The Lee Family: Taos!

During CK's birthday dinner party, our friends Kristy and John kept telling us they wanted to plan a weekend trip with us and wanted to spend more time hanging out. They are super easy to be with and a lot of fun too. So, somehow we actually planned a long weekend trip to Taos for a few days of skiing. We ended up going over Martin Luther King weekend, which was perfect since we were able to leave Friday afternoon and returning Monday afternoon. Since the girl's Grandma couldn't come out to be with the girls while we were gone, we had their longtime babysitter, Megan, come and stay with them. She said she'd never done anything like that before, but I know she would be great. We left her with two dinners to just throw in the oven as well as money to spend on anything they wanted to do. I made sure both girls had rides home from school, since honestly that can be the most difficult part of the entire weekend.

We originally planned to head out right after dropping off the girls at school, but it was actually snowing in Taos, so we decided to wait until it was better weather where we planned to land. We met for lunch at Trio's and just as we were finishing up, CK checked the weather and said it would be good if we left within the hour! By late morning, CK was thinking we might not actually get to leave until Saturday morning, so we were thankful that we'd be heading out to have a full day of skiing starting on Saturday!

The flight went smoothly, although it was odd to land after it was dark outside. The Taos runway has recently been upgraded and it felt like we taxied for 20 minutes after we were actually on the ground. We finally made it to the terminal and our car was waiting - the best part of flying privately! We loaded up our car and headed to our bed and breakfast, the Taos Country Inn. CK and I actually stayed there 8 years ago, when I was pregnant with Olivia and we went for a long weekend with Arren and Susan, some pilot friends of CK's who are super fun to hang out with. Anyway, the Taos Country Inn is so cute and very comfortable and it was great to be back. We were the only guests, so we were treated like royalty by Yolanda, the owner who is fabulous. That night we ate at Bella's Mexican Grill which was delicious! I had honestly one of the best dishes I've ever had. It was called Chiles en Nogada and was incredible!

The next morning we enjoyed Yolanda's delicious and filling breakfast and then headed to get our skis and equipment. CK took us to the place he has gone every President's weekend with Sofia, Chad and Jack when they have gone skiing in Taos. The owners were so great! First, they immediately recognized CK and greeted him like they last saw him the weekend before! They were so sweet and took great care of us. Soon we were on our way up the mountain and ready to ski! Kristy and John actually own their own ski boots, so they only had to rent skis, while we rented everything. Once we were ready, we loaded up and drove up the mountain to the ski resort. It took us about 30 minutes to get there and we couldn't believe how full the parking lot was! We parked a million miles from the resort and jumped into the wagon that dropped us off near the ticket counter. Soon we were snapping on our skis and ready for our very first run of the day! I haven't skied in 16 years, yet it felt like it was yesterday. It came back pretty quickly. Honestly, the most stressful part of skiing to me is getting off the ski lift! In fact, they all teased me about it all weekend because I would always be overly ready to get off the ski lift. We stopped at the top of the mountain to get our first photos!

We spent the day skiing and it really couldn't have been better snow or weather. It was just a fantastic day of skiing and I kept thinking of how much fun the girls would be having if they were here with us. We stopped around 1pm to have lunch at the Bavarian Restaurant. We sat outside and enjoyed beers and CK and I split a burger and salad. It was all delicious and I think it tasted better after a few hours of skiing! We headed back out and skied the far side of the mountain until we finished up around 4pm. Despite how crowded the parking lot was, it actually didn't feel very full, especially on that side of the mountain. It was great ski conditions and we had such a fantastic first day on the slopes! The final ski lift runs at 4:30pm, so we stopped at 4pm and enjoyed a delicious Mexican hot cocoa. It was perfect. We loaded up our stuff and headed back to our car and down the mountain. After showering we had dinner at Pisano's Pizza. It was fantastic! The pizza and salad were some of the best I've ever had and really hit the spot! We lingered over dinner talking and then returned to the Taos Country Inn and bed! We were all tired after such a fun day!

Sunset as we head to Taos