A Sweetheart of a Time at SolVista Basin

Me: "I have some bad news, Haddie."
Haddie: "Oh no, what?"
Me: "I can't find your carsickness pills and it's a really windy road to SolVista Basin at Granby Ranch."
Haddie: "Oh no. I'm gonna die!"
Me: "Don't be ridiculous. You're just going to throw up."

Base Camp

Hadley somehow survived the serpentine mountain passages and two hours later, we were settled into our cozy condo at Base Camp One. Located in the heart of Granby Ranch's 5,000 acres of mountain splendor, SolVista Basin is all about location, location, location. Many resorts tout "slope-side accommodations" but SolVista takes it one step further.

Or rather, about 20 steps, which is how far we had to go before were at the base area and the popular "Snow Turtle," THE place where kids congregated to climb and slide.

(View of the Snow Turtle from our condo; lazy parenting at its best.)

Welcome to one of Colorado's most family-friendly resorts.

SolVista Basin has a special place in my heart: it is where Hadley first learned to ski (check-out the sordid details at Confessions of a Ski School Dropout).

With 406 skiable acres that cover interconnected mountains it is small, affordable and the perfect place for young families to come together. Unless you're like us and drop off your kids at ski school and enjoy a day by yourself.

Couple's Lesson

SolVista Basin has launched a 2-hour private lesson for couples because, despite your best intentions, skiing together is often en par to martyrdom. Whether you have different ability levels or the misguided notion you can teach your significant other, it generally ends badly.

Tom McNamara was our instructor. A retired lobbyist who traveled the country whipping political campaigns into shape, he knew how to do the same with us.

We started on the bunny slope. Now, I know what you're thinking because I had the same thought: "We're not beginner skiers, Dude!" But Tom had a plan and that included observing our ability, knocking us back down to square one and then building us back up.

Jamie and I are comparable skiers. I have better form and he is faster and more aggressive. But we both agreed on one thing: it was humbling and frustrating in the beginning.

Tom taught us how to work with (and not against) our parabolic skis to seamlessly carve our turns. Jamie and I had different habits to break and Tom had the know-how to give us our own tools to succeed. I'm pleased to say I've never skied better.

And even more ecstatic to announce our marriage is still in tact. :-)

Sweetheart of a Deal: 2-hour Couple’s Lesson, $180 (regularly $215) in February (equipment and lift tickets are extra). Bruised ego included.

Saturday Splendor

On Saturdays, sleepy SolVista Basin comes to life. Though it could never be deemed crowded (the longest I waited in a lift line was 1 minute), there is a fun line-up of activities kids of all ages will enjoy.

Free S'Mores

After ski school from 3-4 p.m., we enjoyed free s'mores by the firepit at Base Camp Lodge.

Tubing

The Snow Turtle has a small sledding hill attached to it but if you want more of a rush, be sure to try the Saturday night tubing. A snowcat transforms the bunny slope into a three-lane, lift-serviced thrillway. Well, as thrilling as a cuddly cottontail can be.

Confession: That hare-of-a-ride had me screaming.

Night tubing is $14 for a 45-minute session or pay $20 for both night skiing and tubing. Children must be 6 and older to tube. If you just want to night ski, it is a great deal: just $12.

How you know you've had a great vacation

Evidence #1 (right after ski school):

Evidence #2:

Evidence #3:

Me: "So, what did you think?" (After ski school)

Hadley: "I think it was a really fun day!"

(Literal) "retch-ed" beginning and all.

For more details of our trip, an event calendar including Kids' Totally Insane Winter Blast, area activities and more, be sure to head over to Mile High Mamas today. Thanks to SolVista for hosting!

How you know you're raising Casanova

Bode is a man's man. If you were to give him the choice between hanging out with boys vs. girls, he would choose boys 100 percent of the time.

However, when there are no boys available, he rises to the occasion and hooks his sweet sinkers into many an adoring lassie.

Case-in-point: yesterday we went to our neighborhood skate park. When we arrived, there were no girls on the playground so Bode hung out with Denai, a cute girl from his kindergarten class. Or rather, Denai hung onto him. Denai is a funny one and looked like she was having the time of her life.

I previously thought she was a bit of a tomboy because she hangs out with all the boys.

Now I know she is just boy-crazy.

As she went to leave, I overheard her boasting to another little girl:

"I spent the WHOLE TIME with Bode!!!!" Pause for dramatic effect. "YAAAAAAAAAY!"

And so it begins.

The Boy Conspiracy

Haddie is in the middle of what we hope will be her final round of swim lessons before she tries swim team. The schedule is later than I would like and we don't arrive home until 6:30 p.m.

Our family thinks they are going to die if we don't eat by 6 p.m. Anyone else seeing a problem here?

Though Jamie is great in the kitchen, I do 99% percent of the cooking and I'm hesitant to ask him for help because he's so darn busy. But one night, I didn't have a chance to prepare anything so asked him if he and Bode could be in charge of warming up leftovers so dinner would be ready when we walked in the door.

They both agreed and I was charmed to arrive home to both boys in aprons.

They even had flour on their faces and apparently had been working hard.

Or not.

There in the middle of the kitchen table was a pizza that looked suspiciously like it was purchased from Domino's.

"Where did you buy the pizza?"
"We made that pizza. What do you think we've been doing the past hour?"
"Bode, be honest with Mommy. Did you make that pizza?"
"Yes, what Daddy said. We've been working hard!"

Gotta give the boys credit: they stuck to their story and I almost started believing them until I found the pizza box outside in the garbage.

Here's a tip for the boy conspiracy for next time: destroy all evidence.

And do Pizza Hut next time.