seven springs

Last weekend we went skiing at a nearby resort. We had a TON of fun. 

The girls have never skied so we put them in ski school the first day. Henry grew up skiing, but I've only gone one other time so I didn't feel adequate to teach them. As a parent who doesn't put her kids in child care while on vacation this was a new experience for me. I'm so glad we did it. The instructors were amazing and the girls were able to go out on the mountain with confidence after just one day in ski school. 

Natalie during one of her lessons with her group (all pink). 

Ainsley during one of her lessons. "I'm the best one in my class, mommy!"  And she was. The instructor was practically giddy when I picked her up on how quickly she picked up skiing. He said she was totally ready for the mountain and felt bad he was only able to get the group up there one time since the other kids needed a little more guidance. She proceeded to leave ski school and go straight up to the mountain for another hour or more of skiing with her dad. (video below)

Natalie's teacher also thought she did well, but wasn't sure she was ready for the mountain. However, she came up with us the next day and surprised us all by doing just fine.... taking turns likes a pro and genuinely enjoying herself. 

All of us had a really good time (Ryan was in childcare for two full days and LOVED it.) I can't put into words how I felt watching the girls ski down the mountain only falling a few times and loving it. It made me nervous, proud, and happy all at the same time. Henry and I have been saying how fun it will be when we can take the kids somewhere and they have fun doing "grown up" stuff. This was that type of vacation... I definitely want to take them skiing again. We're already talking about going next year. 

I'll leave you with video of both girls skiing on the mountain.... the first day (Ainsley's video) was great weather conditions... 30s and sunny. The second day (Natalie's video) was still a fun day, but we had to bundle up as it was in the teens and snowing, sometimes creating bad visibility. The girls did great through it all and didn't complain one bit until Ainsley's gloves came off and her hands froze.... they were little troopers. I think we have two snow bunnies on our hands.