They're Official

About 3 weeks ago we packed up the Pilot like we were heading out of country for month for a day of skiing.  This would be Squirt's first Colorado winter mountain experience and Dude's 2nd.  The first didn't really count as he was in a lame lesson that never took him up even a baby hill.  We decided to do the "teaching" ourselves, meaning Tim taught and I provided snacks when need be.  I'm pretty good at that.  Not at the skiing.

Winter Park has an awesome beginners set up where the magic carpet hills and the rope lift hill are free.  That was all we needed, which was fantastic.  The $50 lift ticket wasn't looking appealing for the monkeys since they didn't yet know how to put ON their skis, let alone zoom down a mountain. We met our buds up there, who added even more excitement to the day.  Squirt and her pal Molly learned together and ended up going up and down the magic carpet hills by themselves.  Darling doesn't even begin to describe that site.  Dude utilized the patience and sweet nature of both Caroline and Jacob to help him get down the bigger hill, which Tim very much appreciated.  I think Jacob might pursue a career as a ski instructor as a result.  Dude had a blast and couldn't get enough, which brought joy to my heart.  He never complained, never cried, never gave up...it was a proud day for us. Squirt definitely complained and cried.  We gave her lots of food and breaks and she promptly fell asleep, vertically, in the wagon ride back to the shuttle bus.  But she had fun and wants to go again!

 The crying.  

Our kids are now official Coloradans.  Skiing does that to your reputation out here.  Their mother is official (I've done it, once) but I'm not a "cool" Coloradan.  Our kids will be cool.  And we'll be broke.