Vail!

Spontaneous Dad popped a trip on us this weekend to celebrate Mom's birthday: Vail! It's hard to describe Vail. It's that good.

For example: Vail Village. European charm, surrounded by mountains, shops, art, restaurants, internationals!


We arrived at lunchtime and checked into our hotel. If I could, I'd drop a down payment on this place. It was a cozy, quirky townhouse with spectacular views.

we tried to figure out what the pose
over the fireplace was exactly.

I shared this one with emiline.

making sure we don't mess around

the reasons for our celebration!

Our amazing meals included a turkey/brie/cranberry sandwich, sauerbraten, stuffed french toast, alaskan halibut. My favorite restaurant was a little place called Up the Creek.

This chap was fly-fishing right next to the restaurant trying to
lure customers over to his guided fishing tours. Perhaps next time...

We rode the gondola to the top of the mountain and biked down...on the black diamond.

On second thought, maybe it was the bunny slope. Em and I wore jeans and sandals. Why didn't the bike shop guy take us seriously? He even made a snide remark about me losing a toe. Couldn't wait to show him all ten toes still intact after we finished.

the view from the top

short pit stop

Did I fail to mention that it rained most of the way down?
Here's what we looked like from behind
(jonny gave me permission to post):

it rained for the rest of the day, so after we were warm and dry, we had to get back on the bikes and ride them across town to return them. dad said something about building character...?

Sunday introduced the summer's first Farmers and Arts Market in Vail Village. We meandered for hours, sampling and admiring.

papi and me on father's day:

and i must include this last photo i took today.

Psalm 8 was our theme chapter for the weekend.

"When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which You have set in place,
what is man that You are mindful of him,
and the son of man that You care for him?
...O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is Your name in all the earth!"

I hope this gave you a mini vacation, and if you ever have the chance to go to Vail, you must!