First Ski Day

We only get to ski two days this trip. The boys wanted time to spend with their friends at home, and I tried to get the cheaper plane tickets. We didn't have the energy to ski our first day, so we saved the skiing for our second full day.

Eric needed lessons since he could barely stop on skis when we were here two years ago. Interestingly, when we were renting his gear at Arapahoe Basin (or A-Basin), he recognized the guy helping us as someone he saw there last time. Since he was four years old the last time we came, that's a pretty good memory for a four year old.

We chose A-Basin because they had half-day lessons available there. A whole day would have been too much for him. We've also had good luck with lessons there, for all of us. We had to get there early, before 9am in order to get his gear and then have him ready for lessons at 10am.

I thought he was pretty cute standing there with one ski boot on. He didn't understand why that was, at first. Patrick told him that was because they needed to fit the ski boots to the skis, and they only needed one. Of course, the one he was wearing had the tag for them to scan, so when they asked for that, Patrick picked him up and turned him upside down so that the guy could scan the boot Eric was wearing. It was too quick to take a picture, but it was pretty hilarious.

After Eric got all his gear, Anthony wanted to take a picture of his skis next to Eric's skis. We turned that into a photo op where I took a picture of all four of them. Eric has his eyes closed because of the bright sun.

Alex and Anthony got the same size ski boots, and Patrick and Anthony have the same size skis. Alex could have gotten the same size skis, but he felt like he was more of a beginner and therefore he was more comfortable with slightly shorter skis.

I wanted to take a picture of Patrick with the boys at the top of the mountain. They ended up on the less majestic side, so the background is just a big snow bank. I love this picture, though, because Alex decided to pose for me. Of course, I ended up putting my finger over part of the picture, so it's not as good as it could have been, but I really love Alex giving me "attitude" this time.

On our next trip up, I got this photo. It was a beautiful, clear day. I might try to do a little Photoshop magic when I get home to erase the people in the background, but the view is just incredible. I also love that we were able to ski with the boys. They have quite a bit more energy than I do, but they stopped and waited for me and I loved and appreciated that.

After Eric finished with his lesson at 1230, we had some lunch. Eric said he enjoyed skiing, but he didn't want to have another ski lesson. Patrick went out to the small hill to see how he was doing. He wanted to see if there was any way Eric would be able to ski with us on the mountain. Unfortunately, he found out that Eric really needed at least one more lesson before he could go up on the mountain with us, and we didn't want to force him if he wasn't interested. So today, Eric got to stay home with Natalie and Grandma. I'll try to post about that tomorrow.