Steamboat Springs

We're in Steamboat Springs, CO. We are staying at The Porches and it is awesome. We won a week stay here at a live auction for Theatre Action Project and the whole family came out here to have our annual meeting.
The house is five bedroom and three stories and everything is top of the line. I am in love with our mattress. The kids are enjoying the bunk bed room. This house is wonderful.
The weather has been really great as well. Nights are in the mid 40s and the days are mid 70s. We've had two days of rain, but I enjoyed those as well. The cool rain makes a gentle tapping on our metal roof and we've curled up by the fire with our Kindles and sent the kids to the "barn" to play games.
We've made use of our sunny days as well. On Sunday we took a ride up the mountain in a gondola and took a hike. Then we sat on a patio on the top of the mountain and had a beer. The views up there were spectacular and the air was so cool and crisp and smelled like Christmas. That night we had a sitter and went our to a fancy restaurant called Cafe Diva. The food was amazing and we sat out on the patio and drank wine and laughed until I had tears running down my face.
Monday and Tuesday Michael had to work, but I still managed to have a good time with the boys. My sister and I took the kids to a playground at the Soda Creek Elementary school. That afternoon I went with my parents to the Botanic Garden very briefly before we were hit with a rain shower and then we ran through the rain into the library where some visiting Tibetan monks were building a mandala. They were building an intricate picture out of colored sand and on a separate table was a place for the regular folk to try their hand at it. It's a great lesson in impermanence as they work for several days creating it and then just wipe it away. We ended the day by cooking a great family dinner and sitting on the porch taking turns with the guitar and singing and drinking wine.
On Tuesday my parents and I took the boys hiking to Fish Creek Falls. This hike was gorgeous and was pretty intense for the kids. I think we made it three miles. After our hike we lunched on sushi and shopped and then headed back to the house to meet up with the rest of the family. Michael got off work early and we headed out to a fun little restaurant on the Yampa River called the Boathouse Pub. We saw a rainbow trout in the river and discovered a new favorite beer called 90 Shilling.
Wednesday morning we rose early and met the sitter. She kept Davis and Sam and the rest of us headed out for an open field where we boarded a hot air balloon after a bit of a chase and floated across the Yampa river valley for an hour. I LOVED it. I can't describe what a once in a lifetime treat this was. It was amazing.
After our balloon ride the sitter took the kids downstairs and we all took over the living room for our meeting. We met for the whole day and accomplished quite a bit and did our annual giving. I love getting to do that. That night Keith grilled bison and steak and salmon and halibut and corn and mom and I made a bunch of sides and we feasted.
Thursday dawned with a pretty heavy rain. It was Kade's birthday. I got up with the boys and made waffles and sang to Kade. By the time everyone else was up the rain had eased and Tiffany and I went for a four mile run up the mountain. It felt great to exercise again after the surgery and it didn't hurt at all. Hurray! Then we headed out to have lunch at Freshies and then try an Alpine Slide. Unfortunately, the rain returned in full force and Kade was thwarted in his birthday fun. They closed the slide when he was next in line. We came back to curl up in the house and spend the day tucked in. In the evening we headed out to Mazzola's where the kids pounded their own dough and we made a very raucous table.
Today is Friday. Michael and the boys and I plan to rent bicycles and tool around Steamboat. The rest of the family has headed out for a full day of white water rafting. We have a sitter tonight and we may do the rodeo or else head out to another fancy dinner. Tomorrow we head home. Enjoy the pictures. There may be a few more to come.