Roaming Blackshire's: Day 148-158: Christmas Eve, Christmas, Skiing, Happy New Year, Skiing

I'm sure most of you know that there was a terrible storm that hit Buffalo, NY. All of our family and friends were safe and warm, but it did affect Mom and Mischa visiting for the holiday, so that was upsetting, but knowing everyone was safe made it better. On Christmas Eve we went to Meow Wolf, which is an interactive art experience (https://meowwolf.com/visit/denver). There are secret doors, different noise/music areas, payphones that you can use to call other payphones in the building (probably Alanna's first time dialing a payphone), lights, crazy colors, and just a whole lot of fun! It's awesome to go to places and the expectation is that you let loose and embrace your inner child.

Seeing how our company had to cancel, we spent Christmas day hitting the slopes. We met Dana's highschool friend Katie and her husband at Arapahoe Basin. Out of all of the places we have been skiing in Colorado, this one is our least favorite. But, a day on the mountain is still better than a day not on the mountain. Dana and I decided to (finally) switch! I tried out her snowboard and she tried out my skis. Dana has a background in skiing, so she picked it up no problem. I have zero exposure to snowboarding and did NOT pick it up very fast. I fell. A lot. BUT! I kept trying. I think if I really wanted to I could get it, but I like not having my feel stuck together, and not having to sit down and buckle, and not falling, and, and... You get my point. Skiing is where I shall stay! There were a few other highlights from the day, and none of them actually involved skiing or snowboarding. The Bloody Mary's were AMAZING, and for $1 more we got a sidecar of the cutest little Coors Lt. We also nibbled on some parmesan truffle tater tots that were to die for. When we were getting ready to leave we found an R2D2 tamagotchi, and have been attempting to keep it alive since. We left A-Basin and went back to Dana's for Christmas dinner; our homemade pierogies. Before we ate we watched a movie. Actually, most napped. Then after we ate we watched a movie. Ok, once again napped. It was a long day of skiing, and laughing.

Not much happened between Christmas and New Years. I was on Flex for Friday the 30th, so we (you guessed it) went skiing. We went out to Eldora for the day, and brought our across the street neighbor with us. Earlier in the week he asked if he could catch a ride if we were going out, and obviously the more the merrier! Eldora is a smaller resort, but has some really nice runs.

We weren't sure all week what we were going to do for New Years Eve. It's always one of those days where driving far is not a great idea, and staying out too late doesn't sound fun either. We landed on going to dinner and Laser Tag. The laser tag place was awesome! It has bumper cars, an arcade, a laser maze, and a 4D ride. Super cool place, and we played our faces off. Again, nothing like letting loose and playing like a child. We were home around 11:30 pm, and all but one of us made it to midnight. Brandon fell asleep just before midnight.

New Years day we got up, and packed up to head out to Copper Mountain for a couple of days with Dana. She has to get as much of us as she can, because we leave for Utah this week. We got to Copper Mountain around 1pm, but couldn't check in until 4. We parked and took the shuttle over to Center Village and hung out for a bit. Dana got checked in, we unloaded our vehicles, and hung out for a bit. Dana invited her friends over for dinner who were also in the area. We played some card games, the washer game, at chicken fajitas, and had a bunch of laughs. Dana and her friends went down to the hottub, Brandon and I took Bruce for a walk, then snuggled up for the night. Monday we leisurely got up, made breakfast, and finally headed to the lift around 9:45 am. We laughed because if Dad was with us we would have been to the lift by 8:55 am ready to be one of the first up the mountain. We got to the lift and Alanna realized that she forgot her pass in her other jacket so she went back to the condo to get it. She got off the elevator and was greeted by Bruce, who let himself out of the room! He just wanted to be with us out there having fun. There isn't a way to make sure he stays in the room because he knows how to use the door handles. He can't use knobs because, well, no thumbs! We ended up taking shifts of staying with Bruce while others skied/boarded. I took the first 2 hours, Dana and Alanna took the next (and had a killer dance party), and Brando took the last 2 hours. We all got equal gnar time, so we were happy! Our Apres Ski was a few cocktails and card games while dinner cooked. It has been a very fun and relaxing time, but we have to get back and start packing up for our move Sunday!