Cortina

Right after I got back from Amsterdam we had Alessia's 5th birthday party, which was a ridiculous a fair. A community carnival has less attractions than her birthday did. They had a magician, a Princess Aurora who painted faces, a Mickey and Minnie Mouse in costume, 2 piñatas, a custom Aurora cake, 20 little girls running around in Alessia's Disney princess dresses and a rented cotton candy machine. Right after the party we all piled in the car and headed for the mountains to skiing, which is what Ale decided she wanted to do for her birthday (apart from the extravagant party that is).

So we stayed for 5 days in Cortina, in the Dolomiti Alps of Italy. It was a long trip, because dressing children in 4 different layers and then carrying them through knee deep snow chasing their sled down a snowy slope all day is exhausting. But the scenery was some of the most beautiful that I've ever seen. I couldn't stop taking pictures of the mountains. Alessia was decked out head to toe in Hello Kitty and went skiing for the first time since she broke her leg sledding in Cortina last year. Gigi at 2 and a half went skiing for the first time ever in an adorable little red Gormiti ski helmet.

I went skiing for the first time since Spring Break my senior year of high school. I couldn't fit my ski pants into my luggage when I moved because they're so obnoxiously puffy, and since I can't find a pair here under 100 Euro- I skied in jeans. In one of the most ritzy European ski resorts among the fashionable Italians, I skied down a mountain in jeans. I did very well considering it had been so long. I didn't get wet, because the only time I fell was when I stopped to take off my rentals.

I hate to say it, but the Dolomiti Alps kind of kick the Rockies ass. The ski resorts aren't as good as Colorado as far as I can tell, but the scenery is better if that's possible.