Swoosh!

We spent the weekend snow skiing!

We first took Taz and Rainbow skiing two years ago, when they were five and six, and they hadn’t been since. Somehow, in their little minds, they are experts so they were PISSED when I suggested lessons. Being the evil Mom that I am, I booked them anyway.

And it worked out great! I was cheap and booked group lessons, but skiing is so light this early in the season that it ended up being my two kids with two instructors. They got a great lesson and came out with some good basic skills.

Now they KNOW they’re experts!

Their lesson time gave Scouter and I a chance to remember how to ski since we haven’t been in two years either. We both learned in high school/college, have not skied much, and neither of us is particularly strong. Fortunately we got a lot of runs in and felt comfortable by the end of their lesson.

Not surprisingly, when they rejoined us, Taz went dive-bombing down the mountain and had some spectacular wipe-outs. Rainbow was pretty cautious and snow plowed her way down, along with some big sweeping turns. After one particularly bad fall, Taz was pretty shaken. I calmed him down and convinced him to ski slowly down the mountain with me, making big turns to slow down when he started feeling out of control, with a goal of getting all the way down without falling. I told him that if he concentrated on proper form, speed would come. He did it and was very proud of no falls! And he found it especially funny that Mommy fell once.

By Saturday afternoon, we were cold and tired – or at least I was. When we got home, I collapsed. Scouter started putting up Christmas lights and the kids went running around outside playing in the dusting of snow. You see where they get it from I imagine…

Sunday morning was sunny and clear and very very cold. We lollygagged a bit in the morning then hit the slopes again. My little “experts” couldn’t wait! This time surprisingly Taz took his time, determined not to fall, while Rainbow went flying down the mountain. She too experienced a spectacular fall. My theory is that everyone needs at least one good fall to instill some caution. Rainbow settled down and started thinking about control and turning too.

They did unbelievable well on the slopes and on the lifts. We got a ton of runs in again since the crowd was fairly light. When Scouter said it was time for our last run, they begged for two more. Then another… and another. We finally bribed them with cookies and hot chocolate.

At the end of the day, Taz looked and me and said, “You were right, Mommy! Speed did come!”

All of us can’t wait to do it again!
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