Ellie's Mountain Getaway

There was a big milestone in the Luck household this past Saturday, our Ellie Grey turned two years old. I only thought time went by fast with Abbie. It is unbelievable how fast these first two years with Ellie have gone by. I can't begin to imagine what our lives would be like without this precious girl. She is the sweetest girl full of joy, love, cuddles and adventure. She is our dare devil and believes she can do anything. Ellie adores her big sissy and tries to be just like her. Though she is such a petite thing, the ferociousness that she tackles life with is something that keeps this momma on her toes. So to celebrate Ellie turning two went planned a mountain getaway to go play in the snow.

Ever since Ellie entered our world we have gone to the mountains to go play. We didn't realize this would become an annual thing but I am so grateful that it has. We decided to go to Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia this year. This resort has so much to offer families and we were excited to go and experience all the amenities that we could. It is about five and half hours from Charlotte, so it's great for a long weekend. So the first thing I need to say is we are not ski people. Last year when we went to Wintergreen in Virginia, where I had a very "traumatic" experience. It was my first time skiing and I expected to fall down but what did me in was the ski lift. Those things make me nervous, I had told Ken that I was scared to get on the lift because I was sure I was going to fall down at the top, he assured me it would be fine. Well, when we get to the top he gets off balance and what does he do: he uses me as his crutch to keep from falling and makes me fall in the process. After that I was done. We probably should do lessons but that is a different story all together. Anyway, for now we go to the mountains to snow tube and relax.

Snowshoe is a large resort at the top of the mountain and there are several areas you can stay in. We decided to stay at Silver Lake which was located near the tubing. We didn't want to deal with waiting for a shuttle with the girls. Also because of their ages we had to go at different times with them, so we wanted to be nearby. Silver Creek is a condo complex, our unit was comfortable and had a heated pool as well as a couple of venues for food. The room was adequate and served its purpose which was to be a place to rest after being on the slopes all day. One of the nice things about staying at the resort was we could get to the other parts and enjoy the food and attractions. They had an indoor heated waterpark, a bounce house set up in another building, and kid's night out for parents to get some time away. We did not try any of the evening activities but they have an escape room, comedy club and nightclub you could go to in the evenings. There were several restaurants and pubs there as well, and they are building a brewery.

We got there Friday afternoon and got settled into the room. We had originally planned to go to the Elk River Inn & Restaurant for dinner about twenty minutes down the mountain but after the drive up, we didn't think the girls would want to go back in the car to go back down the mountain. So we decided to eat at Sunset Cantina, a Mexican restaurant at the resort. After dinner Ken and Abbie went to the indoor waterpark which is open till 9 pm so that was nice. However Abbie said that the water was still cold, not because they didn't heat it, it was heated, it was just 10 degrees out so made the water feel colder than it was. They do have a large hot tub area there as well, but she said the slides were the best.

So Saturday was the big day. Ellie was first up to go tubing. We had a feeling she would love it and we were not disappointed. This girl loves to go fast and she has very little reservation about anything for the most part. The resort had a kiddie area fenced off for little ones between the ages of 2-4. What they didn't tell you is how much the parents had to work. Ken and I sent ourselves on opposite ends of the run and put Ellie bottom down in her snow tube. She squealed with delight on the very first run. Her little laughter was so cute. We spent the next 45 minutes hauling her up the hill, just to send her down. We would ask her if she wanted to go again and her response was a very firm yes. Towards the end she decided she wanted to walk up the hill herself and then get in the tube at the top. I love her confidence. She also decided to be a little daredevil and started going down on her knees {scared me to death}. After her run we met up with Mrs. Brenda {Nana} and ate lunch in the cafe in Silver Creek. Ellie passed out almost as soon as we got in. {She slept for 3 hours} After lunch it was Abbie's turn. This time we also got to tube. We were worried how Abbie would do. She loved it the first time she ever went, but last year didn't really liked going too fast, so Ken had to drag his feet to slow them down. Also both times she was tethered to Ken. This year though, she had to go by herself as the hills were so slick. She overcame her nerves and went by herself and was hooked. She loved it. One thing that was exciting about this place unlike the other two is that they would let you go down on your stomach. Abbie got so comfortable with going sitting down, she wanted to try going down on her stomach, but this momma wouldn't let her. {I'm a kill joy, I know}

After tubing we opened Ellie's presents and had cake. Then we took her and Abbie to The Big Top, a bounce house. This was a neat gem. It was more than a bounce house. They had three bounce houses set up, but they also had pool tables, arcade games, trampolines, a rock climbing wall, a snack bar and it looked like they also had a set up for a movie night. The girls had so much fun just running around. Abbie tried the rock wall and then jumped on the trampoline {she said that was her favorite thing}. We were only able to stay for about an hour because Ken and I had snowmobile excursion we had signed up for that evening.

My mother-in-love is so awesome. She willing goes with us on our vacations to not only enjoy the girls and make memories with them but also to help Ken and I with them. She also agrees to watch them for us so we can have one on one time. This is something I truly do appreciate her being willing to do for us and it is the best gift she could ever give, time with my hubs. So Ken did his research thing and found this excursion. We went at night because there was no fresh snow and we couldn't for obvious reasons use the trails they have for the fresh snow. So they do this at night after they close some of the slopes at night.{some stay open till 9 pm.} We arrived, signed the waivers and then had to sit through their safety and training for use of the snowmobile. If the point was to scare you silly, rather than make you feel confident, it was a success. This left me really concerned about what we had just signed up for. The excursion lasts for an hour and I would say a good 45 minutes for me was spent begin so nervous I was going to go careening off the mountain or have the thing rollover while I was on. The last 15 minutes, I actually started feeling really confident and then it was over. It was pretty cool being on the trails at night. One highlight, {we couldn't get pictures because we didn't stop long enough to} was the river/pond/lake {not sure which} that was at the end of one of the ski runs. They had picnic tables and a play ground for kids, unfortunately not open during the winter but would be a cool place to be during the summer season. I would definitely do another snowmobile tour, it ended up being fun and it was great to try something new.

We ate dinner in the Village area of Snowshoe at The Junction. This was a newer part of the resort. It has pubs, restaurants, shopping and Starbucks. Ken and I both said that if and when we go back this is where would like to stay next year. The bounce house and indoor water park is located near there too and it is in the center of everything. It had a shuttle stop right out front which would make going to the snow tubing center easy.

Overall, we enjoyed our little getaway so much. It was nice to have that time with girls, Mrs. Brenda and the hubs. The other perk in my opinion {Ken felt differently} is there is no cell phone service. Snowshoe is in the National Radio Quiet Zone, due to the telescopes located in West Virginia. Wifi was available but only in the room and resort areas. So this allowed for there to really be no distractions and really enjoy each others company.

I hope you all are enjoying the blog. I would really love to hear your comments and feedback. So here is a question for you: where is your favorite place to go for snow and winter fun?