OUR 1ST SKI "ADVENTURE"
Tyler's Heart, lots of babies and my parents illnesses has deterred us from skiing the past couple of years. A couple of months ago, I realized they needed to ski! We live 3 hours from the Sierra's, grandparents are 20 minutes from Utah slopes and my kids had never been skiing. GASP!! So I made it a goal that 2016 would be the year to learn.
Danny had off Thursday-Sunday over New Years, so we planned a last minute trip. Goal #2 is to become a better planner. I found the last hotel with vacancies in a cute town of Sonora about 45 minutes from the mountain. We were going to just take turns to watch the baby, but my AMAZING sister offered to take him. Taking care of a 9 month old for 3 days and 2 nights isn't an easy task. She really is incredible, but everyone knows that.
Shawna, an amazing friend, gave us her ski gear, we went to sports basement to get some ski boots for the boys, my parents for my old skis, dropped off Parker Thursday morning and headed to Dodge Ridge Ski Resort. Dodge Ridge is a small resort. We didn't know what to expect and it was perfect!! Super affordable, friendly, relatively warm, not crowded considering it was new years and the conditions were perfect!
I watched a video on teaching kids to ski. I think Danny went along with the plan just to be a good husband. He was worried about his leg pain (which has been quite bad lately) and the logistics of teaching 4 kids to ski with 2 adults. We nicknamed the trip our "ADVENTURE".
DAY 1: Afternoon skiing from 1230-400 would be plenty of time to learn how to get gear on and push the kids down a mountain, right? YES and then some! The magic carpets and smallest runs were of course dedicated to ski lessons. 4 kids going in 4 different directions was truly an adventure. Scott and Tyler fended for themselves. I would hike Kira and Blake to a learning spot and Kira would get scared when I was about 20 feet away. After about an hour, Kira and Blake were ready to be done. We formed a hot cocoa club. Danny spent a little more time with Tyler until Tyler joined our club. The hot cocoa club ended in flames with a nice lady carrying a lot of our stuff to the car for us, while I carried screaming kids to the car to play games. I think the kids were exhausted from being up way to late and then staying in Walnut Creek instead of their own beds. Danny had about 1.5 hours with Scott and Scott loved it!! They went up lifts and he liked going straight down the mountain plowing.
I thought it was a total success since Scott LOVED it and did so well. The rest I think I cleared from my head.
We tried to get Kira and Blake signed up for ski school but they were totally filled because of my last minute planning. They told me the 3 year old program was more play and less ski. We formed a plan for day 2...the "switch pass".
DAY 2: Switch pass was 1 adult skied while the other watched other kids. Danny took Scott and Tyler and they did well. Scott got mad at Tyler that he wasn't going fast enough, etc. Tyler was frustrated being pushed outside his comfort zone. Scott was kind of a punk. He thought he was awesome and everyone should revolve around him, but at least they were both skiing. We had lunch and I took Kira to the tow rope. She did well and started to get the hang of it. While I was teaching Kira, Blake didn't want to wait any longer, so Danny took Blake to the hill, hiked him up and off Blake went. He was doing awesome and actually learning to stop. I skied backwards while Kira skied to me and she did great. It was a LOT of work but they were all getting it!! YEAH!! We had skiers for the most part. Danny took skiing for the end because we listened to him for about 2 hours asking us to take him to harder runs.
Day 3: Scott LOVED skiing and couldn't wait to spend ALL day on the slopes. He was determined to work on his parallel skiing. Kira and Blake were so excited to ski some more and Tyler was impartial. I told him he could be my helper. All of us headed to the easiest chair lift. Kira was totally getting it. She was comfortable and confident. Tyler was much happier being able to go at his pace and waiting for us at the lift. After 1 or 2 runs, Blake perfected his turns and stopping. He would turn, turn, turn, turn, turn all around, but at least he was turning. He was very conservative but really getting practice on essential skills. Scott and Danny left us after about 30 minutes for harder lifts. They tried some experts, Scott was getting parallel skiing, Kira and Tyler partnered up for the lift and I partnered with Blake. They did great together. They tried going to this little hill each run to "jump" off it. The morning was perfect for everyone to slow down and enjoy skiing.
We met up for lunch at 1 and headed out for the last 2 hours together on a harder lift that would push blake, but allow Scott to work on his jumps. It was so fun skiing together and watching the with smiles on their faces. Kira followed as closely behind Tyler as she could because she didn't want to be left behind. People would always comment to Blake saying things like "go little man" and he would usually grunt back. It was funny. Scott looked for the jumps he could find and Blakey gained confidence going straiter down the mountain. Nobody, including the parents wanted to leave!
After 1.5 days of learning how to ski, the kids were really skiing!! It is so freeing to see your kids go down the hills on their own. Watching them find little jumps, know that they know how to get their skis on if they fall off. Ideally, it would be nice to have 1:1 ratio with teaching little kids. It would be nice to have a magic carpet, but we persevered and grew to LOVE skiing.
So proud of them! Can't wait to go back!! Already thinking about where I can find their own gear for them.
We stayed in the cutest little town of sonora. It is a gold mining town. Our hotel was perfect. We made perfect time each day getting to the slopes, but it took a LONG time getting home each night. I will definitely go back to this mountain. Relaxing in a hotel after a day of skiing is so nice. It was fun! All the kids had a blast! It was an awesome vacation for me. I realized I like adventures. I like my kids learning new skills and this was both of those. I loved being outdoors. It was BEAUTIFUL being in the sierras and surrounded by people helping each other.
