Robbie and Olivia just left the condo after a lunch break. My phone says it is 10 degrees and feels like 4 below zero. When I checked the weather first thing this morning the wind chill was -30 degrees F! Robbie insisted it must be wrong. He skied with the big girls for just over an hour this morning, as Evelyn was too cold to continue. Henry didn't want a thing to do with skiing today. He told us he was tired of skiing and just wanted to stay in and relax. His thighs hurt. I guess he is my son.
I'm typing by the fire, and the little kids are doing school work. I have a pretty view of snow capped pines on the mountain out my window. I love it. On the drive here Henry said, "Wow! There are a million trees out there!" Pictures just don't do justice to the majesty of the surrounding view. The peacefulness of moving up the mountain on the lifts with God's scenery around us is one of my favorite parts of ski trips.
We really enjoyed the mass service Sunday evening. We hurried to eat and clean up before the 5:15 pm mass, and the children were pretty wiped out by the time it began. Vivian fell asleep in my arms, and she stayed asleep after I carefully propped her on the pew as I went up to receive the Eucharist. She was darling. The priest turned out to be an old seminary classmate of Msgr. Charles McGlinn. He mentioned praying for his health during the petitions.
After browsing the village shops with Henry and Viv today we stopped into Sugar Lips mini donuts. The dough is similar to funnel cake, and they are made to order (hot!) and covered with an abundance of cinnamon and sugar. We were in heaven eating them as they absolutely melted in our mouths. Henry's heaven lasted all of about 30 seconds for he shoved them whole into his mouth. Viv had the sweetest little sugar lips. Henry had sugar hands, sugar coat, sugar table, sugar face. The little ones spilled the beans as we entered the condo and found Daddy, O, and Ev, so I went out into the cold for another dozen.
Yesterday Robbie let the children go into a ski park that had four consecutive jumps in a row. They are pretty big time, and snowboarders use them most often. The girls have done them before, and they can handle the tiny bit of air they get without crashing. Henry crashed on the first ramp. He then made his way to try the next one, but he lost momentum just before he got to the top of the peak, so he slid backwards. He skis without poles. The same thing happened again on the third ramp, and Robbie went to rescue him. An old snowboarder told us we broke the "get out of the way if you don't make the jump rule". We learned.
On the mountain the others often went off the main stretch onto little trick paths in the woods or on side natural ramp areas. I stuck to enormous S paths down the mountain. While Olivia was always trying to push us to go higher on the mountain or find a tougher run, little Evelyn was constantly concerned for my well being. "What about Mom? Will she be okay? Is she going to get lost?" She is a sweet one. Olivia's last words as she left to ski today were, "We're going to try to find a black without moguls!" Again, I maintain it is so good that children have two parents. She'd never have the same childhood experience with me as her only parent. I was proud of the progress I made on the terrain we skied for four days. There were areas that challenged me greatly. We all laughed at how Mommy's strategy on those areas was to make zig zaps (not curvy S paths) all the way left and right on the mountain like scrunched Z's. I probably skied four times the distance of the others in the family due to my technique. That said, I survived another ski trip unharmed, and I had a blast.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
This is a great adventure.
I really can't get over how exciting this trip has been. Honestly, the excitement I feel about the kids' skiing (Vivian's advancement in particular) is like that of a first time parent with a baby who just learned to walk. I want to shout from the mountaintops! Good thing I'm in the mountains...
Henry, Evelyn, and Olivia skied with us parents today while Vivian took another ski school lesson. She had one other little girl in her group, and the instructor pushed her to the max in a great way. After lunch I asked Robbie to take us back to the top of the mountain to ski down the long green runs to the bottom that we enjoyed so much with the big girls yesterday. Olivia and Evelyn follow right behind Robbie, and they control themselves beautifully. When they lead, they navigate the mountain easily. They seem ready to ski whatever lies ahead, and I am always the pokey one bringing up the rear. It was different skiing the very long run with Henry. He was freaked out by the height we climbed on two lifts to reach the peak. He crashed on a tree pathway and slid into deep snow. He started screaming for me, and I had to get out of my skis and run uphill through deep powder in ski boots. I was certain he had broken his leg from his yelling, but he was just really scared. He later got ahead of us and went on a path other than what Robbie planned. At that point I sent them on ahead and went to the base to wait for Vivian's lesson to end. You'll never guess what I spied. She was going down the bunny slope, but she was skiing over a snow ramp doing ski jumps. She tried it about five times before she landed her final attempt! Robbie had returned with the other kids, so we all got to cheer for her success. The best part was that the ski instructor explained he had taken her up the high speed Union Creek lift where she successfully skied down green runs that I had been doing. She was off the beginner part of the mountain and super slow Kokomo and Lumberjack lifts. She really wanted to ride the fast lift to show us her skiing skills, but Henry and Evelyn were cold and exhausted. We skied from 9 am until 3 pm with just a short lunch break. As usual, Robbie doesn't mess around. It was snowing a blizzard and in the low 20s. Olivia and Robbie said they'd take her on the run. Robbie said she did an awesome job. She wiped out a few times on the steep sections, but she did so well and had so much fun that once they got down to the bottom Vivian asked to go back up to ski down again!! We are all so proud of Miss Viv. Birth order is such an interesting factor. I believe Vivian just assumes she should be able to do what the big siblings do, so she tries hard and succeeds. This is a great adventure.
