5th and 6th Graders: Get Your Free/Cheap Ski Passes!

If you have a 5th or 6th grader it is time to start thinking about getting them their Free/Cheap Ski/Snowboard passes. The way it works is that there are two different programs: School of Shred & Colorado Ski Country USA. They both offer 5th graders free skiing, but at different locations, so you want to get both! They offer 6th graders cheap or free skiing depending on the program. More details below.

5th Graders: You get 4 days of free skiing at all Colorado Vail Resorts: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and A-Basin [School of Shred]. In addition you get 3 days of free skiing at 20 other Colorado ski resorts including Aspen, Buttermilk, Steamboat, Copper Mountain, Winter Park, and many more [Colorado Ski Country USA]. In addition you also get one free ski/snowboard lesson and equipment rental through both programs. They really want you to get good!

6th Graders: You can purchase a pass for 4 days at the Ski Country USA resorts for $99. This is a screaming good deal! The School of Shred is offering the same deal for 6th graders as they did for 5th graders–4 free days of skiing at their resorts. Woohooo!!!!

How To Apply: Don’t forget to apply to both!

School of Shred Passport Sign Up: Starting now you can bring your child’s 5th or 6th grade report card to Boulder Ski Deals or other Front Range locations to get a pass.

Colorado Ski Country USA Passport Sign Up: Sign up online at the link to the left. Deadline to sign up is January 31, 2013.

Have fun skiing/snowboarding!

#getoutdoors #skiing #vailresorts #snowboard #free #colorado

5th and 6th Graders: Get Your Free/Cheap Ski Passes!

If you have a 5th or 6th grader it is time to start thinking about getting them their Free/Cheap Ski/Snowboard passes. The way it works is that there are two different programs: School of Shred & Colorado Ski Country USA. They both offer 5th graders free skiing, but at different locations, so you want to get both! They offer 6th graders cheap or free skiing depending on the program. More details below.

5th Graders: You get 4 days of free skiing at all Colorado Vail Resorts: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and A-Basin [School of Shred]. In addition you get 3 days of free skiing at 20 other Colorado ski resorts including Aspen, Buttermilk, Steamboat, Copper Mountain, Winter Park, and many more [Colorado Ski Country USA]. In addition you also get one free ski/snowboard lesson and equipment rental through both programs. They really want you to get good!

6th Graders: You can purchase a pass for 4 days at the Ski Country USA resorts for $99. This is a screaming good deal! The School of Shred is offering the same deal for 6th graders as they did for 5th graders–4 free days of skiing at their resorts. Woohooo!!!!

How To Apply: Don’t forget to apply to both!

School of Shred Passport Sign Up: Starting now you can bring your child’s 5th or 6th grade report card to Boulder Ski Deals or other Front Range locations to get a pass.

Colorado Ski Country USA Passport Sign Up: Sign up online at the link to the left. Deadline to sign up is January 31, 2013.

Have fun skiing/snowboarding!

#getoutdoors #skiing #vailresorts #snowboard #free #colorado

Come One, Come All to the Summer Heritage Evening at the Historic Walker Ranch Homestead

Walker Heritage_sm

On July 20, 2013 your family has an incredible opportunity to go back in time to get a sense of what it was like to be a homesteading family in the Boulder area. To be clear you need to head up early evening of July 20 to Walker Ranch to take part in their Summer Heritage Evening.

This is where you will find volunteers doing historical re-enactment of the homesteading lifestyle. It is always a bit different, but well worth the trip up Flagstaff to engage in activities such as learning to rope a cattle, playing with early settler’s toys, watching baking, blacksmithing, etc… Think Little House on the Prairie right in our back yard.

Time: 5:00 to 7:30pm

Location: Walker Ranch [To get to the Walker Ranch homestead, go approximately 7.4 miles up Flagstaff Mountain Road, west of Boulder]

Cost: Free

More information about the Walker Ranch Summer Heritage Evening can be found here.

The Intersection of Yoga and Parenting

DownwardDog-300I love yoga. I don’t do it enough, but I still love it! Yesterday I was at a delicious yoga class at The Little Yoga Studio deeply immersed in sweat and downward dogs, when my mind started to wander. I cherish the time when I give myself the space for my mind to wander -it doesn’t happen a lot these days. All at once the words that yoga instructors have said over the years started to accumulate in my head. They came flooding in. It started with the yoga instructor telling us about her decision to bring Joy back into her life. Joy. Joy? Joy’s honorable. We all want to feel joy, right?

I was joyful, in between praying with all my being that this was not a class that was over 1 hour and wondering how I was going to ask my friend Wendy this question since she seemed to in the moment and engaged any time I glanced over to see if there was an iota of an opening to ask my very important question. It was hot in there, I was seriously sweating, I hadn’t been to yoga in a few weeks, and I know my body sort of turns off after an hour of yoga. I guess I was panicking a bit. I forgot at first how much more than exercise I get every time I am on my mat. But here were all these thoughts about ways of being that were floating around my head.

Back to the intersection of yoga and parenting. The words of past yoga teachers flooded in and it occurred to me how yoga informs parenting. And vice versa. But at this point with a pre-teen boy and a pre-pre-teen boy in my house I was really appreciating how yoga could support me.  I need some support. Some of the words of wisdom that were ringing though my head about how the essence of yoga cold support parenting include:

  • Be kind to yourself. If you need to take a break just take child’s pose or let your family know you need a break [even for a moment just go outside] and accept that it is okay to not be perfect.
  • If you wobble, it’s okay. Think tree pose and life. We will all wobble. It’s okay. Be accepting.
  • Look for joy. We are given many opportunities to find joy in our lives we just need to let them in. Don’t take life too seriously. 
  • Find ease [smile] even when it is tough. It’s not where we stand in times of comfort and convenience, but rather in times of difficulty and hardship that matter! [paraphrase of the MLK quote] Think of how this could transform the act of getting out the door in the morning.
  • Be thankful. Appreciate that you are here on your yoga mat. It’s okay to do something good for yourself. 

There are so many more wise words I have heard and wish to live by, but these are a few of the ways that yoga and parenting intersect.

Add to the conversation. What are the ways you see yoga and parenting intersecting and informing each other? I would love to hear from this amazing, yoga loving community!

Win A Pair Of Tickets To See Laurie Berkner Live At The Boulder Theater!

laurie berknerBoulder Families is giving away a pair of tickets to see the amazing children’s musician, Laurie Berkner! She is coming to the Boulder Theater on February 2, 2013 for a mid-day show. Laurie is a world renowned children’s musician and will be bringing her “Kindie Rock” to Boulder for this one day show. She is a treat to listen to [even for adults] and always gives a great performance! What a fun thing to do with one of your kids! This show is appropriate for even the youngest kiddos. The pair of tickets is a $50 value.  Thanks for providing these tickets, Boulder Theater!

How to enter:

Leave a comment/reply here telling us what you like to do most with your kids when it’s freezing cold outside. Include your email contact so we can reach you or see below for details.

For an extra entry:

Like Boulder Families on Facebook

How do you know if you won?

We will draw a winner at random on Monday, January 21st at 5pm. If you leave us an email address in your comments we will gladly contact you. We will also post the winner on the blog and Facebook.

Watch Laurie Live

The Boulder Theater wrote: These days critics widely acknowledge Laurie’s major contribution toward launching what is now dubbed the progressive “kindie rock” movement – that is, less saccharine, more rocking music that is not dumbed down for children. 

Learn more about the Boulder Theater and/or buy tickets for Laurie Berkner here.

Learn more about Laurie Berkner at her website here.