Hello!

My family is going to be staying in Vail for a week in early February. We have a 3 1/2-year-old and a 2-year-old. We plan on doing some ski school for the older child and some daycare for the younger child. For parts of the trip we'll be joined by various family members, including a 6 year old niece. We're staying in a condo in Lionshead right at the base of the gondola. We don't plan to rent a car.

A few questions:

(1) I'm trying to figure out whether to rent a jogging stroller while we're there. We will be bringing a double umbrella stroller for the airport, but it's difficult to maneuver and not very comfortable. I expect that we'll be riding the in-town shuttle a lot. How big and how crowded are the shuttles? If I rent a double jogging stroller (they're huge!) will I be able to take it on the shuttle? If not, how about a single jogging stroller? Or do I need to have a small stroller than can really fold up for the shuttle ride?

(2) I've come up with some non-ski activities for the kiddos, but would love to hear what you all would do with little kids in Vail. FYI they're both too little for the tubing at Adventure Ridge (which looks awsome) or for a dog sled ride. I plan to try snow shoeing (more about that below). Is there somewhere we can rent or buy a basic sled and sled down a small hill? Anywhere to do a horse drawn sleigh ride that's during the day? Anywhere up the mountain we can go other than Adventure Ridge? I've found some story times at the library and we'll definitely check out the children's museum.

(3) I think showshoeing sounds great because we can pull the kids in a sled or try them out on their own snow shoes. It looks like we can go to the Nordic Center at the golf course to try this out, or go on a trail from the Discovery Center up the mountain. I picture both of these options being very grommed, and not very natural. Is that right? Where would you suggest going that's more in the wilderness? Should we just hire a guide for a 1/2 day trip?

I appreciate any advice you can give, thanks!