Skiing ups and downs, so to speak

The kids had their first ski lesson last Saturday, on my birthday. I was amazed at how quickly they picked things up - my memories of my own lessons are extremely sketchy, although I think I spent at least one entire season on the bunny hill. Reece, in particular, had no fear and what appears to be a bit of talent (although it could be just because he's closer to the ground than anyone else, so his low center of gravity helps). Greyson took a bit longer to warm up to everything, and there was much whining along the way from his corner. He did, however, get the guts up to try the next hill over, which involved a rope pull rather than a J-bar to get up the hill, and it turns out was actually an expert hill (not obvious from the base, believe it or not). I ended up having to go up to help him get down, but he gets props for even trying.

 Notice the sullen one on the right.

  

I was surprised at how much I remembered, especially since the last time I skied was 12 years and two kids ago. I'm so thankful that my mom had us take skiing lessons and schlepped us back and forth to the slopes even though she didn't ski, because not only am I comfortable and confident on skis (and I LOVE the new shorter skis), but I watched other adults learning how and was so glad not to be in their shoes (or boots, if you will). Dan was supposed to take snowboard lessons but had a minor foot injury so didn't chance it. Which was good, because then he could monitor the boys while I got to hit the "big" slopes.

If you look at these three pictures quickly, in order, it seems like Reece is coming right at you!

This week we went back for lesson #2, and I wish we'd taken pictures of the hills, because it was such a dramatic change from last week! Fewer than half the runs were open this week, with large patches of grass all over, and the "snow" was so icy that it was not as much fun (at least for me) to ski. The kids did well, though, and this time Greyson had lots of confidence and pretty much taught himself to do turns, while Reece began the whining halfway through the afternoon and had to leave the hill with Dan before the rest of us were ready to go.

So to recap, last week Greyson was whiny and Reece was happy. This week, Reece was whiny and Greyson was happy. If we go again, either everyone will be happy or I'm leaving the country - alone.

February and cold, with a side of chocolate

Usually I like February. Short month, my birthday is in it, the chocolate-to-person ratio is very favorable, and it's closer to the first day of spring than to the first day of winter. However, something has changed a bit this year, and I am now officially tired of the cold. Don't mind the snow (in fact, it's quite pretty), but this perpetual shivering is getting on my nerves. I just need one or two days of 50+ degrees, and then it can go back to the icy chill. Is that too much to ask? I know, I know, I CHOSE to move here from parts south. And I'm really trying not to complain, because life here is 95% awesome. It's just that other 5%, which is at this moment frozen under a sheet of ice and a foot of snow in the back yard, that I'm not happy with.

Mostly same old, same old around here. Reece's birthday seems to be lasting indefinitely, as we celebrated it with my brother's family this week but weren't able to do the laser tag we'd planned on because Reece was a bit under the weather, so that still has to take place. He's been averaging a present every 4-5 days since his birthday, although I think those are finally done. Reece did say to me on Friday, kind of dejectedly, "I wish more boxes would come for me in the mail."

Greyson's hairstyle looks more and more like Justin Bieber's on a bad day, and on Saturday I grabbed the entire front that was hanging in his eyes and told him I had something that could help. He liked it so much, he asked me to continue with as much of the rest of his hair as I could. And then he complained that it itched and took them all out. Dan took the picture as blackmail for sometime in the future:

In other news, I remembered LAST NIGHT that Reece's 100th day project was due this morning. Which we hadn't even started. At least I had gotten the supplies. So I spent an hour of the time I should have been prepping for my class to do Reece's homework. He did do half the taping, so at least I can say we worked on it together. And then I turned it in this morning, because Reece stayed home sick (with Dan), and I found out the 100th day has been delayed one day due to the snowday the kids had last week. So I didn't even have to finish it last night. Gah.

(Those are 100 q-tips, in case you couldn't tell.)