Spring in Steamboat

Happy Easter!  I hope your's was lovely.  We had a great little weekend getaway to Steamboat Springs.  Since the snow pack is very sad and low right now and the last time I was skis this happened...

...we choose to focus on having a relaxing weekend.  We arrived Friday night after a beautiful drive through 2 mountain passes.  We spent the evening strolling through the ski village and ate at a local pub.  Saturday morning kicked off at Strawberry Hill Hot Springs, We were very impressed from first glance.

They really focus on keeping the setting natural and it was heavenly.

While it was very sunny in true Colorado form, it was a pretty chilly day with temps around 40 when we started.  We then splurged and each got a massage, which was also pretty amazing.  The little massage hut/hobbit hole was right on the river so there was no need for a nature sounds recording, the natural soundtrack was perfect. 
Then, as luck would have it, a musician that Eric has followed for years, Keller Williams, was putting on a free concert at the base of the ski hill!

As you can see we were as close as you can be, or "riding the rail" as it is apparently called.

It was a delightful and happy coincidence.  We then soaked up the rest of the sunshine and enjoyed the local fare.

We Then returned to our hotel where I made a very poor showing playing the original Trivial Pursuit.  Weekends are never long enough as we headed back home on Sunday and enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner with dear friends.  Overall I would count this weekend as a large success!

East Coast Nephews

I was able to spend almost a full week visiting my brother, sister in-law and nephews 1 and 2.  It was so wonderful to just be a part of their daily life and enjoy some much needed time off work.  It had been entirely too long since I had seen them and the boys had lots of fun showing me all their new tricks learned since our last visit.  The biggest news was #1's 5th birthday!!  His parent's were kind enough to postpone the friend party a week so I could go.  We went to an inflatable bouncy thing place, the kids were in heaven, and the adults also enjoyed a good bounce or 2.

We played at the park and I was terrified by #2's fearlessness, anything his big brother could do, he would attempt as well.

We were lucky to have great weather so we could play outside a lot.  But there was some inside play as well

I just love this photo, there are 2 photos of my brother and me at about the same age on our Mom and Dad's respective laps.  He is such a great dad, it has been fun to watch him take on that role.
Here is some more cuteness from our week

No I don't travel with my own stethoscope, that would be my sister's, there was much commiseration as she is finishing her last (!) semester of nursing school.  I stand by my opinion that no one can really understand the stress of nursing school unless they have endured it.  And I would like to provide a disclaimer that the over representation of #2 in these photos in no way relates to my love, #1 is just very hard to catch in a photo due to his constant movement.
On my last day one of #1's birthday presents arrived in the mail

 Such fun!  As a parting gift I made them a batch of my grandmother's Finnish coffee bread.  To my brother and me this stuff IS our childhood and our heritage (and maybe the culprit of the 3lbs I gained while on vacation), it's pretty special stuff and I was happy to share it with the next generation

It was so wonderful to get to know the boys again and appreciate their differences.  #1 is getting more and more independent and is so much fun to play with, I marvel at the way his little brain works.  #2 is now talking very clearly and cutely, I just loved hearing his voice, and often would smile at his pronunciation of "help" (I need heyup!) and he loves to snuggle. But, most importantly, when they call me "Tantie", it is music to my ears, and a role I take very seriously. Probably because I had such a special Tantie.