big sky family ski trip

awhile back we decided driving to Big Sky, MT with the kids would be a better idea than flying with all their junk. it seemed like a good idea at the time. we took off in Pappy’s truck on friday night after bill finished work at 7 pm. we put the girls rear facing to help them sleep a bit better.

bill was all pumped up to go. I was a bit apprehensive.

kindercare was happy because she didn’t know what was ahead of her.

 

sunlight! we made it – at least the night portion. bill drove from 7pm to 3am. he was crazy. I spent much of that time finding bapoos, readjusting pillows, giving milk or water, trying to convince charlie to sleep. I slept on and off. charlie slept the worse – he was probably up until around midnight and then very on and off until 6am. claire was up from 3-4:30, but was happy. she was just talking to herself and eventually fell back asleep. ellie had the worse sleep. she was up and agitated by charlie for lots of it. all in all, we survived until day break. the kids didn’t scream, which was a plus. the coughing was the worse – the car was dry and the kids have this cold, which is bring them down.

after a morning stop I was feeding the girls some crackers. I loved seeing their little hands popping up.

left is claire’s hand, right is ellie’s.

YEAH! we arrived! we made it by 11am. the girls were happy to see nana.

after long naps we took the kids up to the base of Big Sky to get their pass pictures taken.

claire and g. pops. the girls were losing it so their pictures didn’t really come out.

pre bedtime playtime.

breakfast Sunday morning.

on the way to Big Sky. I would ask claire “do you want to go skiing?”. she would respond “YEAH!!!!”

our first day out we were not very smart. our plan was to park far away and “quickly” get the kids (and us) dressed by the car. it was MISERABLE! the kids were all crying and cranky and not happy about the whole ordeal. we also had to walk to our first chair lift.

nana and g. pops were our workhorses. we could not have survived without them. it seriously takes a village to do anything major with our crew.

once inside our “base” was on this little bench near some shops. the girls loved checking everyone out and toddling around in their boots. g. pops had to wrestle charlie a couple times.

three little skis lined up.

our first day skiing, sunday, was definitely a learning experience. we rushed the girls and instead of taking it slow on the magic carpet we just took them straight up the Swift Current chair. it is a long chairlift ride and a REALLY long ski down for little legs. when getting off the chairlift I just went down the main run. I didn’t even think about how much harder it would be for the girls. not my best decision.  claire went down the run, but was frozen by the end (she refused to put her goggles on). ellie cried the entire time so bill had to carry her down. my legs were so fried from doing a serious snow plow with claire they were shaking the rest of the day. ellie and claire were SO happy to spend the rest of the time cruising around the chalet eating snacks and smiling at people.

nana doing snack management.

bill and I then took charlie out skiing alone. it was such a blast to be together and such fun to ski with charlie off the harness. he is getting so big.

bill spends a lot of time skiing backwards. he is such a great dad!

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taking a break on the hill. this picture reminds me of a picture we took while were skiing at beaver creek when charlie was about 19 months. I love the memories we are creating.

here is the beaver creek picture. what a little baby he was!

nana and g. pops took the kids home for naptime and bill I had skied and had a great date with bloody marys, hot chocolate and nachos. so great!

bedtime ice age watching. a favorite of this trip.

cuddling with dad.

day 2 of skiing – monday at big sky – new years eve. we devised a better plan. bill dropped us off at the front of the chalet and we took the getting ready stuff a little slower. bill pumped them with peanut butter cups while we put ski boots on. then instead of heading straight up the huge mountain we took the kids to the magic carpet and had a much better experience.

I love this picture of ellie wearing bill’s old hat. this is before leaving for the hill.

a little preskiing cleaning.

all ready to go. juiced up on sugar. nana pushing claire up near the magic carpet.

bill convincing eleanore to put her skis on. claire was all for it.

charlie.

bill coming down with ellie and charlie is in front. I was with claire.

once the girls were done we took charlie out for some real skiing.

