More Skiing

After a warm up remembering how to ski, the kids wanted to try some new things.

This was a winding trail through the trees. It had bumps, quick turns, and wasn't big enough to ski side by side. We did it a few times and it was challenging for the kids. No videos of this because we needed to focus on them.

Sweet Son skiing down hill

Sweet Daughter skiing down hill

Snow Skiing!

We try to go snow skiing at least once a year. Here is our annual trip!

Happy at the start of the day. This is the first year their heads have been big enough to wear a helmet! 

Since we only go once a year we start with a nice easy hill - here we are going up the carpet lift. 

Later in the day at the top of a green run and everyone is still smiling! 

Skiing in a line - one parent leads the way and one parent makes sure no one falls or gets lost.

Snow Skiing!

Wonderful Husband loves snow skiing. While we usually go to Colorado, this year we decided to try out a hill near St. Louis. It was great. The hill was small and not crowded. We were there the last day they were open. It was warm - almost too warm. You can see the grass in many of the photos off to the side of the ski hill. It was perfect for us!

The 4 of us skiing in a line.

They all love the snow and cold. (Sweet Daughter is in blue and Sweet Son is in red.)

Having to say goodbye to the mascot.

We typically only go skiing once a year so the first time we put on skis it's a bit rough remembering how to do it.

Here they are starting to get better. Surprisingly our dare devil is the one going slowly and our cautious child is the one going faster.

Sweet Daughter by the end of the day.

Sweet Son by the end of the day.

Wordless Wednesday

Snow Skiing

This was the kids' second skiing trip, so the big question is, how did they do? Here are some photos and a video to demonstrate.

Sweet Son getting ready to go down the hill.

Sweet Daughter going down the hill with me following closely.

Both kids impatient to get going. Notice the lack of crowd on the hill. Amazing.

4 clips combined - the first two were at the beginning of the trip and the last two were at the end. They are better at skiing than I was when I was 4 and better than when I was on my 2nd ski trip.

On the mountain

As a kid I was always afraid of the chair lift when skiing. I still have a bit of healthy respect them. Sweet Husband is better at the whole hold a kid while taking a selfie thing.

The boys

Daddy Daughter time

A close look at the groomer is always exciting.

Ski Weekend, Part 2

As I mentioned in the previous post, Wonderful Husband is a skier. I am willing to go along. I have mastered the greens and feel comfortable (and sometimes confident) on the blues. However, I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. I knew Wonderful Husband would be in charge of teaching the kids to ski. This is a great plan until you have twins. Suddenly they each need one on one.

We started on a simple carpet lift. Our kids mastered this quickly. They realized they had to leave a space between the person in front of them or they would collide at the top. If you notice there is another child (that I don't know) who is not only right behind me, but is actually on top of my skis. This makes for a bad exit strategy.

Our kids at the top of the bunny hill. They look... unsure.

After watching how Wonderful Husband was teaching Sweet Son, I decided to help Sweet Daughter down the hill. This is the first time I have ever intentionally skied backwards. Sweet Son approached skiing like anything else, cautiously. Sweet Daughter approached skiing like she does everything, by claiming independence. Which is how a couple of runs after this photo was taken she pushed away from me and went down by herself. She stopped when she bumped (gently) into a pole. She was more than willing to stay with us from that point on. I love her independence, but I wish she would wait until she has the basics down before trying things on her own.

After a couple of hours, we decided the kids were ready for their first chair lift. Did I mention the hill wasn't crowded? It was awesome. The kids did great. Only one ended up dangling for a minute when loading. They both were able to exit (with us holding them in front) without the lift stopping. They also thought it was just a fun ride.

Here we are at the top getting ready to go down the green. See, the hill really was empty. The kids got to the point after two mornings of skiing that they could go down just holding our hands. They could do pizza or french fries on command. They didn't figure out turning or stopping, but that's not a bad start for a couple of 3 year olds with no experience. A year later and they are still asking when we will go back.

Ski Weekend, Part 1

Wonderful Husband loves snow skiing. He was also raised in an area that had ski hills. We live in a flat area that only gets snow once a year or so. Still, he manages to go skiing about once a year without us. This was the first time we decided to take the kids skiing.

The first problem is how to do her hair so it wouldn't stick out and get icy. She wouldn't hold still long enough for a French braid. So instead I did 3 small braids (letting her run around between each) and just tied them together. This worked beautifully.

We started the weekend by picking up our gear. Yes, we made the kids carry their own gear. It's all part of the experience. I also LOVE those snow suits. They are all one piece, but do you see the two lines running all the way from neck to boots? Those are both zippers. To take off quickly just unzip both, pull the middle part behind them and it slides off like a coat. They can also put these on by themselves. Brilliant.

We stayed on the hill. This way after the kids were tired from skiing all morning they could take a nap while I read and Wonderful Husband could get in some ski time on his own. The kids loved the bunk beds.

Staying on the hill also allowed us to eat breakfast and lunch in the room. We had a small fridge and microwave. Breakfast was raisin bread and water or OJ.  Lunch was PB&J with fresh fruit and dried veggies. The kids thought it was awesome that they got to eat PB&J every day. We loved the savings by only going out for one meal a day. The plan was also to save any dinner leftovers to heat up for the next day's lunch, however we always ate our entire dinner. Skiing makes you hungry!

When I say we stayed on the hill, I really do mean it. Those steps are to the hallway to our room. Sweet Son is standing on one of the green trails. Sweet Daughter is climbing up to the trail. We figured we would spend most of our time on the two beginning hills and this was between them. Perfect planning. It was also just a short walk to the restaurants and other village activities. There was a bike race on the mountain when we were there. People riding mountain bikes at night on the mountain, through the village, over the frozen lake, etc. We watched while standing next to fire pits.

By the end of the trip the kids just picked up their gear and headed out. They love skiing and we will try to go back every year.