Henry, Evelyn, and Olivia skied with us parents today while Vivian took another ski school lesson. She had one other little girl in her group, and the instructor pushed her to the max in a great way. After lunch I asked Robbie to take us back to the top of the mountain to ski down the long green runs to the bottom that we enjoyed so much with the big girls yesterday. Olivia and Evelyn follow right behind Robbie, and they control themselves beautifully. When they lead, they navigate the mountain easily. They seem ready to ski whatever lies ahead, and I am always the pokey one bringing up the rear. It was different skiing the very long run with Henry. He was freaked out by the height we climbed on two lifts to reach the peak. He crashed on a tree pathway and slid into deep snow. He started screaming for me, and I had to get out of my skis and run uphill through deep powder in ski boots. I was certain he had broken his leg from his yelling, but he was just really scared. He later got ahead of us and went on a path other than what Robbie planned. At that point I sent them on ahead and went to the base to wait for Vivian's lesson to end. You'll never guess what I spied. She was going down the bunny slope, but she was skiing over a snow ramp doing ski jumps. She tried it about five times before she landed her final attempt! Robbie had returned with the other kids, so we all got to cheer for her success. The best part was that the ski instructor explained he had taken her up the high speed Union Creek lift where she successfully skied down green runs that I had been doing. She was off the beginner part of the mountain and super slow Kokomo and Lumberjack lifts. She really wanted to ride the fast lift to show us her skiing skills, but Henry and Evelyn were cold and exhausted. We skied from 9 am until 3 pm with just a short lunch break. As usual, Robbie doesn't mess around. It was snowing a blizzard and in the low 20s. Olivia and Robbie said they'd take her on the run. Robbie said she did an awesome job. She wiped out a few times on the steep sections, but she did so well and had so much fun that once they got down to the bottom Vivian asked to go back up to ski down again!! We are all so proud of Miss Viv. Birth order is such an interesting factor. I believe Vivian just assumes she should be able to do what the big siblings do, so she tries hard and succeeds. This is a great adventure.
Monday, March 2, 2015
"I've been waiting for this day my whole life."
This evening I suggested to Robbie that a reality show should be created to challenge contestants to wear out Henry in a day. For three days he has been in ski school, and back in the condo he is not even close to being out of gas. Amazingly, the six-year-old boy doesn't seem to tire.
We have been having an amazing family ski vacation. The temperatures have been in the 20s with snow until we broke freezing today, but our gear has kept us comfortable. Ski school has been wonderful for the children. They got over being rusty from a two year layoff pretty quickly. Vivian was excited to start ski school for the first time at age 5. On our previous trips she has been in babysitting. Her ski instructor really enjoyed her positive attitude and cuteness. Viv told her, "I've been waiting for this day my whole life!" She made us all laugh at dinner when she spoke of making friends, "except for the criers!" There were terror stricken beginner skiers at ski school drop-off who cried really hard, yet Viv just walked right up without issue.
We've had many memorable moments. Yesterday with Robbie I decided to live a little, even though my skills are lacking, and I went down a narrow run of moguls. It was a ridiculous thing to do, and I laughed loudly and even shrieked over and over while entertained ski lift riders watched from above. I won't do it again soon, but I'm glad I was able to tell the girls about the experience. Spying Henry in ski school from the ski lift was a wonderful treat. He was leading his class, and he looked very confident and capable. My big girls are able to ski on blue terrain that is steeper and less groomed (bumpy), but all day today they had to stick to greens with us because of me. However, Robbie found a way to get us high up on the mountain, yet we could ski down various long green runs. It was snowing, and the view was really spectacular. There weren't many people up there, and we loved skiing together. I am so proud of Olivia and Evelyn's ability to pick this sport up so well when we do this so infrequently.
The best moment of all was today after Vivian got out of ski school. The plan was for me to take Vivian back to our condo while Robbie skied for another hour with the three other kids. She looked really sad and said that she sure wished she could go up the ski lift and ski with all of us. I said I was game, so up we six went. That little toot rode the lift, showed no fear whatsoever, and skied down the the entire length of the run without falling once. She looked so tiny, and all of us were thrilled for her. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!! That was our first time this trip with Henry out of ski school skiing with us, and he impressed Robbie. I couldn't believe that we were skiing AS A FAMILY. It was awesome. I look forward to the experience tomorrow afternoon and for years to come. I've been waiting for this day since we first came to Copper Mountain in 2012.
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