Ski day

Yesterday we headed up to Crotched Mountain for some skiing with an additional skier in tow.  Mr. 3 really wanted to give it a try and after chatting with the ski instructor on the phone I decided to try it.  I was a bit nervous about the afternoon - the older two were in ski school in the morning but really wanted to ski with friends in the afternoon and I wasn't sure if Mr. 3 would have the energy for a whole day of ski school.  We got all geared up and I dropped them off with plenty of enthusiasm.  One of the instructors was explaining to Mr. 7 how the high speed lift worked and Mr. 9 was telling Mr. 3 how much fun he would have.

The day was much colder and icier due to the earlier warm weather in the week followed by a freeze but they had made fresh snow overnight so it was manageable. Midmorning I sneaked over to the little hill and watched Mr. 3 take the Magic Carpet up and he down with his instructor.  He looked happy.  I gave him goggles (the older boys had borrowed some and it was just too windy without them) and he was off again.  At lunch I picked up the boys for lunch but Mr. 3 said he was staying and did not want to join us for lunch.  Not even for pizza with the brothers.  So I had to bring lunch down to him and happily signed him up for the afternoon.

After pizza and hot chocolate, we headed back out on the slopes.  The boys wanted to go to the top on The Rocket and ski down a blue to a green with some small jumps.  The first time was great and you could really see their improvement from last time.  We did a few more runs then headed back up The Rocket.  This time Mr. 9 hit a slippery place and froze up.  He has always been cautious about new things, unlike Mr. 7 who likes to go fast and is much more daring.  And so he inched his way down, barely moving and near tears.  The wind had picked up and it was cold and Mr. 7 skied ahead with friends while I coaxed Mr. 9 down.  My patience was just about exhausted by the bottom and I thought a quick break would really help but Mr. 7 and friends were ready to go, having waited for us for the last 20 minutes or so.  And Mr. 9 refused to take a break if others were going up.  We took an easier run and you could see his confidence slowly start to return.  He's definitely slower than his brother but by the end he was moving a little faster and more confidently.

Near frozen, we headed back to the lodge for hot chocolate and to get Mr. 3.  Mr. 7 was dissolving in a puddle of weeping coldness as was his friend C so I ended up carrying 3 sets of skis back to the lodge but we made it and everyone perked up with snacks and hot chocolate.

I picked up Mr. 3 who had a great day.  He told me that he took the Magic Carpet to the top by himself and skied down "full speed ahead".  He was so fast that his instructor couldn't catch him (although he also said he needed the pole to help him keep his balance so obviously his instructor was with him).  He loved it and can't wait to go again.

For the boys birthdays we gave them a number of choices of activities they could do and they chose a special ski day so they're definitely loving it!