 

we had an inversion. so cool looking. the views in the mountains are so beautiful!

charlie giving us an exhausted look during a break.

we sent the kids back to the condo to nap with nana and bill and I took off to ski. we skied for awhile and headed to whiskey jacks to meet up with a friend from bill’s high school. it was great to relax together.

our new years eve was crazy. we headed over to my parents’ friends’ house and had some appetizers for a little bit. it was fun saying hi to everyone we see here, but after managing the kiddos we were exhausted and took them home. we crashed right after we put them to sleep.

day 3 – new years day – tuesday. buzz and barb weas invited our whole clan to the Yellowstone Club for a day of luxurious skiing. We look forward to this day every year and it didn’t disappoint.

epic breakfast bar with any custom made smoothie, latte, candy, cereal, granola, hot cereals, hot breakfast wraps and sandwiches you can imagine.

uncle tom handling both girls.

and slamming breakfast goodies.

claire peeking in some lockers while nana enjoys her latte.

we took the kids out to the magic carpet. after schlepping the kids’ skis and gear for long ways the past couple days it was a beautiful thing to have valet service with ski setups. so awesome. we walk out of the massive chalet and pop into our skis and the magic carpet was RIGHT there. we saved so much energy.

claire giving a special smile.

me and claire going up.

bill and ellie. this picture looks so weird because bill’s helmet is covering ellie’s head.

me and claire cruising down.

bill and eleanore.

bill telling me to snap photos of jennifer garner (see previous post).

charlie was cruising down.

bill on the magic carpet with jennifer garner (black) and her daughter (rainbow helmet).

claire was ready to try sledding.

next to the skiing magic carpet is a tubing hill and nana and g.pops took the girls up and down on that. they had a blast!

we took charlie out skiing and stopped at a sugar shack – my favorite. they have a chef inside grilling grill cheese sandwiches and have soup and walls of candy, snacks, water, gatorade, and more. it is my little heaven on earth.

charlie with a gummy worm in his mouth.

check out the little grill cheeses. mmm.

after eating some real food charlie was able to pick out some fun stuff.

uncle tom was there with us too! charlie loved skiing with him and trying some of uncle tom’s tricks and skiing in powder.

bill and charlie in a bubble lift. you only take bubbles so you are protected from the wind – only at the YC.

we were SOOO thankful for nana and g. pops.  they hung out with the girls and brought them down to the kids area “twenty below” where there are movie theaters so it was dark enough for the girls to sleep.

 

we had a GREAT day and enjoyed being pampered. we are so thankful for buzz and barb’s generosity!

some post skiing cleaning.

 

more couch cuddling.

day 4 of skiing – back at big sky. this is a day we should have reserved for a rest day. we didn’t really realize it until we were already up at the mountain, but all of the kids were spent. and it was –10 degrees out to start the day. ugh. by the time we realized it it was too late. we were already at the hill moving forward. we took the girls out to the magic carpet for a bit and claire wasn’t up for it. ellie did a few laps, but overall it was cold and they were tired. bill and I then took charlie out for some runs and by the end he was physically exhausted so bill had to carry him down. he skis confidently on some of the more mild pitches, but when it gets steep he loses confidence. bill is so patient and spends his whole time encouraging and helping charlie. it is definitely exhausting.

 

beautiful lone peak.

charlie had been eyeing these monster school bus cars. when bill and I left for the day today we wanted to run in and get him one. it was such fun to give it to him.

after naps the girls were goofing around and playing in boots.

 

 

  

claire and ellie climbing up on g. pops.

 

our last movie night. I love these two.

day 5 of skiing – thursday. bill took charlie skiing and my mom and I took a walk with the girls. during our walk claire started to act really sick. when I got home I took her temp and she has spiked a fever. she was totally lethargic, but came around with some tylenol (I took her to her Dr. when we got home and it turns out she has the start of pneumonia – so we got her on antibiotics and she will be feeling better soon).

me and ellie on our walk.

bill and charlie had a BLAST.

charlie loved the one on one attention with bill and not having to deal with all the action his sisters add.

my mom and I put the girls down for nap and when bill returned with charlie we took off to Lone Mountain Ranch to go snowshoeing.

I love snowshoeing! it was so easy just running out the door with my mom. I forget how much extra time kids add.

I snapped these pictures of the barn where I worked one summer as a horse wrangler.

as soon as the kids woke up we started our trek home. we stopped in bozeman to see the house my dad is building. then we stopped at McKensie River Pizza Co for delicious pizza with g. pops before we hit the road for home. We arrived home at 10am and it was pretty uneventful drive. The kids slept better than on the way out, which was a plus.  What a fun family trip we had! It was great spending so much time together and having the kids learn to do a sport we love.