We picked Lisa up from the airport on Sunday afternoon, on our way home from Cheyenne. Lynda, Cilla and Fleur had spent the weekend in Las Vegas for a friend's birthday, and had hired a car, so they arrived Monday afternoon.
On Monday, Clearsky Elementary had their Veteran's program, which was put on by Luke's 3rd Grade. They did the Pledge of Allegiance, which they do every morning in class, hand on heart, pledging allegiance to the flag, sang the National Anthem, and about 10 other very patriotic, American songs. You can see in the photos below, all the students had to wear red, white or blue. Luke had a speaking part, to outline a song they sang - 'Where is the Peace?' which was written after 9/11. He knew all his speech, but was nervous as he didn't know a lot of the songs very well, which most of the other students had been singing for years! He did a great job, and they invited any parents, grandparents or friends who are either actively, or previously have served in the Navy, Army, Airforce or Special Services to get up and be recognised. There were quite a few, and to be in the military is a really big deal over here, so it was nice to see all this on Rememberance Day. In some of the other school districts, this day was a public holiday - just another example of the unity between schools in this country!
We were hoping to get some skiing in while the girls were here, but as it is so early in the season, we weren't sure if there was even going to be any snow, so decided to leave arrangements until they arrived. Vail was our first choice of destination, but it doesn't open until late in November, so it wasn't an option. It was basically a choice between Keystone and Breckenridge, and although we are going to Breck as a family at Thanksgiving, it has more of a village than Keystone, and Cilla wasn't skiing, so that is how we decided.
We drove up Tuesday, and had a wander around the town, and a great lunch, where we could sit outside and see the beautiful mountains!
We had a lovely place to stay with a fire, and just had a good girly catch-up, drinking wine and a dip in the (outdoor) spa, even though the weather was freezing, it was lots of fun! On Wednesday we got up to the slopes. It was great to be skiing again, but there were only a few runs open. Lisa and I started out on the baby slopes, and had lots of fun trying different chairs, and runs. Fleur and Lynda skied together for the morning, and we all met up for lunch. Just before lunch, I took a run with Fleur and Lynda and did my first ever black run. Pretty pleased with myself! Cilla came up and met us for lunch, and in the afternoon, Lisa and Fleur decided to switch to snowboarding, and Lynda and I skied together. By around 3pm it was getting pretty cold, and the shadows were coming over so it was quite icy on some of the runs, and we were done by around 4pm. I drove back Wednesday night, and the girls stayed an extra night, and went out to see some of the Breck nightlife, although I think it was a bit early in the season for too much to be going on! On Thursday they had a look around Vail village, and called into Red Rocks, then back to ours.
We all went to the outlets on Friday, and managed to do a LOT of shopping! Lynda had a friend who lives in Colorado to catch up with, and Lisa's cousin lives here, so they all came out to the outlets for lunch and they got to meet up. Lynda flew back to Australia on Friday night, and Fleur, Cilla, Lisa and I headed into Denver to check it out. We went to Peaks Lounge, at the Hyatt, for drinks. It is the highest bar in Denver, being on the 27th floor, and is just by the Denver Convention Centre, which is home to this Blue Bear, in the picture below, which is a Denver landmark! It was a great view, nice to get out in the evening, and have a little wander around afterward - it was a bit cold to go too far!
Saturday, we went back to the outlets for some last minute shopping for the girls, while Phil took the boys to basketball. Cilla and Fleur headed off Saturday afternoon, for their flight back to London.
On Saturday evening, they had the lighting of this massive Christmas tree, at the outlets. Since we had spent a lot of the last two days here, we decided to take Phil and the boys back to see what it was all about. The lighting of the Christmas tree was pretty special, but they had a fair bit of hoopla (and store promotion, as you would expect) that we probably could have done without! Still, it got us out of the house, and is only the start of the Christmas festivities that are around.
On Sunday, Phil headed up the slopes to Breck, with some friends of his for his first ski of the season; which was only fair, given he had given me a lot of the week 'off', to spend with my girlfriends! He had a great time, as there was fresh powder from snow falls on Friday and Saturday. Lisa and I took the boys for a hike up to Castle Rock, which was nice, and good to wear off some of their energy. We have been up a few time now, but is always a fun thing to do when people come to visit.
Then Lisa was on the evening flight back to London, so it was another trip back to the airport, to say goodbye. It was so nice to catch up with the girls, and we were able to pick up like we had seen each other last week; even though there have been a few children, partners, and moves from continents in between!
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