343/365 - Family Skiing Day

We promised the kids we'd go skiing with them if they were able to ski on the green runs by the end of their lessons. Well they could, so we did. It was such an awesome feeling to be able to spend the day skiing on the slopes with our kiddos!

342/365 - Another day of ski school

The kids were excited to go to another day of ski school and we were excited because there was only one other kid in Ryan's class today and Randi was the only one in her class, so we paid for group lessons but got private and semi-private lessons today...woo hoo!!! Randi and Kevin headed for the big hills and we stayed and watched Ryan for a little bit until we could see that he was finally getting the hang of the snowplow, so we went back to the house for a little R&R and quiet time. We couldn't stay away long though and headed back about an hour before their lesson ended to see what they'd accomplished during the day. When we got there we saw a little person that looked like Ryan heading out to the slopes and then up the chair lift. Bebe later told me my comment when I realized it really was Ryan was "it's a miracle!" And it really was. To see him going from struggling to control his ski's one day to hitting the slopes, snow plowing and riding the chair lift the next day was truly amazing!









Not long after Ryan got to the bottom of the hill we spotted Randi coming down the steeper slope with Kevin doing some pretty impressive turns...and again it was a small miracle. We were just amazed at how much she'd learned in such a short amount of time...but, then again, this is exactly why we wanted the kids to learn how to ski now. My Dad put my brother and I in ski school when we were about this same age, at a place not far away from where we are now called Buttermilk mountain. Those lessons sparked my love for skiing and gave me the skills and confidence to become an avid skier when I was growing up. I've always felt it was a gift my father gave me, and I wanted to give the same gift to my kids as well. Randi's reaction to her instructor at the end of the day told me she loved every minute of it and had a great experience, so I know we absolutely made the right decision to enroll them for a couple of days.

341/365 - Ski School

We enrolled the kids in ski school today. They both seemed excited and eager to hit the slopes and neither one gave us a second glance when we dropped them off and said goodbye for the day. The school asks the parents not to be there during their lesson, but we were able to find a great spot to watch them inside a building, high up above the school where neither of them could see us...or so we thought until Ryan waved at us. We had to laugh at ourselves because here we finally had an opportunity to go into town and shop or have a quiet lunch without the kids, but instead we stayed there for 3 1/2 hours watching them as they experienced skiing for the first time. Randi did fabulous and was out on the slopes within an hour and went up on the big chair lift before lunch time. Ryan on the other hand had a problem getting his ski's to tip in toward the center and instead kept going spread eagle most of the first day. He wasn't discouraged though, and we spent quite a bit of time this evening practicing what he needed to do with the hope that tomorrow he'd be able to snowplow and then be able to go out onto the big slopes.

340/365 - Gondola & Alpine Coaster

We rode the gondola up to Peak 8 to enjoy the view, have lunch and ride the Gold Runner Coaster, an elevated roller coaster that runs through the forest around and above the ski runs. We bought the kids tickets to do it one time each and as soon as they finished their ride they both immediately said they wanted to do it again! So we ended up getting an all day pass so they could do it again and again and again!

339/365 - Sledding

We went to a sledding park today and had the whole place to ourselves. Randi was fearless on the hill; Ryan was a little tentative at first but soon got the hang of it and then didn't want the day to ever end!!! I took advantage of having BeBe with us and asked her to snap a family photo of the 4 of us together, and then a man walking through the park offered to take one of the 5 of us as well.

338/365 - Playing in the snow

We spent our first day exploring our surrounding, getting used to the altitude and playing in the snow. We went down a few small hills on sleds and had lots of fun. I got a few shots of the little guy before he had a meltdown and had to go inside to warm up and EAT!



Randi and I stayed outside a little while longer and enjoyed the winter wonderland.

337/365 - Breckenridge

We get to spend the next week in a winter wonderland!