How To Pick Up Snow Bunnies
I took RJ, Q, and Q's friend, who we'll call Vash, skiing yesterday. I had three booster seats in the back of a compact car. RJ was kicking my seat and the two girls were chatting up a storm, singing, giggling, and screaming at the top of their little lungs for the whole (1.5 hr) ride. With 3 miles to go, I couldn't stand the "Are we there yet?" and told them to let me know when they see snow. I was then serenaded with "snow, snow, snow," in two part harmony until we got there.
I happily dumped the two girls into the Ski camp and then got a lift ticket and rental skis. The school loaned me skis for RJ. I tried to teach him "french fries" and "pizza", but he didn't want to learn, he just wanted to go downhill. We took the magic carpet lift a couple of times, then he begged me to go on the chairlift, so I took him up. I ended up just skiing alongside and slowing him down or turning him as needed. He had a blast, but two runs was enough for him and I put him in babysitting.
I took a run up the Dipsy Quad lift and practiced turns going down. The last time I was on skis, Reagan was in office. I wasn't very relaxed and I didn't feel at all fluid, but I felt ready for something a bit more difficult.
I took a run up the Alpine Quad and I gotta tell you, I looked out over the first drop, and I thought, "What the hell am I doing up here?" The thought didn't slow me down though, I pointed the skis over the edge and dove in. My turns felt really awkward and I thought I should take a lesson. I ended up at the Strata Quad chair on the backside. I was worried I'd be late picking up the girls, so I worked my way back to the lodge area.
Vash had a close encounter with an inflatable star in the kiddie area, so her instructor told me that she was a bit timid and she'd need assistance on the chairlift. I asked, "what part?" The instructor replied, "Getting on the lift, getting off the lift, getting down the mountain..." Vash wanted to call it quits for the day and go to the playroom, but Q wanted to go back out, so the three of us went up the chairlift. All my attention was on Vash, so Q basically had to get on and off the lift by herself. I basically did the same thing for Vash that I did for RJ, sliding alongside controlling her speed and turning her. Q was unstoppable, flying down the hill by herself. It took us about 20 or 30 minutes to return the rental equipment, pick up RJ out of babysitting, and to get into the car (what I get to look forward to when I have three kids). I fed them some snacks and water, then we drove home. RJ fell asleep pretty quickly, but the girls talked the whole ride home.
The best part was walking out of the park with three kids in tow and two pink princess backpacks on my shoulders. Ski Liberty gives discounts to college students on Wednesdays, so I had plenty of women checking me out and smiling at me.
