Saturday was suppose to be Day 2 of skiing.

Jbird woke up and said he did not feel good, so did not want to go. (He had been looking forward to it all week, so I knew he had to be sick). I contemplated not going at all, since B was not signed up for the weekly lessons. However, I decided to commit to a program they have that allows you to earn a free lift ticket for the day. I told them I would spend 2 hours on Saturday afternoons (when Jbird has his lessons) to help the younger kids ride up the lift during their lesson. So, they were counting on me to be there. B and I headed out.

I was grumpy and irritable - not sure why, just not in the best frame of mind. As B and I got in the car, I was praying that we would have a good day.

We got up to the mountain fairly early and all the rental stuff rented. As I was getting my free ticket for the day, I asked B if he wanted to take a lesson - no, he was good. We took a few trips on the beginner hill (my first time on skis in over 8 years). I was trying to encourage B to make more turns. He reassured me several times that he could turn and was doing fine - he after all DID know how to ski. He said he wanted to go up the 'big' lift. I was not 100% comfortable with that, but I also know that my oldest sometimes has to learn lessons the hard way. So, we headed up. About half way through the 7 minute lift ride, he looked down and said that maybe it was not such a good idea.

We got off the lift and headed down. I have often told him that his greatest hurdle to overcome is his mind. He gets in panic mode and self destructs. The ski hill was no exception. "I can't do this", "look at all the younger kids who are better", "I will never learn".... He would get to going downhill and forget to do his turns, then get going too fast and then not know what to do. Several times I had to ski down below him to help him stop. One time, under the lift no less, I was below him waiting for him and he came straight toward me. He did not know what to do so he ran right into me. Fortunately I stayed on my feet, but he did not. Poor kid was just a mess, laying in the snow. People that had seen him run into me while on the lift were skiing down to see if he was okay. Lots of wounded pride. I made him continue to pick himself up and make his way down the mountain. By the time we got to the bottom, he decided a lesson that afternoon would be a good idea.

I signed him up for a lesson. I was not sure if one would have considered him a level 2, so put him back in a beginner lesson. Turns out, once again, he was by himself, so a 1.5 hour lesson. I sent them off at 12:30. They made one run on the beginner hill and I saw them head to the 'big' lift. I prayed for the best and headed at 1pm to help the younger kids ride the lift. At 2pm B and his instructor found me. B told me he spent the whole lesson up on the big hill and he was ready to go by himself. I gave the instructor a look and he assured me B could do it. So, I sent my 8 year old off by himself, while I spent another hour with the young kids.

I actually had fun with the young kids. Myself and another lady would stand around waiting and then a wave of kids with instructors would come through. We would scoot up with the kids, make sure they actually sat on the chair as it came around, talk with them on the way up, help them off and then ski down to do it again.

When I was done, I hooked up with B and we tried the lift again. He did great. It was fun to follow him down the mountain. He had gained so much more confidence and it just reaffirmed that although I think I could teach some kids to ski, I definitely cannot teach my oldest. He will forever do better with an instructor. We went on a second big lift and all the way up B told me about the gully. He wanted to ski the gully - the narrow, really narrow gully. I told him to head out and I would follow him. I don't like narrow skiing places. I am sure it has something to do with a narrow slope/gully in my younger years and going too fast and feeling like I did not have room to turn. We made it through though. He did ask me, as he waited for me at the end, why it took me so long. I told him I did not like narrow places but that he had challenged me to do it.

We got all our stuff put away and then headed to dinner. Overall a great day and I am really looking forward to exploring more of the mountain as the boys get older.

When we got home, Jbird had been resting all day and even took a nap. He had a fever, that is still lingering a day later! It seems that one of the boys have been home just about every day the last two weeks - sure ready for some healthy, feel good boys!