Much needed great quality, family time. LOVED it! So proud of these kids! And adults too! We did it!
Sports basement renting the gear way too late.
Danny had off Thursday-Sunday over New Years, so we planned a last minute trip. Goal #2 is to become a better planner. I found the last hotel with vacancies in a cute town of Sonora about 45 minutes from the mountain. We were going to just take turns to watch the baby, but my AMAZING sister offered to take him. Taking care of a 9 month old for 3 days and 2 nights isn't an easy task. She really is incredible, but everyone knows that.
Shawna, an amazing friend, gave us her ski gear, we went to sports basement to get some ski boots for the boys, my parents for my old skis, dropped off Parker Thursday morning and headed to Dodge Ridge Ski Resort. Dodge Ridge is a small resort. We didn't know what to expect and it was perfect!! Super affordable, friendly, relatively warm, not crowded considering it was new years and the conditions were perfect!
I watched a video on teaching kids to ski. I think Danny went along with the plan just to be a good husband. He was worried about his leg pain (which has been quite bad lately) and the logistics of teaching 4 kids to ski with 2 adults. We nicknamed the trip our "ADVENTURE".
DAY 1: Afternoon skiing from 1230-400 would be plenty of time to learn how to get gear on and push the kids down a mountain, right? YES and then some! The magic carpets and smallest runs were of course dedicated to ski lessons. 4 kids going in 4 different directions was truly an adventure. Scott and Tyler fended for themselves. I would hike Kira and Blake to a learning spot and Kira would get scared when I was about 20 feet away. After about an hour, Kira and Blake were ready to be done. We formed a hot cocoa club. Danny spent a little more time with Tyler until Tyler joined our club. The hot cocoa club ended in flames with a nice lady carrying a lot of our stuff to the car for us, while I carried screaming kids to the car to play games. I think the kids were exhausted from being up way to late and then staying in Walnut Creek instead of their own beds. Danny had about 1.5 hours with Scott and Scott loved it!! They went up lifts and he liked going straight down the mountain plowing.
I thought it was a total success since Scott LOVED it and did so well. The rest I think I cleared from my head.
We tried to get Kira and Blake signed up for ski school but they were totally filled because of my last minute planning. They told me the 3 year old program was more play and less ski. We formed a plan for day 2...the "switch pass".
DAY 2: Switch pass was 1 adult skied while the other watched other kids. Danny took Scott and Tyler and they did well. Scott got mad at Tyler that he wasn't going fast enough, etc. Tyler was frustrated being pushed outside his comfort zone. Scott was kind of a punk. He thought he was awesome and everyone should revolve around him, but at least they were both skiing. We had lunch and I took Kira to the tow rope. She did well and started to get the hang of it. While I was teaching Kira, Blake didn't want to wait any longer, so Danny took Blake to the hill, hiked him up and off Blake went. He was doing awesome and actually learning to stop. I skied backwards while Kira skied to me and she did great. It was a LOT of work but they were all getting it!! YEAH!! We had skiers for the most part. Danny took skiing for the end because we listened to him for about 2 hours asking us to take him to harder runs.
Day 3: Scott LOVED skiing and couldn't wait to spend ALL day on the slopes. He was determined to work on his parallel skiing. Kira and Blake were so excited to ski some more and Tyler was impartial. I told him he could be my helper. All of us headed to the easiest chair lift. Kira was totally getting it. She was comfortable and confident. Tyler was much happier being able to go at his pace and waiting for us at the lift. After 1 or 2 runs, Blake perfected his turns and stopping. He would turn, turn, turn, turn, turn all around, but at least he was turning. He was very conservative but really getting practice on essential skills. Scott and Danny left us after about 30 minutes for harder lifts. They tried some experts, Scott was getting parallel skiing, Kira and Tyler partnered up for the lift and I partnered with Blake. They did great together. They tried going to this little hill each run to "jump" off it. The morning was perfect for everyone to slow down and enjoy skiing.
We met up for lunch at 1 and headed out for the last 2 hours together on a harder lift that would push blake, but allow Scott to work on his jumps. It was so fun skiing together and watching the with smiles on their faces. Kira followed as closely behind Tyler as she could because she didn't want to be left behind. People would always comment to Blake saying things like "go little man" and he would usually grunt back. It was funny. Scott looked for the jumps he could find and Blakey gained confidence going straiter down the mountain. Nobody, including the parents wanted to leave!
After 1.5 days of learning how to ski, the kids were really skiing!! It is so freeing to see your kids go down the hills on their own. Watching them find little jumps, know that they know how to get their skis on if they fall off. Ideally, it would be nice to have 1:1 ratio with teaching little kids. It would be nice to have a magic carpet, but we persevered and grew to LOVE skiing.
So proud of them! Can't wait to go back!! Already thinking about where I can find their own gear for them.
We stayed in the cutest little town of sonora. It is a gold mining town. Our hotel was perfect. We made perfect time each day getting to the slopes, but it took a LONG time getting home each night. I will definitely go back to this mountain. Relaxing in a hotel after a day of skiing is so nice. It was fun! All the kids had a blast! It was an awesome vacation for me. I realized I like adventures. I like my kids learning new skills and this was both of those. I loved being outdoors. It was BEAUTIFUL being in the sierras and surrounded by people helping each other.
Much needed great quality, family time. LOVED it! So proud of these kids! And adults too! We did it!
Sports basement renting the gear way too late.
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