Big Sky, MT Day 5 and 6 - Ski Days and Fresh Powder

Day 5 and 6 in Big Sky, we went skiing!!!  We LOVE skiing and are already counting the days until next year.

Day 5 Skiing.  Ella Kate was doing amazing at this point and went to Daddy Ski School on days 5 and 6.  The two of them were perfect together.  Two little peas in a pod.  We signed John up for another half day of ski school and then let him go to the big kid "playground/daycare" area for the afternoon. We skied the morning of Day 5 at Mountain Village were we had skied the entire trip thus far.  After making friends and talking to ski instructors, etc. we decided to drive to the other side of the mountain (10 min drive) to the Madison Base area.  Well we could not imagine anything better than Mountain Village skiing until we discovered Madison Base.  The instructors were right it was even more amazing and we basically had the place to ourselves.  We fell in love instantly.  Dave, Ella Kate, and I skied the afternoon at Madison Base and then headed back over to our hotel and Mountain Village to pick up John when the lifts closed at 4pm.  Excellent day.

 Ready to ski after lunch in the lodge.

 They just loved being outside in the snow.  So fun!

 Lunch at the lodge.  Skis and ski lifts right behind us.  The convenience could not have been any better.  Skied all morning, ate a great lunch at the lodge, and ready to ski more.

 Picture of Ella Kate and I with our skis ready for Dave to drive the car around and pick us up to ski Madison Base.

 Snowball fight!

 We loved skiing at Madison Base.  Ella Kate and I taking selfies on the ski lift.

On Day 6 we decided to ski the entire day at the Madison Base area.  I had originally only signed John up for a half day of lessons but at one point as I was coming off a run he saw me and yelled out "Hey Mom am I1 doing a half day or a full day?"  I replied, "You are signed up for a half day."  He then immediately asked, "Can I stay the full day?"  Then he proceeded to ask his instructor if he would eat lunch with him.  John was signed up for a group lesson but since the crowds were so low he ended up getting a full day private lesson.  John LOVED his instructor and the below picture is the 2 of them eating lunch together.  Amazing!  John was in heaven!

At one point during the day while John was in ski school and Ella Kate and Dave were doing more advanced runs than I was ready for I found myself a couple of green runs that I enjoyed and did a little exploring of my own.

Ella Kate was so excited that I let her get a cookie at the base of the mountain by the lifts :)

 -l

The moment we picked John up from ski school :)  He did not want to leave!

Family ski time ;) John's first lift ride and green run.  He did amazing!  I have no doubt that after a few more trips the kids will be leaving us in the dust :)

Big Sky, Montana Day 4 - Yellowstone National Park (Old Faithful) Part 3

 We were lucky to find a bobcat on our YellowStone adventure.  A pretty rare sighting.

 A blue heron.

Ella Kate standing in front of a momma and baby elk.

 Snowmobiles.  They look so fun!  We can't wait to try this next time :)

 Our snow coach.

 A few more cell phone pics of the kids in front of the buffalo.  We loved seeing all the buffalo.

 John's view from inside the snowcoach.  Perfect.  Warm, snacks, and that view.  The driver was so cool and had lots of planned stops along the way to Old Faithful but because our group was so small anytime we wanted to stop all we had to do was tell him.  He was so nice to us because we were so amazed at everything that we asked to stop and get out a lot :)

 The little town of West Yellowstone.  It was truly like something out of a movie.  We had fun walking around and going in little shops after we got back from our day snowcoach adventure to Old Faithful.

The roads in Big Sky, MT were clear - there were constantly snow plows treating the roads.  They are not allowed to treat the roads inside the National Park so this is what they looked like.  :)

 After our trip to West YellowStone we headed back to Big Sky for dinner.  Montana Jack's was another favorite dinner spot of ours.

 He was so happy in the snow.

 All of the restaurants were in walking distance of our hotel so John climbed lots of "ice castles" along the way.

 I think Dave is going to win this snowball fight :)

And he is out! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Big Sky, Montana Day 4 - Yellowstone National Park (Old Faithful) Part 2

We have so many photos of our trip to YellowStone National Park and Old Faithful.  I am trying to narrow them down but it is hard.  So beautiful!

 

Hot springs.

 One of our favorite hot springs.

Waiting to see Old Faithful.  We were lucky enough to get to see it twice.  Amazing.

 Pictures do it no justice.

 YellowStone is like a postcard.

 About as close as you want to be to a herd of bison.  :)

 Such a good Daddy.

 The pictures appears foggy but that is because it was snowing :)

 Bison and gysers were everywhere.

 Watching the bison cross the river.

 A quick picture in front of Old Faithful.

 John loved touching and holding all of the bones, horns, fun, etc.