Jake and I took Dalton and Gunnar skiing for the first time the first part of January at Wolf Mountain. I was expecting them to spend the whole time on the little bunny hill with the magic carpet trying to get the hang of it. Boy was I wrong! They both caught on so fast! After about a half hour on the magic carpet they both were ready for the big hill. I rode the lift with Dalton and Jake went with Gunnar. Gunnar wasn't quite tall enough to get on and off the lift so Jake would just pick him up and help him on and off every time. I was nervous the first time getting off of the lift with Dalton. I thought for sure we would both wipe out, but he got off the lift without any problems! Dalton only fell down about 3 times the whole night! By the time we were ready to go he was doing his s turns, riding the lift by himself, and going to the very tip top of the mountain and skiing down like a pro! He's almost better than I am! I couldn't believe it! After a few runs with Dalton, Jake and I swapped kids and I got to go with Gunnar for a while. I helped lift him onto the lift and we headed to the top of the hill. When we got to the top I told him the same thing I'd been telling Dalt all night, "I'll follow you." Gunnar said ok and took off. I followed him as he headed straight towards the terrain park that had lots of jumps for the older kids. The first thing he said when we got to the ski resort was that he wanted to do the jumps. Jake and I had both told him maybe when he's older, but definitely not on his first trip skiing. So here I am following him as he's heading towards the first jump thinking, "oh no! I'm going to watch him crash and break an arm or worse!" I'm hollaring at him to not do it, but of course he's not listening. He lines up with the first jump, slows down enough to stay in control, and hits the jump, catches some air, and lands perfectly! I couldn't believe it! I thought well maybe Jake taught him how to do this. In order to keep him in my sights I had to do the jump too! I was scared to death! I thought I would wipe out and not be able to catch up to him and lose him. Luckily I landed the jump as well:) Gunnar hit the next 4 or 5 jumps and landed all them as well! When we got to the bottom of the hill Gunnar said, "that was awesome! Let's do that again!" We got on the lift and went through the terrain park again, landing all the jumps again! After the second time going through the terrain park Gunnar said, "you're the best mom! Thanks for letting me do the jumps, Dad wouldn't let me."
All four of us met back up and did a few runs together. Gunnar would line his skis up with the bottom of the hill and say, "see ya at the bottom!" We called him the bullet. Even though he was fast and about gave me a heart attack, he still was able to control his skis and swerve out of the way of things and stop fast when he needed to. I couldn't believe it! I'm so proud of my two little skiers! We had such a good time! Jake's sister, Lori, was nice enough to watch Ridge so we could take the other two skiing. We'll take Ridge in a few years:)
We got the chance to go skiing again the following week. This time Grandpa Dallas came with us and we met our friends Dave and Allison Beeson and Kelly and Stephanie Gines as well. The Beeson's brought two of their boys that are each a year older than Dalton and Gunnar- Skylar and Ryder. The Gines' brought three of their kids- Bode, 10, Maggie, 9, and Oakley, 7. Dalton took off with Skylar and Bode and we hardly saw them the whole night. I thought I had a few years before my kids would be off skiing with their friends! Those three boys found a trail through the trees that led to some mobile type jumps and a half pipe. Gunnar really wanted to go on it too so Dallas and I followed him. I had to keep hollaring at him to slow down! When we got to the end Gunnar was all upset. I asked him what was wrong and he said that I wouldn't let him go fast enough and he couldn't catch enough air! We went through again and he was able to catch some air and was happy! Dave Beeson went with the three older boys to the top of the mountain for one last run before closing. Of course they were the very last people off the mountain! Allison and I were starting to worry! Jake had been fighting a cold and skiing didn't help it much. By the end of the night he was feeling pretty crummy. He spent the last half hour or so in the truck. It started snowing pretty good when we were getting ready to go and the divide was a little scary driving home on! Luckily we made it home, but it was about 10:30 and the boys had school the next day! A big thanks to Aunt Jen for watching Ridge this time:)
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| Gunnar and Jake on the magic carpet |
