Ouray and Telluride

Dan had his first week of vacation at the end of February. About time! We took a nice trip to Ouray, Colorado with some of Dan's family. The house we stayed in was probably the nicest house we will ever have the chance of living in. We were pretty spoiled. Dan made it clear that this trip was an anomaly...next trip will be back in a rustic cabin with an outhouse! The kids sure loved having so much space to play with their cousins. We spent a lot of time gathered in the luxury kitchen.

We enjoyed the beautiful drive across the Rockies and into Ouray on Wednesday. We unpacked and drove into downtown Ouray to look around while we waited for David, Steven and family to arrive from the other direction.

On Thursday we drove into the mountains on one of the most dangerous and most beautiful highways in the US, highway 550. At the top of Red Mountain Pass we found a great hill to do some sledding while Uncle David did some cross-country skiing. The kids loved the sledding. Even Michael got in on the action. That night the guys went into Ridgeway to see a slideshow by Steve House, who is one of the greatest alpinists (or something like that).

On Friday the Tandbergs all went skiing at Telluride while the in-laws stayed home with all of the kids. The kids planned and participated in their very own Tandberg/Yates Olympics. They even made a video of it. They did a great job making sure that everyone got a medal at the medal ceremony. After lunch we took the kids into Telluride. It was a little debacle but it was fun to ride the free gondola with some crazy kids!

On Saturday morning we left the kids with grandpa and grandma and went to a local restaurant in Ridgeway for breakfast. It was delicious! We also found out that the guy that makes the Grammy awards lives in Ridgeway! After breakfast we all went to check out the Ouray Ice Climbing Park. They turned a gorge into a beautiful ice climbing park. It was amazing. We really enjoyed watching all of the climbers. There was a special event going on that day where kids could climb a small wall for free. Our kids weren't big enough this year, but some of the others loved it! That night we went to the hot springs. Ethan still talks about the warm pool and can't wait to go back.

It was a great trip! And of course, many pictures were taken. Enjoy a few...

Ice climbing park

Jenna ice climbing

The group in front of the house

Me and Ethan sledding

Michael's first time sledding

Telluride ski resort

David, Steven, Kristin and Dan skiing

Hot springs

Enjoying the view on our way into Ouray...Michael was enjoying a chocolate pop-tart

Emmalynn's birthday party

All the olympic medal winners

The living room

The kitchen...documented for future reference :)

Dan and I at the ice climbing park

Babies hanging out in boxes

Emmalynn and Ethan playing Candyland

Lylah and Parker chatting over lunch