Historic Fraser Tubing Hill and Snowshoeing

After skiing/snowboarding for two days everyone was tired. So instead of hitting the ski slopes again we all decided that tubing was a better option. It turned out to be a great decision. 

At the top ready to go down for the first time

Brandon pretty much dared me to go over the jump on the hill. I was successful and got some good air. 

Riding the tow rope back up the slope

We all went down together holding the handles on each other's tubes

Cael went over the jump several times

Eli went over the jump as well

Blake, Barbie, and the boys tubing over the jump together

Brandon's dad had to get in on the action too

Proof that Brandon's dad got quite a bit of air off the jump

The boys doing the jump together one last time 

Note that as Brandon was the main photographer there are no pictures of him doing the jump. When I pointed this out to him, he just shrugged and said there are plenty of pictures out there already of him doing various jumps. True that. My husband is a bit of a dare devil. 

Even with the rope tow there was a lot of exercise involved in tubing, so we were all hungry afterward. The closest restaurant happened to be Azteca, a Mexican restaurant, so we were treated to tacos. One of the salsas we were served with the complementary tortilla chips was actually a spicy slaw which was unique and delicious. 

Rice, beans, enchilada, and tacos

Following the morning adventures Blake, Barbie, and the boys had to leave for home. Time flew by so fast. We are looking forward to spending more time with them in June. 

Brandon, his dad, and I stayed at the condo for another night as we got a great deal for the night and planned to head to Copper Mountain the next day. We rested for awhile after tubing and then decided to check out some snowshoeing trails around Granby Ranch. After some trial and error we located some trails at the golf course. I don't think we followed the correct trail system, but we did find some beautiful scenery as we trekked along a creek and railroad cutting through the mountains. Thick snowflakes began to fall making the journey even more picturesque. 

I was tired of wearing my snowboard boots, so I tried my tennis shoes in the snowshoes. Fail. It was more comfortable to go without the snowshoes. I think I need some regular snow boots. 

Along the trail

The scenery was spectacular

Brandon and his dad were successful with their snowshoes

Taking a break to enjoy the view

Brandon's attire did not blend into the surroundings

On our way back the sun was trying to shine through thick snow fall

Brandon's beard accumulated many snowflakes

Between tubing and snowshoeing, we didn't rest much on our "day off" between Granby and Copper Mountain ski/snowboard days. But, we used our muscles in different ways and had a lot of fun. 

The End Is Here...

My beard and I had a lot of good times together, but since the sabbatical has started, it was time to say goodbye and move onto a new beard. Here are some pictures of some fun I had shaving it off along the way.

Just a bit of the mustache trimmed. I know
 it doesn't look like I did much, but hey,
this is scary... baby steps.

Starting to notice a bit more missing yet?

I just don't even know...
just because I could I guess.

The aftermath of such silliness.

Katie's contribution to the shave. But she
really did not like that mustache...

... so it was the next thing to go. 

And that's how I went out in public to go rock climbing.
(hence the shirt change)
But the shave must go on!

A little off the side.

And now a lot off the side.
Think I could pull this off as an everyday look?

I like to think of this as my beard "waving" one last goodbye.
And now the final stretch.

Shorter...

... and shorter...

... thinner...

... and thinner...

... until finally...

... it was gone.
The end is here. Sad day.

Katie and I are both sad to see the beard go, probably Katie even more than me. She now calls me "comic book Brandon". But hopefully I can get past this awkward beardless stage quickly. Here's to year full of beard-filled adventure! 

Cheers

The End Is Near...

As promised, I finally cut the beard off in honor of the start of our sabbatical so that I can grow it out again over the course of this next year. It was a sad, sad day. But before I did, my beard and I had one last bit of fun together before the departure.

One last jump on the trampoline together.

One last flip together.

One last smell of the flowers together.

One last snack together.

One last bit of mischief together.

Just kidding... or am I?...

And that was that. To see the shave, continue on to the next post. 

Black Beard

The number one question I've been getting recently has been, why haven't you shaved off your beard yet? Hasn't your sabbatical started already? It is true, I have not shaved it off yet. I'm doing what I do best... procrastinate. It will come off soon, but I'm not quite ready to say goodbye. Katie is also wanting me to shave it off sooner rather than later, not because she dislikes it. But because she wants to get it over with so that it'll grow back sooner. (I found a keeper)

So for one last hurrah with the current beard, I wanted to try one last experiment. Today I dyed it black. And learning from my mistakes last time, I dyed it dyed it instead of using some temporary hair coloring thing that just flakes off in a few days. Also I moved the operation outside so that I wouldn't have to worry about making a mess. Here's how it all went down.

The before shot

My setup outside

The result

And that's that. I now have a black beard. We both like it so far. And it was nice that dying it went much smoother this time. The next set of beard pictures will likely be the shave, but I make no promises. Though Katie may have something to say about that... :)

Cheers

p.s. In case you missed it, here's the post I did a few weeks ago about dying my beard purple: http://ourmooseinabox.blogspot.com/2015/06/purple-beard.html

My Beard's Final Days...

The beard will be shaved off soon in honor of the start of the sabbatical so I can grow it out again over the course of the next year. But my time off doesn't start for a couple more weeks, so I thought I'd have some fun with it in the mean time. I asked on Facebook what I should dye it. There were a wide variety of answers. But my grandma was one of the last to respond and her support of anything beard related is a win in my book. So I went her vote of purple. Here are some before and after pics...