Ski Weekend

Brian's Christmas present for the boys was ski lessons. He scheduled the first two lessons on the first Friday and Saturday in January thinking they were still on Winter Break from school. Instead, we had to take the kids out of school, BUT it was totally worth it.

I do not ski. I carried the bags, took the pictures and cried the Olympic happy tears. It took a lot to get the boys situated the first day, but then Bridget and Brian went off to the lift and I went to the Alta Grill to watch out the windows. My first view of Brian and Bridget coming back in was this:

I knew they weren't talking to each other, and yet they were communicating. Something about watching them skiing together made me teary. They've been going together for five years. Bridget is a good little skier now - she doesn't care to go fast, she wants to make the turns and learn how to do everything. Brian patiently follows her. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Then they get on the lift where Bridget can open her chatterbox until they get to the top. They went down a few Black Diamond runs together - Bridget has complete trust in her Dad. I do too.

I went to see what the boys were up to over at the Magic Carpet for a minute.

They'd ski down on either side of that conveyor belt (the "Magic Carpet"), then get back on it to the top.

Their instructors are giving them snowballs to hold as they ski down. For balance, maybe? I know nothing.

It was only in the single digits while we were there the first day, so Brian and Bridget came in to warm up.

After a very expensive lunch at the Alta Grill (we are such amateurs), Brian and the kids got bundled back up and we all went to the tow rope. (I inadvertently ended Colin's lesson early when I called to him and waved from the balcony 10 minutes before he was supposed to finish. He saw me, waved excitedly, took off his skis and left them where he was standing and ran into the building to get me. Ha!)

Skiing is a bit like bowling for Colin.

Emil struggled a lot that first day - he fell and fell and fell. Colin seemed to pick it right up. Emil always got up when he fell, though, and he couldn't wait to try again. It's his best "feature," as Bridget says. :)

Brian is the World's Best Backward Skier. :)

My favorite. 

We got to our hotel at about 3:00 and all three of the kids were laughing and bouncing around with happiness. Our room was on the top floor, so we had a great view. We hurried and dressed for the pool. Because it's always Go Time.

The pizza we ordered (after a few hours at the pool) took forever and I think we could have eaten another pizza. (I did have carrot sticks and string cheese too, but they'd all worked so hard that they couldn't stop eating.)

Our second day at Alta was a lot like the first, but there were more people at the resort. Emil used all his experience from the first day to ROCK the second day. He made it onto the Red Team. I think Colin was still tired from the day before because he fell down more the second day. Even though they were both tired from their lessons, they were happy to go to the tow rope with Brian and Bridget again. 

We're already planning our ski trip for next year. It's our Thing. :)