Our family has discovered a new activity that we all enjoy....skiing! Back in the fall, James and I decided that we were ready for our family to venture into the world of ski lessons. We weren't sure how the boys would do or if they would like it, but we thought let's just try it and see how it goes. Lessons just wrapped up last weekend I think we can confidently say the season was a HUGE success! Definitely exceeded our expectations.
Once we started looking into options and realities of ski lessons, we quickly realized that this commitment to try being a ski family is not for the faint of heart. It is definitely an investment. Gear rentals, season passes, and weekly lessons quickly become a small fortune. And then on top of it all, James and I decided to bite the bullet and finally buy our own gear and season passes this year as well. Gulp. But now looking back, it was a shock to the budget for a couple weeks, but totally worth it in the end. It was so wonderful being able to just pack up the car and go--no renting gear the night before, no waiting in lines to buy lift tickets, etc.
The other tricky part was figuring out where/how to do lessons. It's really tough to find lessons for 3 year olds. Plus the Snoqualmie Summit lessons basically charge you an arm and a leg for each kid. And they weren't willing to make an exception for a 3 year old. Our ideal situation was private lessons for both boys so they could be comfortable being together and less overwhelmed. Our constant goal through this was to make skiing fun for the boys--not scary. Luckily we stumbled upon SKIBACS which is a ski school for Boeing employees and their families. What a godsend! They made an exception and let Cam participate in the lessons. And they assigned us the most amazing ski instructor for little kids. Hilary was like a kindergarten teacher/ski instructor all in one. She was energetic, kind, funny, creative and made the kids instantly feel at ease.
So for the past 6 weeks we've gone up to the mountain on Sunday afternoons for 2-hour ski lessons. The transformation in our kids from week 1 to week 6 has astounded us. Both boys are able to get down the mountain on their own. They can both turn, stop themselves, use the wedge, ride the chairlift, and ski pretty fast all with confidence and ease. Our goal for the season was that they would at least start to learn the fundamentals and just feel more familiar on skis. We hoped, but didn't expect that they'd actually both be skiing. Especially Cameron. But Hilary was a miracle worker. :)
Week 1: Riding the magic carpet and getting our "ski" legs
Week 6: Cameron finally gets over his fear and goes down the mountain himself!
The weekend after lessons ended, we decided to go up one more time just as a family. Cameron did 6 runs without taking a break! And Nathan did 4. As we were all skiing down the mountain together, James and I just looked at each other with big smiles and felt like pinching ourselves! We hope this becomes a longtime family activity--with ski vacations and fun weekend memories of getting outside and enjoying God's beautiful creation. Who knows--the boys may not end up loving it or want to stick with it. And that will be ok too. But this year at least we were so grateful for our boys being brave, persistent, and overcoming a fear. We were also so happy to make sure to get outside every weekend, be active, and learn a lot together as a family. Already excited for next year!
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