Snow Babies

We have our seasons passes and we intend on getting our money's worth. So far, three trips to the mountain have been achieved and we are starting to get the hang of it.

Erik is super dad and takes the three older kids up by himself. Matty and I are content to snuggle at home for the day.

We took the girls out of school a few weeks ago and got our first family trip in. Yes, we even took the dog, we like to make things as chaotic as possible! While roaming the car he devoured an entire bag of mini donuts and a tuna fish sandwich. He road in his cage the entire trip home!

It was quite the ordeal and by the end of the day we were completely exhausted. You really work up a good sweat getting four small children all dressed for the snow!

I had a bit of a dilemma. I could not get my feet into my new boots. They fit in the store, but for the life of me I could not get my foot in. I had to, like an idiot, go to the lodge and ask for help. At this point I didn't even care if I looked like I had never put on a pair of ski's before, I just wanted them to fit. A very nice gentleman explained to me that the boots were to cold. But he had a trick and yanked straight up on the tongue of the boot, while I slid my foot in. We were in business. Thank you kind sir for not making me feel to stupid!

They didn't have the smaller lifts open yet (to early in the season), so we spent the day switching off. Thank goodness for the dvd player! Hot chocolate and snacks tided us over throughout the day as we camped out in the Suburban. We could see the run from our car and Ella liked sitting outside on the hood and watching the skiers.

We had to give the little guys a go, so we geared them up for the second time and let them try out their skis at the bottom of the lift. They would walk up the slope with their skis and then slide down until they ran into the lower building, it was really funny!

We like to put on a show wherever we go! To the right of this picture is the lodge and the to the left of this picture is the main lift, so we were right in the middle of it all with our loud selves! Mom with her mega huge camera trying to take pictures of all the action, four whiny tired kids trying to learn something new and struggling with all their bulky snow gear, a toddler having a meltdown and Mom and Dad on edge from the long day. This guy on the left had himself a giggle or two!

Matthew had such tude this day, and these pictures show that well! Such a cute little stinker he is!

Go Jon! He tried snowboarding last year and felt cool, but technically he was to little for it yet. So it's skiing for him this year. He is doing fantastic!

Ella really did great! Poor girl, don't worry she is getting a new coat for Christmas. That's what happens when you are the middle child and get all the hand-me downs. But she didn't care how geeky she looked, she had a great time!

The reason I don't have any pictures of our little snowboarder is because she was out of her gear at this point. She had already gone down two big runs with her dad. She is to funny about the whole snowboarder/skier thing. She will correct you very quickly if you call her a skier. I like to tease her and get her to say, "Mom, I am not a skier, I am a snowboarder." She is doing so fantastic and is going down intermediate runs with her dad. She's a little head turner! I am hoping Erik and I will get a chance to take just her up at least one time this year, I really want to see what she can do!

We even got Matty little ski's that we could strap his snow boots into.

He had fun for about one run and then was completely done. By this time of the day he was ready for a nap and let the whole mountain know. Matty was screaming his head off and delirious from tiredness, so it was time to leave. Next time, we will know better and let them start in the a.m. We obviously did not think that one out at all!

Daddy helping Matt do a spin move!

And the landing looks good!

I will have to admit that my first time back up on ski's was a little scary. I was nervous the whole way up on the lift. It only took a few seconds for me to get comfortable with it again, but I really was afraid I wouldn't remember how to ski. My legs were killing me by the time I got to the bottom, but it felt so great to be out there again. I was only able to get one run in that day, but we have the whole season ahead of us!