Sunday, December 22, 2013

Snow in Love with Skiing...

On our college ski trip this year, the little munchkins and I decided to tag along...and boy did we have a blast! Daniel planned for the college group to head to Winter Park, Colorado which was a new location for me. It was beautiful there...
My mountain man is a phenomenal skier and is always itching to hit the white powder, so he was pretty pumped about Kason and I joining him on the slopes this year.
This was Kason's first year to go skiing, so we enrolled him in ski school for two days...
Let's just say that Kason is a complete natural on those skis! I had so much fun sneaking up to watch him throughout the day. Here he is on his first day learning the ropes of how to move on the mountain in skis...
 He had really great instructors that worked with him, although he kept getting in trouble for going too fast :). Yep, I think we have another Daniel mini-me...an adrenaline junkie!
At the end of the first day, Kason was begging to go back again because he fell in LOVE with skiing!
In ski school, Kason learned how to pizza wedge to slow down/stop, french fry parallel to head down the slope, and even how to get on/off the ski lift without any help...
On the second day I followed him up the mountain and watched him ski without him knowing. This kid totally rocked it! While the other little boy in his class kept falling down, Kason would zip on to his next stop gliding like a pro and would stop while waiting for the other boy to catch up :).
Daniel and I were so proud of him! Therefore, on the third day we decided to take him up to the very top with the rest of the group...
Oh yeah, this kid is bad to the bone! Only 4 years old & 2 days of skiing and he was ready to zip down the mountain!
Kason did really well going down greens the whole way down, although we did have a few rough spots and tears. Daniel started taking him down the roads since it was the easiest way, but Kason began to throw a fit saying it was "too slow". Before we knew it, he pointed his skis downhill and flew past us! 
This my friend was when things got a little crazy and scary for Daniel and I. Kason's face would light up while he pointed those skis and zoomed down the hill, but his problem was that he couldn't really stop from the slope being too steep and Kason not having enough muscle to stop himself.
We ended up taking our time, going down slowly. Kason skied some by himself and some between Daniel's legs while he showed him how to traverse the hill and control his speed a bit. On the days when Kason was at ski school, Daniel and I had a chance to ski with our college students. My ski buddies were fabulous and right on my skill level...
We probably bored Daniel a time or two, but he was a trooper to make a few runs with these guys! I normally go to my happy place whenever Daniel skis because he prefers double blacks, back country skiing, and to ski trees which is way beyond my granny greens :). My favorite part of the trip was getting to hang out with our students and getting to know them even better...
When you have kids, it makes it a bit harder on a minister's wife to balance raising your children and loving on our students...therefore this trip was perfect! 
I was able to play in the day while two of our sweet college girls that didn't ski babysat our littlest ones. Then I spent my evenings hanging out with my kids. Kason was always itching to get outside, so one afternoon we bundled up Zoe to experience the snow as well.
This girl LOVED it! She wasn't interested in toughing the snow one bit...
but she couldn't stop smiling and giggling while her bubba played around. Max even came with us on our trip, but didn't ever get out of the condo. He enjoyed playing around, but especially LOVED being able to stand up on the couch and see the snow outside...
Daniel and I are already itching to make another trip back to the mountain sometime!
 We really enjoyed seeing the thrill of Kason fall in love with one of Daniel's favorite sports...we enjoyed having the opportunity to take our family on a trip together beyond visiting family...but more importantly, we enjoyed spending several distraction free days with our college students. This group is amazing! Our children adore them and we couldn't be more blessed to have such great role models for our children to grow up around. Daniel and I highly encourage snagging up any college students you may know of and take them in because I guarantee you they will lighten up your life with fun!

1 comment:

  1. Love all of the pictures & I'm so glad Kason had fun - that boy is fearless!

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