Family Ski Trip On George's Birthday/MLK Day

Today George turned one year old!

It's funny because last year on this day, my dad drove up here at 6am to stay with the kids while we went to the hospital. Today he drove up here at 6am to stay with George so we could take the kids skiing! My dad is so wonderful!

We left the house at about 7:30 and went to the local rental place where we had 2 free rentals, to get Mindy and Ethan all set up. We decided to just get Elle's skis at the resort since the lessons come with rentals.

While we were doing this, the snow started to really come down so by the time we got on the freeway, we had to go really slow. We saw so many cars off the road or turned around or smashed up, it was scary! So, we took our time, and eventually got out of the snow and the slow traffic, but we still got to Wolf Mountain a half an hour later than we wanted to be.

I went in and paid for the lessons, and Pete took Elle to get her skis. Then I went back to the car to help Mindy and Ethan get their skis on which was quite the ordeal! They were both crying and saying they couldn't do it while I was trying to help get them on, and I actually had to ask the people in the car next to us for some help! Finally we got them on, but Mindy was still crying and saying it was too tight (even though she had tried them on when we rented them!) so we walked to the renal shop to get her a bigger pair.

When we got there, I couldn't believe the huge line that went out the door and into the parking lot! Luckily, Pete and Elle were inside, but there was still a long ways to go, and their lessons were starting in 2 minutes. Elle had 2 pairs of socks on so I asked her for one of hers to give to Mindy since they were thinner, and this solved the boot problem! Whew!

I got Mindy and Ethan to their lessons just in time, but had to tell them Elle was going to be a while. They said that was fine because a lot of the other students were in the same boat. They said they'd just plan on her at around 11 (the other kids started at 10). Once I got them sent off, (hoping they would have good attitudes after all the trouble with the boots!), I went back to the rental shop to find Pete and Elle. They had hardly moved, and Pete was getting really frustrated so I took over while he went to relax in the car for a while. He ended up falling asleep and being gone for about an hour, which was just fine because we were just getting our stuff when he got back!

Apparently, Martin Luther King Day is Wolf Mountain's busiest day, and since everyone who has the Pass of All Passes (like us) was able to go there, but not Brighton, on this day off school, it was quite the mad house.

Despite having to stand around and wait for an hour and a half, Elle just had the best attitude the whole time! She was really so good, and I didn't mind waiting with her at all. She was just so excited to go ski, but didn't whine about it taking a long time or anything! She just played around and even found a ladybug on the wall to play with!

Finally, we got her sent off with her own teacher at 11:15 and went back to the car to get our boards. We did 2 runs on the longer beginner hill before it was time to pick Mindy and Ethan up at noon. I saw Mindy riding the ski lift while I was coming down, and she looked happy. She was excited because she was the only one in her class that got to go on the ski lift! All the other kids just stayed on the very short hill with the "magic carpet."



Unfortunately, Ethan was one of the kids who just stayed on the little hill. He wasn't happy about this, and didn't have the best time, but his teacher said he did have a good attitude and did a good job. He said he likes snowboarding better. I'm glad he got to try skiing though, so he could know for sure.

This is a thumbs up for the hot chocolate they got after their lesson. :)

Pete took the kids back to the car, and I did 3 more runs while I waited for Elle to finish her lesson at 1. I didn't get too much practice turning because it was either steeper than I dared try it on, or there were just too many people for me to dare try it. There were just people everywhere! It was insane! It was nice going by myself, though, because I could just go up to the front of the lift line! I was happy to just get out there, and remind myself that I don't sprain my wrist every time I go snowboarding, and just get over the little bit of fear I still had from last time!

Elle had a great time in her lesson, and did well enough to be able to go up the big ski lift too! She was so excited about that! But she was definitely tired, and fell asleep right away when we started driving.

We stopped at a burger place in Ogden for a fun lunch on the way home. We were all very hungry!

George was just as happy as a clam when we got home! My dad said he was just a little angel (of course), and took 2 good naps so that's really nice! He's such a good boy! Happy birthday, George!