Monday, January 10, 2011

Hitting the Slopes...

Thursday was the boys first ski lessons of the season.. Cole's first ever ski lessons!  Cole's preschool gets a group together to take lessons together to get a group rate.  Caden being able to switch to morning kindergarten was a bonus, because he gets to do ski lessons that day too!  It was hard to narrow the pictures down.. I did the best I could, but there are still a bunch!  Sorry for the chaos.. making sure I was getting all the important pictures of both of them on two different hills (granted they are right next to each other) kept me on my toes!  and thankfully I was able to remain on my toes as the parent viewing area was basically a big ice patch. 

We were a bit worried that Cole's lack of attention span would render these lessons useless, but he showed us who was Mr. Amazing!  He was so adorable in his get-up carrying his skis around!


The groups are spread out across the base of the hill.. Cole was group 1, Caden was group 10 on the complete opposite side.. it was a challenge running back and forth getting each boy set up in their groups and making sure they were comfortable in the new situation (and getting their pictures before they started!!).. but they were rockstars!

 Each group gets a different color balloon.. Caden (obviously) was red.. Cole was orange.

For beginners they start them off on one ski, to push themselves around and get used to the sliding motion...

Caden was off to the magic carpet with his group... and up they went! (the magic carpet if you recall from last year is a "moving sidewalk" that gets beginners up the hill.. a very cool invention and I'm a bit jealous I missed out on this!

It was time to dawn both their skis, and the beginners got a helping hand over to the bunny slope..

Caden's first run down!

Cole's first run down!  (They just walk up a gentle slope at first) He made it!

.. and Mrs. Mellet his preschool teacher congratulates him!  She is so great, she comes each week to cheer the kids on and help on the lifts.

A semi-artistic shot of Cole's group getting a "lift" up the slope.. I just love the balloons!.. perhaps because they are my favorite color :)

This kid means business!  I'm not sure he cracked a smile the whole lesson!  He was so serious!  Not something we are used to.  And he followed the instructions to a 'T'.. keeping his hands on his knees for balance.. he told me all about it after the lesson.

I guess I tied his balloon string a bit too short as it kept bopping him in the head while he was standing waiting!  It was very comical to watch because he kept batting it away from his face with his hand.

At last!! There's a smile!  faint, but it's there!

Cole's first trip up the magic carpet.. they got them off 1/3 of the way up.. here Cole looks down the hill looking as though he is thinking "I have to make it all the way down there?!"

.. and there he goes! 

More Caden.. it's times like these where more zoom would come in handy!  I'm thinking 80-400 or 200-400  either one would do :)

Wipe Out!

Caden's group had been sufficiently evaluated and they headed to the chairlift!

I was a bit nervous at this.. Caden's group is the threesome in the center.. Caden is the blip at the top left, Caden was on the ground.. I was afraid he was hurt!  I learned after the lesson from his instructor that Caden likes to speed straight down!  So he had held him back and they were working on big wide controlled S-turns.. and I thought he was my cautious one!


The instructor giving him tips.. and Caden off and running for more ski time!


... not too fast!  on the ground in no time!

Looking around to see if anyone saw him :)

Lessons are done for the day!  Two tired little boys!  How adorable is my tiny man Cole?!  When I talked to the instructor about his "pizzas" (snowplow) she said he got the hang of it a couple times, but she said he didn't really need it because he had developed a natural turn to get himself to stop.. Get out of here!! He is now completely mini-Rob!  Rob is a natural athlete and anything he tries he is good at.. back before Caden was born we went skiing, him for the first time, he had zero lessons and was bombing down the hill perfectly in control right off the bat.. not fair!
  

4 comments:

Muffiemom said...

Such great pictures. Looks like both boys really liked it. Glad to hear Cole did so well and love the big smile in the first picture!

Aunt Dorothy said...

Lisa - it is totally not fair. My brother the natural athlete took all the skill that I was supposed to get. I am 0% athletic. But in all people, there are natual abilities, and then things you need to work hard at. (Except for Cora, who will have the best of everything!!)

Kelly said...

Awesome pictures!! Skiing is such a great sport to learn. They look like they are having a blast.

Marleina said...

Great pictures, good job Mama-razzi! :) Andrew is a pretty natural athlete, and I am SO not - but I'm a great skier! So I took him, and, well, let's just say that seeing a 6'4" man crash with skis and poles going every which way down the bunny hill was terrifying. Figures the one sport I'm good at, he's not!
I can't wait to get the girls out there. :)