Sundown Mountain - Dubuque Ski Trip

 We love playing outside in all seasons, so we planned a long weekend with our friends, the Kopp's and headed over to Dubuque to ski Sundown Mountain.

We got the rental gear for the kids and got them signed up for ski school. Big smiles on, they were ready!

It amazes me how quickly kids pick up new things. All six kids (our 3 and their 3) picked up skiing fairly quickly. The ski school team was awesome and they were "pizza" turning their way down the hills by the end!

Blythe loved the carpet lift and enjoyed zipping down the hills!

While the kids were at ski school, the adults hit the snow!

Trigg picked up skiing fast and really liked the bigger hills!

B working her turns (and waving at the same time!)

Big turns and open runs

Fun in the snow!

Blue skies and plenty of snow, we had a great time in Dubuque. It's not the biggest place but it is a great spot to learn and within driving range!

The kids loved skiing and can't wait to go again!

Happy Birthday Garrett

 Our big Garrett turned 8 this year, 8 is great! He decided to celebrate, we should go bowling and hit the arcade up in Ankeny. 

Silas, Jett, Garrett and Will are pumped to party!

After bowling, over to the arcade! This was a rollercoaster ride that Jett and Silas thought was pretty awesome!

Will and Garrett doing a little racing!

And then pizza, dessert and presents!

How about some indoor hoops!

or some sweet Star Wars Lego sets!

We also had family together to celebrate my birthday and G's birthday (they are 6 days apart!)

Big presents... 

Another sweet Lego set

and what could this one be...

A nerf gun as big as Garrett!

Happy Birthday buddy, we love you so much and pray you felt celebrated on your special day!

Winter Fun

We love to play in the snow and we just got a bunch more snow, so we loaded up some friends and headed over to Hyperion to check out the sledding hills!

Sledding was too easy, so the kids were trying to snowboard on sleds!

Blythe figured out, she didn't even need a sled, she could go belly-boggining

Flying down the hill!

We brought along a few practice snowboards too, Trigg giving them a try!

Garrett giving it a try too!

Quinn heading down the hill!

We have a tradition at our house, we don't work on birthdays, so I took the day off for my birthday and Heather and I grabbed our snowshoes and headed to some trails. The temperatures were in the single digits, but the sun was out, so it turned out to be a beautiful day!

Blazing a trail down to the river

Once we got moving, we warmed up pretty quick!

So fun!

We had a great time snowshoeing and are now hoping for more snow so we can go again!