Ski School Graduates

Today was our last day of ski/snowboard lessons. It was such a great day! It was really foggy in Boise this morning, which kept a lot of potential skiers home, giving us a lot more room to learn and a lot shorter lines. Regan learned yet another way to turn, which again, gives her a distinct advantage over her poor old mom. She started 4 weeks ago in tears, not wanting to leave mom and dad, and practicing on green carpet at the base of the hill. Today she not only went up the coach lift (for beginners mainly) but also up the Morningside Lift, which is much tougher, and what the real skiers use. Her "report card" cleared her for all green trails and runs, which is the step above basic bunny hill. To put that into context, my "report card" said I should keep practicing my turns, and maybe try the runs which Regan ran all day...

Hadyn started the month out crying mostly, but then did an about face and started just straight-shooting the hill. She couldn't turn, slow down or stop. Her report card said that as of today she could ride the coach lift (which she did today, and was grinning ear to ear the entire ride), and make pizza wedges (we always called it snowplowing) to slow and stop. Jeff and I are thinking. Wow, they actually taught her to slow down and stop, impressive. So, after lessons, Jeff goes up the lift for some extra practice, and I take Hadyn up the magic carpet. On one side of the magic carpet they've set up pylons, a gate and a foam dinosaur (Bogusaurus) as a skills run for beginners. I've seen Hadyn on that, but just going down the hill, no turns, etc., and her report card said they hadn't worked on turns yet. We get to the top of the skills run, and she just takes off, no instruction, and weaves in and out of the pylons, through the gate, and gave Bogusaurus a high-five. Meanwhile, I am standing there in shock. Pride, yes, a little, but mostly I was thinking, "my 5-year old has already told all her friends how much better she is than I am, now I have to put up with all the nursery kids snickering behind my back too!" She couldn't wait for her dad to get down the hill so she could show him. It was amazing. Here's a small look at it. She does fall in the end of the clip, but that's because she missed her high-five with the dinosaur and was trying to turn around to get it.

Jeff and I did great and really seem to be getting the hang of it and are really enjoying snowboarding. However, we aren't as young as we like to think/tell others, and our bodies are in an open rebellion. Today was an especially tough day just with the skills we were practicing and the steep incline our instructor thought we should try. Add to that the fact that I tried, for the first time in I'd rather not say how long, a kickboxing class, and one very hard fall Jeff took, and we are a mess. We are both limping around, moaning and groaning. At bedtime, Regan asked, in a very concerned voice, if Jeff and I would be okay or if we would always be sore. If only I knew the answer to that...

Here are a few shots of the newly graduated skiers and snowboarders. Proof that we all survived.