Thankfully I did have my camera's battery charger with me so I was able to completely document our trip to Vail. Regretfully, however, I have had a difficult and frustrating time managing my photos on my computer, and despite the fact that I have sat down to post three or four different times, I have been unable to upload the photos (in the correct orientation) that I've wanted.
After reading
Jill's post, however, I am determined not to let our mountain get-away slip by without proper documentation--no matter how frustrating. It's so easy to get sucked back into the ever-whirling vortex of everyday life and forget you ever went on vacation. So here's my scrapbook, if you will, of our trip to Vail. (My apologies to Jessie, in case it makes her sad.)
For starters, here's the photo I had intended to post at the end of my last entry (but couldn't, due to a dead camera battery) showing the grandeur of trees in the neighborhood:
Before continuing, I must remind you that I already made the disclaimer that we are low-level recreators. We love having little projects on which to work, watching movies together, taking walks, preparing tasty food together--I know, we're a little weird.
I was quite proud of the fact that I actually documented my sister Susan in a RARE moment of relaxation. She is quite possibly the most hard-working person I know. We were happy that Sarah had thought to pack both
Anne of Green Gables and the sequel,
Anne of Avonlea. We watched all eight hours over our five-day stay and I cried at all the same parts I usually do. I LOVE those movies and haven't watched them in years. (Yes, those are in fact my toes comfortably resting on the ottoman.)
Emily has become a knitting machine! She made this hat and began another project--something called "muffitees" while we were there. We were all impressed by her newly-acquired skill.
Charlotte brought along a complicated counted cross stitch project that she's been working on for several years now. I'm impressed that she has kept at it for so long! It's beginning to actually look like something you'd want to frame and hang on your wall. (Don't you think she sort of looks like Hilary Swank in this photo?)
One of our favorite pastimes was playing Bananagrams, our new most-favorite game. I had to document Susan's frustration at getting a poor assortment of tiles one time. We loved playing round after round of this game and even made up a new rule that if anyone sneezed during the course of a game, everyone had to mix up their tiles and pass them clockwise. It actually happened a time or two, though unfortunately for Susan, not in this round.
Almost everyday, late in the afternoon, we would take a walk in the neighborhood and gawk at the surrounding beautiful houses and scenery. There was a great park nearby and even the older kids had fun on the playground equipment.
I think Sarah would love any vacation destination that had a park like this one.
One day we went into the village (Vail proper) and strolled along the quaint shopped-lined streets. It wasn't until after I had taken this photo that I realized that my nephew Ryan was carrying his mother's purse--too funny! He isn't really a purse-carrying type of guy, but I thought it was sweet of him to tote this heavy patent leather load for his mom.
Here are two of the more interesting looking store fronts we saw:
Many of the shops were closed, or kept odd hours, as this time of year is sort of between tourist seasons.
After several unsuccessful attempts at group SPs, an amused local offered to snap this photo of us (it was before we met up with Ryan, Miles, and Max). There will always be those people who don't grasp the concept or value of self-portraiture.
This one turned out a little better, perhaps because we weren't trying to crowd so many people into the photo.
Saturday happened to be my brother-in-law Fred's birthday, so Susan make a breakfast tower out of one of his (and our) favorite store-bought treats--mini chocolate donuts (or as we like to refer to the little waxy-chocolately "cakes," feaux-nuts).
One night we made homemade pizzas. Regrettably, I forgot to bring a rolling pin. Ingenuity led me to use this can of Pam to distribute the homemade crust (somewhat) evenly in the pan.
My favorite of the four we made was this vegetable pizza, shown here prior to baking:
We introduced the Taylor and Olivier clans one night to a Wood family favorite dinner: popcorn, M&M's, apples, and cheese. Don't laugh until you've tried it--it's pretty darn good. We went all out and had two kinds of M&M's--dark chocolate peanut and my personal favorite, peanut butter. (And if you try this at home, it has to be real popcorn--not the microwave kind.)
Another night we grilled hamburgers--or shall I say, Mark grilled them for us, fighting vast amounts of leaping flames and smoke to do so. I think he may have lost some facial and arm hair in the process.
Eva provided a constant source of entertainment to all of us (with the possible exception of her mother, who patiently dealt with her sometimes unreasonable--though quite humorous--demands). Surprisingly to me, Eva was quite camera-shy the entire time and was not inclined to favor us with many photo ops.
One of the best parts of our stay was literally watching our beautiful surroundings bud before our very eyes. I swear that there were several trees that were bare upon our arrival and in bright green leaf by the time we left.
If you've made it this far in my post, you're probably either related to me or just bored enough to wade through someone else's vacation photos for lack of anything better to do. While I am very thankful that I did in fact have my camera's battery charger with me and could adequately document my trip, I am even more grateful for the recharging of my own battery. It's amazing what just a few days of total relaxation and escape from the daily grind can do to revitalize one!
I have additional family photos but will wait for another post for those. For now, I'm just thankful for a preserved reminder of an enjoyable time spent with my favorite people. *sigh*
Now, back to Real Life.
Like I said, we're easy to please.
