1.22.13 ~ The twins turn 30 in the Rockies

For the twins' 30th birthday all of us (minus Mom and Helki) met in Denver and then drove up into the mountains to a beautiful ski house that Jonas and Brittany had arranged for us. Jason and I tried to get Liam into ski school. but we waited too long and it was full. So Jason spent Saturday skiing with Liam, teaching him, and then I skied with him on Sunday morning. Liam did great. He has such a good attitude about learning new things. He and Jason started out on the beginner slope on Saturday morning where Jason kept his boots on and walked alongside Liam trying to teach him the pizza and french fries thing. Liam got to ride the "magic carpet" up the hill but kept looking over at the chair lift and telling Jason he wanted to go on that "ride". So eventually they graduated over the bunny slope and Liam got his first ride in a real chairlift. Apparently getting on and off both went very well. By the end of Saturday Liam was skiing next to Jason while holding on to Jason's ski pole and occasionally pushing it away and skiing a little on his own. Sunday morning Jason started out on the bunny slope with Liam and me. (This was probably the first time that Liam was solo with both of his parents since Nora was born! Nora was with Vera - the two of them really bonded, I think.) Jason showed me how he had been teaching Liam and how he helped him get on and off the lift. We also tried a couple of runs with Liam skiing between our legs so that he was able to get a little more speed.

Soon Jason left and skied with Klaus and Chas for a bit while I stayed with Liam and picked up where Jason had left off with our own little version of ski school. Around noon Liam was so tired he could barely stand up anymore - so we headed over to the main lodge to meet the others for lunch. As soon as he sat down, Liam took a 45 minute nap in one of the lounge chairs. After that Jason took him home (the Ravens game was later that afternoon!) and I stayed to ski with Chas and Klaus. It had been five years since I'd been skiing - before I got pregnant with Liam. But, surprisingly, it all came back to me in one run. I thought for sure after having two babies and therefore having all of my muscles shifted to new and interesting places, skiing would be tricky to get back into it. But - like they say - it was like riding a bike.

On Saturday while Jason was skiing with Liam, I took Nora sledding with Hannah, Toros, and Kaya. The air was cold, but it felt nice in the sun so I plopped Nora in the snow. She was curious and crawled around in it trying to figure out what it was. The first time we took the kids down the hill on sleds we quickly learned that braking with our feet meant a face full of snow for Kaya and Nora. So we changed our methods a bit. Kaya liked going on his own on the inner tube. Toros would let him go at the top of the (littlest) hill and Hannah would catch him at the bottom. Nora went down the hill a few times with me and I tried to keep the snow out of her face. She didn't smile and didn't cry. At the bottom she would look at me with quickened breath and her expression would say "Really? We think this is fun?"

Aside from Heiko getting sick, it was the perfect weekend. It was great to see everyone and so nice to celebrate Jonas and Vera's birthday together doing something fun. And after being a in the big house with other families - sharing shopping and cooking and cleaning and children - I believe more than ever that I want to live in a commune. Who's in?

Here are my favorite shots from the weekend. Happy Birthday, Twinsies!