Inspiration Board :: Lovely Horse Farm

Last week as we were cruising through Kingfield headed for the ski slopes, I spied this lovely place nestled behind the trees on the other side of a stream that runs through the center of town...

After rounding the bend, there was this structure to the left of the house....a large covered round pen. Very cool! It looks like a really huge gazebo.....

I was smitten! Granted, it's not that large but still....what a great idea for a bit of winter shelter and wind break. I'd love to see how they constructed this exactly. Once again....I'm inspired! : D

First Ride

It really did look like we were headed for an early Spring....up until a week ago when it started snowing and essentially hasn't stopped for days. As they say...March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. I couldn't just let this fresh white stuff go un-skiied (word?)...I was aching to fly down some long cruiser runs and decided it was high time my family joined me in my insane obsession with downhill schussing. So off we headed early Monday morning for Sugarloaf ski resort.

We've done lots of playing around on skis and Xcountry skis locally, but we hadn't yet taken our kiddos up to the big mountains. This winter was the winter to change all of that! Even Asheley braved the lift chairs and did fantastically. We had a blast!

Our youngest ski bunny....

decked out in her gear....

Andrew, Heather, and Caitlyn didn't use poles the first day. The runs aren't that steep and they wanted to get used to getting on and off the lifts without dealing with the poles. Good idea!

Asheley's first ride on the chair lift....and the tricky part, getting off the chair!

The base of Sugarloaf Mountain

Andrew's our speed skiier...I'm afraid I see jumps in his future!

After the lifts closed, the kiddos didn't want to stop. We shuttled them up...and down they went again...still all smiles after a very exerting day.

And me? I was in heaven! My days living in Vail, CO came rushing back...and I truly felt like I was home again!! 

Sugarloaf is a great mountain and especially nice for families. The first day we got there around noon and found out that there is a day pass that allows you to access several of the lower lifts for only $19. For beginners...or those not prone to attempting the top of the mountain...this is a terrific and reasonably priced alternative. The following days, we did ski the upper trails....even making it to the top of the mountain and taking some really nice cruisers down to the bottom again. Even little Asheley (only 7 yrs.) made it down those slopes just fine. More pics and more info coming. Suffice it to say, I'm so thrilled to have all this lovely skiing in our own backyard! : D