh, 9:30 a.m., and then had to stop several times early on due to Syrup Emergencies and other delays. It started blowing snow in western Kansas and continued the rest of the drive, which added an element of excitement. 

Colorful Colorado! Always one of our favorite landmarks.

Annika read the 6th Harry Potter book the entire way. The kids had previously loved the audio book of Ella Enchanted, so we tried A Wrinkle in Time, but Daniel's picture shows the kids' reaction to the beginning. Made on the drive back.

We never actually saw the mountains on our drive since it was so cloudy and then dark, but did have lots of road advisory signs for entertainment.

At last - Estes Park!! The downtown was all lit up beautifully for the holidays. It was a little eerie seeing how deserted everything is in the winter after the craziness of the summer.

Checking in at the YMCA of Estes Park!! Will and I stayed here with our church friends for the marathon this summer and thought it would be fun to go to this YMCA camp this time rather than Snow Mountain Ranch. We were super happy to arrive safely and to warm up.

Our (very spartan) room! No TVs, no housekeeping, no bathtub....but room for six people to sleep, and the kids are thrilled that they can each sleep on the top bunk.

Our first order of business last night was to go to the on-premises roller skating rink. That is one thing I love about staying at the YMCA - all of the awesome free activities. We skated for about an hour and I especially loved all of the songs and the nostalgic disco ball.

Oh dear word was it cold. So cold that we forgot how to spell.

That evening, we went for pizza in a really cool pizza restaurant that was part of an old hotel built in 1874. We were the only guests there the entire time and the hotel appeared to be closed for the winter, making it seem just a little bit too much like The Shining. But this awesome kids' play place totally made up for it.

Another cool thing - UNO card game on every table!

View from our lodge room this morning. Breathtaking.

It was so cold on our hike this morning from our room to the dining hall that my hair froze. Oh, and my hair was dry.

How cold? Very cold.

After breakfast, we headed over to the fabulous arts & crafts center. Annika picked out a wood dolphin to mosaic, and Daniel painted a wooden hot plate stand? Tile? Something wooden.

Daniel's completed product.

Will was the official grouter for the mosaic projects.

The cross that Will and I made together.

Annika's dolphin, pre-grout. She chose white grout and it turned out really well.

After lunch, the sun started to come out and we could see the breathtaking mountains even clearer.

The after-lunch project - sledding at Rocky Mountain National Park!! We are only about two miles from the park, so Will was able to take the kids sledding with the sleds that we brought. The kids shared that it was bitterly cold but an absolute blast.

Daniel especially had a great time and wants to come back tomorrow.

The boys.

After sledding, we headed over to the Y's community center for a rousing evening of Bingo with fellow visitors.

Well, all of us except Annika, who finished book 6 of Harry Potter and was chomping at the bit to begin book 7.

This continued to dinner. We went to Ed's Cantina in Estes Park, which was delicious and very not-deserted, giving Annika more time to enjoy her book.

Now, we are back in our lodge room getting ready for an exciting day tomorrow....but are having some excitement of our own right now as we have just discovered that I have LICE. YIKES. I appear to be the only member of the family who is infected, but this is what I get for being all pleased that Daniel was the only one who was infected. Oh, karma.

We hope that you are enjoying your own Winter Wonderlands!

Before and After Pictures - Bedrooms

For the past few years, Will and I have had a tradition of purging and de-cluttering the house after Christmas while the kids stay with Nonnie and Pa for a few days. This year, we are attempting to follow the same tradition with the kids working as well, since free child labor is always advantageous. It is also hard to believe that it was only a year ago that we last de-cluttered the house. Will thinks that it isn't as bad as last year; nevertheless, it is still a wreck and it is impressive how fast everything can get cluttered again.

Before Pictures - Master Bedroom 

What a relaxing oasis of calm this is. Or not. 

Will's dresser, with an overflowing laundry basket right next to it.

My dresser. Among other things buried on it are all of my Crop Walk donation records, in case I wake up in the middle of the night and feel like doing some reports.

Let's stack up All the Books!

After Pictures - Master Bedroom 

A bed with only pillows on it! Okay, this was more cleaning than de-cluttering, but still. 

Clean dresser with no full laundry basket.

My dresser - and better yet, I actually finished my Crop Walk reports. YAY! We still do have a random chin-up bar there, because Chin-Ups.

Nightstands with only the book(s) we are currently reading. I can't ever bring myself to seriously purge books, but we did find homes within the house.

Before Pictures - Daniel's Bedroom 

Daniel's room, another oasis of calm. Especially the top of his dresser.  

This is not the greatest picture of under Daniel's tent, but it was dominated by a 3-foot (or 4-foot?) giant stuffed husky.

More crap.

Daniel, in the midst of sorting. I think he spent around 8 hours on his room all together, particularly with the slow and painful decisions of what to stay and what to go.

The four-foot-long stuffed animal and toy collection box for creatures that the kids were ready to part with. Daniel is lying down for size comparison purposes.

After Pictures - Daniel's Bedroom 

Daniel's bed, with a fully accessible tent. 

Cleaned-off dresser...and ready to cheer on the Royals.

New Lego Star Wars kits are proudly on display.

Clean closet! I neglected to take a "before" picture, but there was so much stuff jammed before in that it was impossible to open. Daniel chose to donate/get rid of a huge amount of what was here. 

Our sweet friend Janae brought over Star Wars posters to complete the room - thanks so much, Janae!!

Now, we only need to get rid of the rose wallpaper border someday, and Daniel might actually have a proper bedroom.

Before Pictures - Annika's Bedroom 

Oh, Annika's room. All I can say is that she comes by her messiness naturally. 

Huge amount of stuff hidden in the corner, including long-forgotten clothes from friends who have stayed the night. Sorry, friends! We promise to wash and return your hopefully-not-too-small-now articles of clothing...

Closet and bins. Hard to see but an impossible amount of stuff on the floor in the closet.

Because everyone needs an IHOP to-go box in their bedroom.

Annika's sorting piles of throw away/donate/put elsewhere. Very slow and she worked very hard.

Oh yes, socks. There were about 20 random socks found inside her tent. Perhaps these are the mates to the 20 socks which had no match when we did our giant sock sorting and were disposed of....

My favorite treasure: Yogurt. Not just any yogurt, but yogurt from last school year in an old lunchbox, aka a year ago. Miraculously, it still felt cool and did not appear to smell. This also makes me a bit afraid of this yogurt brand.

After Pictures - Annika's Bedroom 

Bulletin board on the front of her door. Annika carefully selected what she wanted to display. 

Closet! This is definitely not Pinterest-worthy but a whole mountain worth of stuff has been thrown away or marked for donation.

Functional dresser with nothing (?!??) in the corner.

Okay, there are still many stuffed animals and assembled Lego kits under the tent. Baby steps!

Side view of the book case. Oh, and the IHOP box is still there, because as it turns out, it is the housing unit for a very special group of ceramic cats. Choose your battles.

The whole room!

I am really happy that we were able to get the kids involved this year and have them making all of the decisions of what to keep versus donate. It was much slower but hopefully will be so much better in the long term. We are off to Colorado tomorrow, but the plan when we return is to conquer the rest of the house - all of us!