Peter Hits The Slopes

Yes, finally, at the ripe old age of 2 1/2, Peter gave skiing a try. Up until this point, Peter has accompanied us skiing a few times and been snuggled into the bjorn or the backpack, but this time, he's riding his own sticks. He has been asking to go skiing for weeks now. (The subject of skiing is something that comes up pretty early in the season around here - generally long before there is any snow. - Not that there's any snow now, but still, it's been on his mind.) I'm not sure that he really even remembered what skiing was, but he knew he wanted to go. Once he had his helmet and goggles on, he didn't want them off, and rode most of the way up to the ski resort that way (until they got in the way of eating his bagel.)Skiing with a family of 7 requires just a bit of equipment. 14 skis, 14 boots, 10 ski poles (for now), 7 large bags full of 7 coats, 7 helmets, 7 goggles, at least 14 gloves, plus a few more pairs of liner gloves for some, and 7 neck gators. Plus long underwear, ski socks, snow pants, and various other clothing layers to clothe the 7 skiers. My, there's a lot of work involved in getting everyone ready to ski.
And once we reach this point, Shawn is ready for a nap. But finally, everyone was dressed and buckled securely into boots and skis, ready to hit the slopes.

The wee one:

And with his ski buddy, Duffy:

It was awesome. The 4 older kids are all 100% self-sufficient as far as getting on and off the lift and getting down the mountain. I was amazed that Duff didn't require help after the first "reminder run". She did great. And Peter was awesome, too. Other than being upset to leave the little hill I had been dragging him up and having him slide down, once he got the hang of it, it was pretty cool. I think Shawn almost saw a little glimpse of his ski dream. Everyone still needs to learn to get all of their own equipment on by themselves, but this was a pretty good start. And I saw how maybe one day, skiing with the family could actually be fun for the whole time.

Did Peter like it? See for yourselves: