LIGHT BULB!!!

What a day! I had originally thought to take AJ skiing on Monday since he's out of school for the holiday, but realized it would be really cold and snowing. So, we changed our plans around and went today. IT WAS AWESOME!

First of all, we woke up super early and were able to get out the door by 6:15. This has NEVER happened. The lifts open at 8:30 and because we got going so early we missed most of the traffic. We got to the lift around 8:45 after getting my skis. This was a huge help!

We realized that some friends would also be on the mountain so we made plans to see Tobin (who was working there), his kids (who were in lessons) and AJ's old babysitter/my friend Jamie and her kids. We even got to ski with Jamie and Sophie on 2 runs!

The best part of the day was that the LIGHT BULB finally went off in AJ's head and he figured out how to stop and turn by himself! I went there today with the intention of trying to teach him to ski, rather than me just holding onto his harness most of the way down as I have done in the past. I read some articles last night on how to teach kids; it seemed to help a bit. I really just had the thought that we would stay on the easy lift and do it a lot so he could get used to it.

We did that lift 4 times really quickly when we got there (getting there early = no lines!) and he did awesome! The first time he scared the heck out of me because he didn't know how to turn and just booked it straight down the mountain. Even though it's not a big mountain, he can gain some serious speed and one bad move and he'll hurt himself and hate skiing. Luckily I was able to catch him!

Then, we took the shuttle to the other side of the mountain where the bigger lifts are and we ran into our friends. Tobin was working at Subaru tent with hot chocolate, give aways and hand warmers, so we hung there for a bit. Then, we found Jamie and Sophie and decided to head up Chair 2. This is a LONG chair ride. Easily 15 mins. It gets cold because of course we go up so high and it's windy at the top! We did that 2 times and then headed back over to the other side for 2 more runs on Chair 7. This time I told AJ he was skiing alone. The whole day I tried to talk to him about how to turn and stop. We always talk "pizza" (slow) and "french fry" (fast) but he hasn't gotten it. So, today I told him to imagine the back of his skis were an alligators mouth and to keep it WIDE open. This totally helped him and that's how he learned to stop. I'm blown away by how much better he was today. I can see that soon he and I will be skiing together, rather than me behind him trying to help.

I am beyond proud. Once again!

About to take our first lift!

AJ and Sophie

Top of Chair 2. It was SOOO cold! (see the blowing snow?)

love him!