First Skiing Trip

A month or so ago we had a family conversation about how much we love living in Iowa (this is a pretty regular conversation around here, actually).  Iowa is such an unassuming place, but it is home and we are truly so happy here.  However!  There is a LOT to this amazing country of ours, and it is so important to us that, regardless of where we live, that we experience as much of it as we can.  The kids know that the balance of home and travel is very important to our family, and we talk about it a lot.

Emma once said to me, "I never want to move.  I want to live in Iowa forever." 

To which I said, "Uhhhh....."

(be still my military brat heart- live in one place forever?!!)

"Don't worry!" she said.  "I'll be sure to travel a lot." 

I'm glad she's got the message down.  

When we decided to spend Thanksgiving in Denver, we knew we needed to show our kids what those beautiful Rocky Mountains are really good for-

 Skiing!  It has been almost 12 years since the last time Jason and I have hit the slopes, so we were long overdue.  The weather was perfect, the air was cold but not biting or windy... I could write a whole post about the amazing difference between the cold in the Midwest and the cold in the Rocky Mountains... but I won't.  This post is about skiing!

We signed all of the kids up for ski school, and they were curious and a bit hesitant but all willing to give it their best.

 Once they were all tucked away with their instructors, Jason and I headed over to the lift and up we went!

Traditionally Jason has been a snowboarder, but he promised me years ago that the next time we went up the mountain he would ski with me.  And he did a really great job.  

Skiing is so much more intuitive and fun than snowboarding (at least in my opinion!) and it was fun to zip up and down the mountain together as many times as we wanted to that first day.  

 We stopped for lunch- a date!- and then checked in on all of the kids, who were in various stages of working up skill and confidence.   

Emma was doing great!  Gliding down the hill then hopping right on the magic carpet and heading back up again.  

She was all smiles and thumbs up all day long.

Noah was doing great too!  Tackling the bunny slope like a boss, and definitely showing that he knew how to turn and stop.  What a cutie!

Adam's group had graduated to the advanced magic carpet by the afternoon, and, unlike the sad sight that is Adam on ice skates (bless his sweet heart), he was doing a fantastic job!

Leah's group was the only one that hadn't stopped for lunch by the time we checked in on her.  She was doing well!  Taking it slow but making her way down the big slopes.

 We even followed Leah and her instructor up the mountain!

 Which was probably a very good thing.  On her third run down, she turned too fast and fell down hard on her hip.  Jason and I kept a distance until I could see that she wasn't going to get back up.  When I got to her and saw she was crying, exhausted, and clearly shaken from the fall, we slowly slowly slowly made our way over to Daddy and she was done for the day.  We had several conversations about the difference between a quitter and giving yourself a break when you just went crashing down a mountain.  She spent the rest of the afternoon in the lodge, reading and receiving the other kids as, one by one they called it a day.  

Here are a few videos of the kids from the first day-  

  

 Emma cruising down the bunny slope, no big deal.

Noah wasn't far behind.  I love that he's eating snow on his way.

One of Adam's first run down the hill.  

Emma closed down the bunny hill!

We stayed on the mountain as long as we possibly could, then gathered up all of our stuff and headed back to the hotel for pizza, swimming, and a movie.  No pictures of that, but it was so nice to warm up and stretch out and relax after a long day of fun!  

We had pretty low expectations for the second day- if everyone wanted to ski again, great!  If not, that would be okay too.   Our only goal for the trip was to give it a try and not end up with any broken bones.  

But everyone wanted to head back! They all were super excited to try again, to show off their stuff and to get another round or two or three of hot cocoa in the lodge.  Even Leah, who was still feeling a little stiff and a lot nervous, was willing to try a second day.  

But first we had to stop to really enjoy this beautiful scenery.

 The kids were so nervous that we were going to fall off the edge of the mountain... not a lot of those around our parts!

 Then it was back to the lodge for boots and skis and helmets and fun!   Actually, the day started out pretty rocky- the bunny slope was now off limits since the kids weren't in another day of ski school, and this hill is a lot steeper than it looks for a first timer!  But once we figured out that the best way to get the littlest two down the hill was between our own skis, we were set!  It would have been awesome if the kids had had enough time to get confident on the hill themselves, but the chances of them skiing again anytime soon are pretty remote- we just wanted them to have fun!

This girl was awesome!

I just followed her up the hill.

And look at Leah!  Here she is on one of her brave second day runs.

She had a real wrestle with herself about overcoming her fears and trying again, and I know it wasn't easy for her.  But she did it!  

She was happy with herself for heading down the hill, and even happier to be the official table saver/lodge boss while the rest of us got a few more runs in. 

One by one the kids found their way to Leah,

 thawed out and giggled around the table as they ate hot food and shared stories about their skiing adventures.

  Emma definitely had the best tale to tell!

Here she is on her first time up the lift, accompanied by Mom.  Adam followed behind us- he held tight to his poles this time around but dropped them on a future ride up. 

Once the three of us got off the life we zipped down together, and the next ride up Jason went with Emma and I went with Adam.  Jason said that the whole way up Emma explained to him all of the things I had explained to her on her maiden voyage- hold your poles straight, keep your ski tips up, push off and snow plow (or pizza, as they said in ski school) away from the uploading area right away.  She did great with me, but forgot to mention one crucial detail when she was getting ready to unload- that I grabbed her arm and helped her off the chair.

So when Jason and Emma got to the top of the lift and he thought she knew how to unload herself, he hopped off, and she just kept sitting there!  She triggered the sensor bar that stops the lift and the worker hurried over from the hut to help her down, but she wasn't about to wait for him. 

While I was yelling, "Daddy!  Get Emma!" from the unloading area, she jumped off the chair and down into the snowbank (a height of about 5 feet), skis flying and tumbled into the snow in a heap.  She hopped right up and made her way over to me, crying for fear and then laughing proudly at herself for her own bravery. 

Apparently Emma is not a damsel in distress who is going to wait around for someone else to save her!

Noah had a few good rides up and down the mountain too!

We had to switch him into Emma's dry gloves at one point because of all his snow eating from earlier.  

I was so proud of Adam- he took to the hill with ease and it was so fun to watch him zip down the mountain with control and ease over and over again.  He is definitely a natural!

Our final ride!  Adam and I raced up and down the hill 4 times, each time saying that it might be our last ride down, but it wasn't!  That was our lucky break!

I'm so glad I've found myself a skiing buddy!

And a few videos from the second day- Emma and Mommy!  In three videos.

Adam and Daddy on one of their earlier runs- by the later afternoon we were too busy racing the clock and the sun to take any more videos!

This trip was so fun- one of the best family vacations we've had all year! We loved the fresh air and sunshine and exercise and the challenge of trying something new.  

I realized at the end of the first day that I did not hear one single word of complaint from any of the kids all day.  Not in the long lines  waiting to get boots and skis, not when they were cold and their hands needed to be warmed up (hot hands hand warmers are amazing little things!), not when they kept falling and had to get up over and over again.  I was so impressed with their willingness to try a hard thing!  And there were definitely kids- and adults- melting down all around us.  But they all did great and we will definitely be back again some day!