It's Official, Skiing is our Sport

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we took the boys for their first downhill skiing experience.

It was all in preparation for a school trip Jack was making.  He was anxious about it and in usual fashion for a kid who is not keen to try new things, he didn't even want to go.

In an attempt to forgo the lifelong commitment to this adage (because are you kidding me? Life is too short not to try new things!), we were making him go.  To ease his fears, we took both boys a couple weeks before the school trip so he would have some experience under his belt. We had a semi-private lesson for an hour and within that hour, both boys were turning nicely.  We skied the rest of the afternoon in the bitter cold and called it a success.

A few weeks later, Jack wanted to go again so we loaded up and headed out. This time we brought one of Jack's friends too.  He had tried snowboarding on the first school trip and wanted to try skiing.  We had about a half hour before the lesson so I took him through the basics and by the time the instructor arrived, all three boys were ready to head up the chair for more of a challenge.

 

Jack and his friend were good to go, no issues.  Kamden gets very nervous when we add a bit of a steeper incline.  He was not impressed with the whole situation.  I believe the words, "I HATE this" were uttered on more than one occasion.  A sport he doesn't like, who knew?

 

 

So we sent Jack and his friend for one more run with the instructor and Kamden went in for a break.  Then we tried again and it was no better.  And finally he had had enough and Jay took him back to the bunny hill while I skied with the older boys off the chair.  We even did a blue run and they both rocked it.

 

 

I am not worried.  He'll get there.  I was the same when I started.  Ornery and mouthy and angry.  I was also five and missing my two front teeth.  My parents laugh about it now (and probably then too - picture a toothless five year old yelling!) but I guess I'll add that to the tab of a million things I owe them for.

 

You know that Joe Pesci Snickers commercial?  That pretty much sums it up, just replace hungry with skiing.

 

 

On Wednesday he went skiing again with the school and came home asking when he could go again.

 

On Saturday we checked out our local ski shop and scored helmets at a steal of a deal.  Jack (and maybe me too) were so excited about the new helmets, we had to head out to the hill Sunday to try them out.  Kamden had soccer and was more than relieved he didn't have to go.  Jack and I headed out for the day.

 

 

We had a great day together.  He tried to pull his stuck in a rut routine (he is by nature, extremly habitual) by doing the one and only green run (it's a small resort) over and over but I wasn't having any of that.  And after one mild protest, he agreed that we would mix it up with a blue run every now and then.  It helped that it was easier to get to the lodge from the blue run than the green run.  

 

He had a smile on the whole day.  My heart was nearly bursting.

 

A sport he likes? That he is already talking about doing again this weekend?

 

We hit the jack pot (pun not originally intended but ha....).

 

I am equally excited.  I am not sure if it's because I have always loved skiing (true story) or because he is so excited about it. I think it's a combination of the two.

 

I was teasing him by asking if I looked like some of the pros we would see from the lift and he was polite but firm, "Mom, you are good, but not that good."

 

Naturally I made him video me so I could see for myself.  He's right.  I am not bad but I am no professional. And my stop made me laugh out loud.  Videos of both myself and Jack are here if you are so inclined.

 

We are scoping out equipment and have booked a hotel near Panorama, BC over New Year's next year. Grams and Pop may even come, it's been years since they skied and it's about time.

 

We are going to be a skiing family! Kamden is overjoyed.

Taking Winter by Storm

We've been busy. Kamden developed a new dance, patent is pending.

And don't worry, neither the floor nor Kamden were injured in the making of this video. Also, this kid, I just can't imagine our family without him.

 

My parents (and their dog, Mika) joined us a couple weekends ago to watch Kamden play in a soccer tournament.  They met the same team in the final as the last tournament but this time, Kamden's team won.  It was, to say the least, very exciting. The parents were, ahem, a little bit excited during all of the games.  The boys played so well and it was a proud moment when they won.

 

And life around here is pretty entertaining on a daily basis (related: I love that I get to work from home and be here for these moments).  This is a snap of the boys antics as they head off to school after lunch one day.



 

 

Pretty much a normal day around here.  Again, I assure you, no one was injured (this time) in the making of the above photos.

 

This past weekend was very exciting for me.  I have hoped for a long time that I could get the boys to strap on the boards and careen down a hill.  Wait, that didn't come out right.  Let me start again.  My parents made me strap them on when I was the ripe old age of 5.

 

Ahem.  That was no better was it?

 

Anyway.  I skied all through my childhood, starting when I was 5.  Living on the Prairies, we had to travel to the Rockies to ski but we did, annually.  I loved it.

 

I have put it off because Jack, well, let's just say trying new things is not an exciting experience.  But he has to go with school in a couple of weeks so... this past weekend, we braved the minus 35 degree Celsius (that is not a typo) temperatures and headed to a hill about 45 min away. It's no mountain but about perfect for beginners.

 



 

I had arranged for the boys to take a lesson as soon as we arrived. I might know how to ski but I was five when I started, I don't remember much about how I learned to ski.  I do remember skiing between my dad's legs and him drawing S's in the snow in the futile effort to get me to turn rather than going straight down (now you see why my dad caged me in!).

 

 

They both caught on very quickly in and in about 5 runs down the bunny hill had mastered the snow plow and were sort of turning.

 

 

And can I just say, T-bars, thank be to heavens they are obsolete.  This magic carpet system is the cats ass.  I cannot tell you how many times I fell off the T-bar making my brother have to also get off because he couldn't leave me behind.  I still owe him for that and about 10,000 other things.

 

 





And Jack, the one who was a bit frighted to try skiing took to it like a fish to water.  He loved it! Being the good mom that I am, I reminded him that I was right about that.  I am mature like that.

 

 Kamden liked it too but the poor kid takes after me and was frozen within a half hour.  We took lots and lots of warm up breaks and after I put those Hot Shot thingys in his ski boots to keep his toes from becoming ice cubes, he was having a blast too.

 

We even went up the chair once but um, that didn't go too well so we stuck to the bunny hill for the rest of the afternoon.

 

I was soooo proud of both of them for trying so hard and braving the ridiculous cold.

 



 

I can't wait to go again and maybe old man winter's fury will be a bit less next time.

June So Far

June, it's here and almost half over already. We've been busy. Kamden is playing both soccer and flag football. Here he is lining on the defensive line.  I don't actually know what I am talking about but I fooled you there, didn't I?

The day I brought my camera he got a tackle (ie ripped a flag off the ball carrier) in the first few minutes of the game.  He was also about 5 feet from me and my zoom lens.  When you look at the picture below, envision his arm extending above the top of the photo holding the yellow flag.  Then look at his face.  He was proud.

He also went to a birthday party and got his face painted.  Adorable, no?

Then we had a birthday.  Jack's 11th to be exact

This card had Phineus telling us what I breath smelled like.

I love the look on Kamden's face!

I found this book while browsing in the books with Jack. Kamden and I managed a covert operation to get it to Dad at the till without Jack's knowledge.  Mom's got some stealth.

Jack, being my son in every way, only wanted to invite three friends to his party plus his little bro. They battled with Nerf guns for three hours in between pizza and cake. Good choice Jack, good choice. Next up, Kamden's birthday.