Angel Fire 2017

A couple weeks ago, we went with Ashley and Wayne and the kids to Angel Fire, New Mexico to go skiing.  Chris and I were so excited to take Pearce and see how he likes skiing.  It was so fun to get all of Pearce's ski gear together.  We wanted to get him good, quality clothes and accessories, but do it as budget friendly as possible.  Chris found him the perfect ski coat and bibs off of Amazon.....$60 total for the Columbia brand, so that was great!  Actually, Chris got everything for him and for Pearce off of Amazon....Chris's ski clothes, socks, gloves/mittens, liners, and goggles.  I had all of my stuff already, so I was good to go.  We also decided to pack as lightly as possible and just take carry-on bags for all of us.  I didn't think it was possible to pack ski clothes and regular clothes in my carry-on bag, but Chris is a master packer, so he made it work!  We also took the bare minimum of regular clothes and toiletries....it was kind of freeing to back so lightly!  Pearce was sooooo excited and kept telling people he was going skiing in Mexico :)  We debated on how many days of ski school to put Pearce in.  We were going to have 3 full days of skiing and I really wanted to be able to ski with Pearce as much as possible, so we first thought 1 full day would be fine.  Then I talked to the ski school instructor and she really stressed doing 2 full days for Pearce since he had never skied before, so we went with that.  We left REALLY early Friday morning and got to the airport around 6:30 am.  It was at the airport that I noticed one of my snow boots, which were the only shoes I brought, had a crack in the rubber on the top of the toe.  These were Columbia boots and I've had them for about 10 years and hadn't worn them in probably 5 years or more.  No big deal, I thought.  Well, after walking around the airport a bit, I noticed even more cracks....on both shoes!  I still thought no big deal...I would just get some black Gorilla tape and tape up the cracks whenever we made it to NM.  When we got off the plane in Dallas, I noticed a huge chunk starting to pull away where you could just see the insulation and literally, with every step, the rubber was pulling away and falling off the top of both shoes.  I was soooooo embarrassed walking around in the Dallas airport!!!!  I just happened to find a store that sold flip flops and I quickly bought a pair and threw my boots away!  I looked very odd wearing flip flops with my winter clothes, but I did not care!!!  As soon as we landed in Albuquerque, we found a sporting goods shop and I got myself a new pair of boots....pretty cute, too!  We had to drive 3 hours to Angel Fire, but Pearce did great on the drive by taking a nap for most of the way.  Right after we arrived at the resort, Ashley and Wayne and the kids got there soon after.  I swear, each time Pearce sees Nay Nay and Charlotte, it's like the happiest reunion ever.....like he hasn't seen them in years, but usually it's only been about a month!  We all got settled in our rooms at the Lodge which were connected to each other, so the kids loved that!  Then we went and got fitted for our boots and skis, then we went out for pizza.  The town in Angel Fire isn't very big at all, but there were several good restaurants we got to enjoy.  The lodge we were staying in had an indoor pool and the kids were DYING to go swimming after dinner, so Ashley and I took them to the pool and they had the best time going back and forth between the pool and the hot tub.  Thankfully, Ashley and I were able to just watch the kids swim :)  The Angel Fire Lodge was such a nice place to stay.  It had several restaurants in it, the pool area, plus there was a downstairs gathering area that had lots of comfy chairs and a fireplace and.....checkers!  Oh my gosh, Pearce and Nay Nay LOVED playing checkers together!  What was crazy was that whenever they played, it was a really good game!  They each won a couple of times and Ashley and I really didn't help them that much.  Saturday morning, Ashley and I had to get the kids up bright and early to get them dressed and ready for ski school.  Our plan was to drop them off at ski school and then Ashley and I were going to ski our hearts out that first day!  Chris went to a group ski school Saturday and Wayne wanted to just take it easy on greens that morning and then meet up with  Ashley and I later on.  The kids looked soooo cute in their ski clothes and they were all excited to go to ski school even though they would all be in different classes because of their ages.  Chris went with us to drop off the kids which really helped because they only let one parent take the kids in and drop off and I think having Daddy do it was good.  What was cool was that each kid got a GPS device put on their leg which tracked their skiing and of course, tracked them, if they were to get lost.  The ski school also provided  breakfast, lunch, and a snack, so that was really nice!  We got the kids dropped off and I just prayed Pearce would have an awesome day.  Ashley and I wasted no time getting our skis on and hitting the slopes!  We had the BEST time skiing together!!  I hadn't been skiing in forever, but gotta be honest, I did great!  Ashley and I conquered the whole mountain....which isn't that big....but we were skiing non stop and just had the best time.  We met up with Wayne for lunch on top of the mountain and then did a couple runs with him, but he was still wanting to take it slow and easy, and Ashley and I were wanting to go fast and hard, so we parted ways with Wayne and skied until it was time to go get the kids at ski school.  During the day, we did get to see the kids outside several times and I even saw Pearce going on the "Magic Carpet" and slowing going down the little hill.  It was so cute and I was just so excited to hear how his day was.  His ski teacher said he did great and that he was the strongest one in his class!  Pearce told us he had oatmeal for breakfast and meatloaf with mashed potatoes for lunch....and he ate it all!  Poor Charlotte probably only drank water the whole day :)  We even took the kids up the little lift and on the bunny slope.  Pearce struggled a bit and I did have to hold him between my skis to go down, which made me a little doubtful about being able to actually ski with him on the 3rd day.  Nay Nay and Charlotte looked like pros, though!  Nathan is a little speed demon and so fun to ski with!  Chris said he had a great day with his lessons and felt really comfortable on skis again, so I was so happy to hear that!  By the end of this first day, everyone was excited, but extremely exhausted.  We ate dinner at one of the restaurants in the Lodge and then went back to our rooms and were ready to crash!  Sweet Nay Nay asked Pearce if he wanted to sleep with him, so of course, Pearce couldn't get out of our room fast enough.  The next morning, I knew it was going to be hard because Pearce had to go to another day of ski school, but without Nathan and Charlotte.  He was not happy about that at all, but