Ski Bunnies

For Christmas, Lehr and I gave the older kids a weekend ski trip. We chose a nearby 'resort': Cataloochee, in North Carolina. The kids were SO excited.

We scored some amazing ski gear on Craigslist and were able to outfit both of them with anything they could want or need (including helmets!). The gear was from a family with two girls, so the stuff had a slight feminine feel, but nothing over the top. The jacket Eli ended up in had some bright colors in it; he looked like a snowboarder. And his helmet was the lightest of pink (almost white), but he didn't mind. He actually said, "I don't care; I just want to ski."

We drove up after work on Thursday and planned to ski Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, it poured all day Friday, which would not have made for a successful first day. We ended up just hanging around the cabin all day, watching movies, playing games, and dipping in the hot tub a few times.

Saturday was the opposite: a tiny bit of snow to start the day, but then bright blue skies and 36degrees with NO wind. We put the kids in a half day of ski school, just to get them acclimated. Even though we both got lift tickets for the morning, we ended up just watching them do their ski school thing all morning.

I was impressed with how well they both did!

When Maddux and Eli finished with 'school' at lunchtime, they asked to go down their school bunny slope a few more times (on their own) to make sure before going up top. That's all it took and then Lehr took them up (one at a time the first time) the chair lift to the top. I couldn't believe how quickly they came down...only a few falls each! Ruby was done at that point, so I took her back to the cabin for lunch and a nap while Lehr stayed and skied with the kids. They had a blast and even managed to get on and off of the chair lift without any injuries.

At 5PM, Ruby and I picked the three up from the mountain and brought them home for a quick dinner. They were back on the slopes between 6:30 and 7 and stayed until 9:30. That's a looong time! Maddux and Eli seriously had a blast. Lehr said they were both totally into it and enjoyed every fall, every bobble, everything.