Spring Break

We have friends in high places.  Like, at about 9,000 feet above sea level.  Crested Butte, Colorado is home to an awesome ski resort, and we have dear old friends with a condo there.  And they invited us there for spring break!

On the drive to Colorado, the girls met this horse outside a McDonald's in the panhandle.  They insisted we take a picture with it.  Ooooookay.


We met The Fredericks in law school, way back when they were just Matt and Megan.  Now they're Matt, Megan, Maggie, Katherine, and Connor.  The last time we went skiing with Matt way back in 2003, Megan was busy working, and Matt and Brian would spend hours on the back porch drinking beer and playing guitar.  This time, they still brought their guitars, but instead of playing Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson all night, they provided musical accompaniment for their daughters' original work, entitled, "Daddy's Underpants."  It goes like this, "Daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy UNDERPANTS.  Daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy UNDERPANTS."  You get the idea.




In addition to the nightly entertainment provided by the kids, we also did some skiing and played in the snow.  Our kids were as mesmerized by the snow as we knew they would be.  It almost made me sad not to live in a place that had real winters.  Almost.


The views were spectacular and the activities were unmatched, but the best part of the trip was getting to reconnect with truly great friends and watching our kids play together.  It's easy to say "oh yeah the kids got along great," but in this case, it was really remarkably true.  I honestly was beginning to wonder if anyone shared Amanda's somewhat unique sense of humor, and guess what?  Someone does:  Maggie!  Amanda and Maggie sparked a true friendship that I know will last a long time.

Here are all the girls waiting for ski school to start:

Making hot chocolate:



Elizabeth and Kat share a stubborn, mischievous streak that makes me worry what trouble the two of them will get into together as teenagers.  And Connor also developed a very strong liking for Elizabeth.  She pretended not to return his affection, but as soon as we left, she started asking when we were going to see him again.

Thank you to the Fredericks for an unforgettable trip and for getting the band back together again.