Drew loves to ski. He skiied a lot in high school and college, and has had to put his love for skiing aside while we had lots of younger kids and no money. We still have no money =) but the 3 boys are old enough to learn to ski, and Drew dreams about his family skiing together.
Step 1: I need to learn to ski. The first time I skiied was about 17 years ago when Drew and I were dating - it didn't go so well. Valentine's Day weekend Drew and I got away to Wenatchee for the night and skied the next day at Stevens Pass. I actually started figuring this whole thing out and had a lot of fun.
Step 2: Teach the boys to ski. We took the boys to Snoqualmie Pass (in the middle of the biggest snowstorm the pass has seen since November!) for a day of skiing. We put the boys in classes in the morning, and let Drew do the crazy harder runs while I was happy on the bunny hills. After lunch with the boys, we all attemped to ski down an easy hill together. I realized, as we were about to the top of the chair lift, that Jared had no idea how to get off the lift, and couldn't reach the ground, so I just shoved him off and he kind of rolled down the off-ramp.
Halfway through the first run I wondered if we would every really figure this out. I thought we would be heading home soon because the boys would be too frustrated (Cameron had already decided to stay in the car after lunch instead of try to ski again.) Here I was trying to help teach one of the boys how to ski, but I still don't really know what I am doing or how to tell someone else what to do!
All of a sudden Drew yells, "Cameron is on the chair lift!" Cameron had decided to give this a try again, and headed out on his own to find us. I told Drew to try to work his way back up to the top to help Cameron, and Ryan and Jared and I would meet them down at the bottom. Like I said, not a pretty first run. I thought it might be time to call it a day. But all the boys stayed with it, and worked hard all afternoon, and got a lot better by the end of the day!
In the end, it turned out to be a successful first attemp at a family ski trip and we're now looking forward to doing it again!
(sorry I don't have any pictures - I've was too busy just trying to stay upright on my skiis!)
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Good job, Joanne! I remember those days and it's all about sticking with the torture until suddenly, the sun comes out and it's great fun! By the way, I've pushed a few of mine off the chairlift--mother birds do it! Same reason!
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