San Fransisco, Sisco, Crisco, San Frisco, Scrisco...No, FRISCO

For some reason the boys couldn't get the name of our weekend adventure right. Every time they said it, it was different, and every time it was wrong! Oh well, it doesn't matter what the place is actually called...we'll just call it "Beautiful, snowy, sleddy adventure with fab friends."

We are fortunate to have met many incredible people here in The Springs. Some of those "incredibles" are the members of the Puckett Family, Lisa, Jason, Cory and Joel. They have become our pseudo "family" out here in Colorado Springs. We met as recent transplants to Colorado, they from Virgina, we from Washington. Their two boys are good buddies of our two oldest boys from school. We all hit it off right away! Lisa and I know we can call on each other for whatever reason, day or night, or very early morning (Lisa took the boys when I had to take Tommy to the ER when he had RSV and Adam was traveling). They took our kids for the night when Tommy was born so my mom could be at the hospital with me. Lisa has cared for me and the boys when I've been ill, grabbed the boys from school when I couldn't, and been a true, dear friend. I hope I have been the same for her!

This past weekend they invited us up to a condo owned by Jason's family in Frisco, Colorado up in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. It's about 10 miles or so away from Breckenridge, or "Brek," as my ski-lingo-savvy friend Lisa says! We were only there for a day-and-a-half, but it was so, so, so fun! We packed a lot of adventure into the short time, played endlessly, enjoyed the company of our friends, and felt so happy to have a little getaway from the early spring doldrums.

We arrived late Saturday afternoon, stopping in Georgetown at a cute little cafe and pizzeria for a late lunch on the way. The boys were eager to get sledding as soon as possible, so we headed out to a sledding hill just down the street from the condo. The Puckett boys had been skiing most of the day (they have season tickets to Copper Mountain and this weekend skied their first double black diamond!), but they came and met us there when they were done. We sledded until the sun went behind the mountains and it got more-than-too-cold to be outside. Tommy wasn't enjoying the wind and Luke's hands were frozen. Even with the chill, the boys were bummed to have to leave! But the party had just begun, and the boys quickly set up camp and wrestlemania in the basement while we got dinner going. It was a late night for all of us. The boys finally settled in close to ten, and Lisa, Adam and I stayed up reminiscing about our childhoods. Jason hit the sack early because he would be skiing Vail early the next morning. Sigh...what a good day.
The next morning, after a tasty breakfast, we headed into the mountains for a snowy hike. We didn't get very far because 1) Luke insisted on walking. He did not want to be carried AT ALL. And 2) The boys had to stop every 40 feet up the trail to "sled" down the slopes on their slick snow-suit-covered bums. So I think we maybe got one mile hiked...in and out...maybe. But we were all having fun, so it was just fine! The snow was so packed down on the trail we didn't need snowshoes, and the boys were so light they stayed up on top of it when they got off the trail. So I was pretty surprised how deep I sunk when I stepped off the trail! I practically face planted, barely saving the baby, who was strapped to me in the Moby, from me squishing him! After that I stayed on the trail.After a quick stop for lunch back at the condo, we hit the sled slopes again. This time we went to an actual designated "sled hill" right by a cross country ski course. We did a few fast runs before the boys noticed the jump on the other side of the hill...oh, yeah! The rest of our time there was spent doing one jump after the other. The boys caught some pretty good air, and still stayed on their sleds. Me? Every time I hit a bump I went flying off! I have the monster bruises to prove it! But it was SO FUN! It's impossible to keep the shriek of glee from escaping your throat as you fly down the hill!Our final adventure for the weekend was a ride up the gondola at Keystone. I am so glad we did it! The sights at the top of the mountain were beautiful to behold! Adam and I both skied quite a bit when we were younger, attending the ski school put on by our school district through middle and into high school, going up with friends and family whenever we could. Adam had a season pass to Sundance when we were in college and I went up a couple of times with him...and that's the last time we skied! Twelve years ago! I have to say that being on the mountain, looking at the slopes, feeling that cool mountain top breeze against our skin, breathing in the ski air...we were both dying to strap skis on once again! But alas, not this time around. We had some hot cocoa at the lodge on the top of the mountain and then rode the gondola back down. It was time for the Chaos to head back to reality. Boo! But we had the best time and appreciated our friends so much for including us on their weekend trip.

As we drove home we decided to skip the Eisenhower Tunnel and go over Loveland Pass, 11,99o feet above sea level! I can only say...STUNNING! We hit the top just was the sun was getting ready to set. It was breathtaking. After a stop for dinner at BeaxJo's in Idaho Springs, a pizza place highly recommended by Lisa for VERY delicious reasons...yum!..we made our way home, pulling into our garage at 10:30pm. What a weekend! What a pleasure! What great friends!