The first and only time I went skiing I was Robbie's girlfriend in college. That was a lot of years ago, but I will never forget our final run down the slopes. I fell (again). When Robbie tried to help me up, our skis crossed, and we began sliding hooked together backwards down the mountain. I was not very happy with Robbie on that trip. He kept getting me in way over my head in terms of skill level. Somehow, sixteen years, one wedding, and four children later, we are back in Colorado on a ski trip. It was even my idea.
Naturally, before our 10 hour drive, Robbie had to work 90 minutes from home. Luckily, he finished clinic before noon. I had the van loaded, and we were off. We drove 4 hours to Hays, KS where Robbie made dinner plans at the restaurant of a patient. The kids loved the pizza, and we checked into a brand new hotel with two beds for six people. We thought we were only going to make it to Colorado with three children, because it about killed Henry to settle down and go to sleep with Olivia and Evelyn. God bless him. He has way too much energy for his own good.
We were on the road for another gorgeous travel day by 7:45 am. Robbie made great time, and the children behaved beautifully. They love movies and books, so they were set. It wasn't until we passed through Denver and got high into the mountains that high winds warnings, blowing snow, and slick road warning signs got me terribly nervous. It was a very slow 75 miles from the outside of Denver to Copper Mountain. The scenery was spectacular. We all absolutely loved it.
Our condo is spacious and has a lovely view. We are really enjoying it. Robbie and Olivia picked up some groceries that we couldn't bring along, and I about flipped when I pulled the receipt out of a plastic bag. The total was $10,000.76!!! I called Robbie and he had no cell phone reception. When I told him about the receipt he said he only spent $100.76. That took some time to fix. Can you imagine?! That afternoon we went to the rental shop and spent WAY TOO LONG getting all of our lesson/lift tickets, boots, skis, poles, and helmets. It was miserable. I have no idea what slowed the process, because Robbie pre-ordered the rentals online. My friend Emily told me that the hardest part of our vacation would be lugging skis and poles while dressed for winter wearing ski boots walking in snow. She predicted phrases such as, "I can't walk! Carry me!!" She said we parents would barely be able to walk and carry our own things. It came true, and it was hilarious on account of her warning. Everyone was tired and totally hungry. We had SO MUCH stuff to carry. My goodness. I wondered what we'd gotten ourselves into.
The bigger kids were enrolled in ski school. Henry promptly pointed out the robot on the side of his highly coveted ski goggles to his instructor. The poor boy has been waiting weeks and weeks to wear them. He and Ev were in the same class. Olivia caught on so quickly that she was on the ski lift and skiing down the mountain with her teacher and class all afternoon.
My ski instructor was 82-year-old Dick. He didn't mess around. At the end of my lesson I inquired about a good run to try with my husband, and he said the only run that I should take was the one at the top of the Kokomo lift. I told him Robbie wanted to try some greens, and he said, "You need to stay on Kokomo, and if that husband of yours tries to pressure you into anything else, you tell him to go to hell." Ha!! Had Dick been with us back in college? I needed a nice easy run to get my bearings and gain some confidence. It was really fun. I skied all day with Robbie yesterday without falling once. I was so happy. The funny part is that small children were skiing down that same run with parents holding them by ropes. Some tiny tots were speeding past me too. The only hard part of the easy hill was avoiding all of the fallen beginners.
Robbie was yearning to ski alone with Olivia, and she begged him to let her try something other than Kokomo. Well, it didn't go well. Olivia entered the condo and said she fell, and couldn't see from snow spraying in her face, and couldn't stop, and the ski patrol had to give her a snow mobile ride down the mountain. "What?!" I angrily flashed Robbie. He shushed me. Olivia told me the story in bits and pieces as Robbie stepped out to change the laundry until I finally had to tell Robbie to tell me the whole story. They took a green that was too steep, and she went out of control in a straight downward path in a snow plow position that didn't stop or even slow her. After Robbie yelled, "STOP, Olivia!," she sat down and kept sliding. As Olivia told it, a fallen snow boarder man ran as fast as he could across the mountain to get into her path to stop her. She told me that was the first of four times that she went out of control and had to be stopped by someone. Once Robbie had to stick out his ski pole for her to grab, then another time or two some ski patrol people got involved. Robbie felt terrible about putting her on something that was too difficult. He said he was very worried about how in the world he was ever going to get her safely down the long run. Finally, without anyone radioing for help, a snowmobile appeared and casually offered my darling daughter a ride down the mountain. I think those two made an unforgettable memory for sure! Thank God she stayed safe. I said, "Were you screaming?" She said, "Why, no. I wasn't screaming," as if to ask, "Why in the world would I scream, Mother?" I asked her if she cried, and she didn't do that either. Robbie said she handled the whole situation very impressively. Today she went down a run with her ski class that was on the harder side of the Timberline lift that Robbie and I skied all day. I kept making Robbie nervous by getting too close to the tree lines on my wide S curves. Sometimes I gain way more speed than I intend, and that is a scary feeling. All in all, I think snow skiing is challenging, thrilling, and a total blast. I promptly forgave Robbie his error in judgement after I saw his true remorse over what transpired. My confident and cool husband was scared for Olivia's safety.
Today Ev's instructor praised her gains, and said he kept trying to turn her over to an instructor going up Kokomo, but Evelyn wouldn't leave Henry. She cried when I told her that she gets to be in her own ski class tomorrow, for day 3. I can't wait to see how she does. Henry goes down little hills, but we have also spied him climbing on snow banks and licking snow off his mittens. He's a mess.
I cooked and froze lasagna, chili, and Italian Beef that we packed into a cooler. We just heat the food while we clean up after skiing, and then dinner is served. We eat, wear our PJs, sit by the fire, and chill. We are really enjoying ourselves. Baby hasn't acted like she feels all that well. However, today she got to go to special Critter Land outdoor snow play area for babies with her childcare group. She wears snow bibs and boots and gloves...the whole bit. We call the babysitting Baby Ski School. They have snow playtime each day, too cute.
