We weren't entirely sure how it was going to go, but we were hopeful and talked it up a bunch. Jacob has been very unsure these days of things he doesn't know about. This includes school but also skiing. But we were determined. We hauled everything from the parking lot (and carrying a 34lb. boy with his ski boots on is a good workout in itself) to the magic carpet. The boys headed up while I manned the camera.
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| Yes, that's a smile on his face! |
The verdict? "That was super fun! I want to do that again." Yes!!!!! Success! The boys took several more runs (quite literally, Fraser had to run to keep up with the boy) before it was time for Jacob's lesson. Yes, Fraser and I both know how to ski, but teaching your child (who also happens to want to cling to you at all times) to ski is quite a different matter. Thankfully, due to the fact that it was still midweek, Jacob had an instructor all to himself.
While Fraser went to ski, I found myself a lovely place on the outdoor patio near a fire pit and sat back to enjoy the mountain air. I also snapped a few pictures and video of the boy who was doing great with his instructor: getting on and off the carpet on his own, skiing on his own, turning. All sorts of things that would have taken us many trips to get out of him. And, they even got to make a snowman.
We had to finish off the day with some hot chocolate, of course. Can you go skiing and not drink hot chocolate? Jacob didn't want to tell us what he had learned ("I want it to be a secret."), but he did ask when he'd be taking another lesson. Awesome!
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| Look closely for the little skis. |
Friday morning dawned bright and blue, the most beautiful azure sky I have seen. Stunning. We signed Jacob up for a morning class and as he left, he told me, "Bye, Mommy! I love you!" and blew me many kisses. I got my own ticket, and Fraser and I were off. Together. Skiing!! The last time we skied together, we think, was when Jacob was a year old and we had friends up with us in Colorado who watched him while we took some runs. It felt.... exciting, odd, good, strange. Once you have a kid, you always feel like you have a kid, even when he/she isn't with you. We loved being on our own, and we were both aware that we were missing a part of our family. Interesting.
It was such a blue bird day, amazing. We took several pictures of ourselves up on the mountain with Hood behind us and then with an amazingly clear vista of Mt. Jefferson and (maybe) the Three Sisters. But, we had forgotten to put the memory chip back in our camera, so unfortunately, those pictures are lost.
We checked in on Jacob who was looking adorable in his ski getup, going up the carpet and down the hill with his classmates and instructors. We skied our legs off and then went to pick him up at lunchtime. Fraser suggested keeping him in for the whole day. My mama guilt started acting up, making me feel like I was abandoning my child for the day. But we asked Jacob and he was all about it. Wow. I had to still the voices in my head that asked, "Is he sure? Does he really want to go for two more hours? Will he be okay?" Deep breaths. I know it might sound crazy that I think these thoughts when my child is four, but we have been together all the time for those four years, so... all this feels new to me. But I was super happy that he was so excited and having such a good time.
Fraser and I attempted to ski after lunch. And we did make it down the hill several more times. But our legs were pretty shot and the snow was getting super soft in the sun but was still crunchy in the shade. We stopped at the mid-mountain hut for a quick beer and some rays before heading back to pick up the boy.
He was spent. We asked if he wanted to ski a little more with us or if he was done. "I'm done," he said. We soaked up a few more rays on the patio while we had a snack and then headed home. Jacob asked, "When are we going to come back to this beautiful snow? I love skiing. When are we going to do that again?" Soon, my boy, soon.
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