Final Vacation Post.....I promise!

Warning.....this is a long post..... :)

Well, I thought I would finally show you what Donnie and the big kids did while out in Colorado since you have seen everything Zach and I did. My brother-in-law Paul loves to do photography stuff as a hobby. He took his camera up on the mountain and took some great pics of the scenery as well as the kids and Donnie.

They went to Loveland for 2 of the days we were there. The kids all snowboarded while Donnie and Paul went skiing. Treyton and Autumn had been before about 3-4 years ago when we went. They took 1/2 day lessons to get a refresher. Justin had never been before, so he took the class too. All 3 did great from what I hear. Although Autumn was pretty bruised by the end of the 2nd day and Treyton twisted his knee funny getting off the lift early on the 2nd day so he was hobbling too. Justin hardly fell at all from what I hear.

They had great skiing conditions. Here's what their world looked like for a few days......I think these were all taken at the top of the mountain after they got off the lift, but I could be wrong since I wasn't there and Donnie's gone to bed so can't tell me! :) The second picture you can see 2 other ski resorts in the background. If I got it right, Keyston is on the left and Breckenridge is in the far back right corner (not sure you can see it very well in this small of a pic)......very pretty up there. Zach and I didn't make the trek up the mountain with them....he needs a few more years before he's ready for that kind of playing!





And their day begins.....



Donnie's action photos.....the last pic was apparently at the bottom of the area where Donnie and Paul both had a major wipeout! My brother-in-law rarely wipes out, so I'm guessing it was pretty difficult. I'm sure I would've breezed right threw it! :)





Justin's action photos.....he had never been snowboarding before and did wonderful! He's very into skateboarding so I'm sure that has something to do with it. The second photo looks like he was turning a corner sharply, but really in was mid-crash when Paul snapped his pic. But since you can't really tell, we'll just say he was skilled in his turn.....




Autumn's action photos.....that last one Paul caught as she crashed! That's Justin beside her.....




Here's Treyton's action photos.....




These were taken at the end of the day. Justin and Donnie had already gone down all the stairs to go to the parking lot and Donnie said he wasn't about to climb those stairs again in his skiboots just for a picture....he clearly wasn't thinking about my blog now was he!



On the way down the mountain, they took a little scenic detour and went to Loveland Pass. Justin had never been up in the mountains before and there was a tunnel that went through the mountain Donnie wanted to take Justin through. They got out at Loveland's Pass for some photos......too bad Zach and I weren't there! That last picture would've been a neat photo of the 6 of us. How do you think it would look if we photoshopped us in? :)




Before loading up in the car to go home, I realized I hadn't really gotten a family photo of all us. So we posed on my sister's front porch. This was the best pic of the 6 of us....but my brother-in-law wanted in on the Jones Family Photo action too.


So this was the best one of us, minus Paul!


The car ride home went smoother (is that a word? Barb?) than the ride to Colorado. Could have something to do with the fact that I think I medicated my child with drowsy meds....oops! He came down with a sinus infection while at my sister's...so did Donnie and I. Anyhow, borrowed some over the counter meds to try to help him breathe a bit better and then he slept for the first 4 hours of the trip! I started to get a little worried cuz he NEVER sleeps that long ever....even at night! I told Donnie we were going to pull over if he didn't wake up soon. He did, but didn't want much to do with us. This is the reaction I got from him when I tried to interact with him.......that is his prized "taggie" that apparently also can be used as a shield!


Then when I tried a little harder he hollered at me and then pulled the blanket ALL the way over his head! Guess he was upset with me for the medicatin thing....sorry buddy! He rode like this for a while and eventually forgave me and came out from hiding.....


So that was the Jones Family Vacation......looking forward to another vacation some time over the summer. Hopefully we can find a time that works for all 6 of us to go again! I had a great time and I love spending time away from home with the kids so we get them all to ourselves since they have nowhere else they can go! It was good to reconnect with them as well as spend some time with my sister and her family.

Thanks for housing and entertaining us Michelle and Paul.....