Months ago my parents booked a Mammoth trip for all of us. I could not of been more excited for it as I knew the kids were at the perfect age. Skylar would do ski school and Madden would love playing and running around in the snow. I was literally counting down the days until our trip and then the "Summer" winter weather hit. We hadn't had rain since early December, it was 80 degrees during Christmas, and I had been taking the kids to the pool a ton in January. As each warm day went by, I knew Mammoth was getting no snow and my hopes of having the kids see snow falling was diminishing. I knew the mountain would have enough manmade snow for ski school, but sledding and snowman making would be out of the question. On Monday the weather report was for just rain, which was even a bigger bummer than sunny skies. And then the weather gods must of heard my prayers because from rain on Thursday it turned into snow Wednesday - Friday which couldn't of been better for us.
We headed out first thing Thursday morning. The kids had waffles in hand and the portable DVD player was on and by 7:00 AM we were off. I was very nervous for the car ride. As most of you know, Madden has never been a fan of car rides and having him sitting in a car for the next 5 hours could be scary. To Jake and my surprise the kids did amazing. Madden was hit with a bit of car sickness and puked all over himself about an hour and half in, but we did a quick pull over on the side of the road, cleaned him up, gave him a snack and he was all good. We made it in record time and when we started driving into town snow was falling everywhere. The whole place was covered in fresh powder and it just looked stunning. We checked into our hotel, changed Madden out of his puke pants and Skylar immediately wanted to put on her snow gear and go outside and play.
Skylar and Dad building a snowman. The hotel bellmen said it was their first snowman of the season.
Throwing snowballs at everyone.
Making snow angels!
Eating icicle!
She and Dad had a blast. After watching sister from the hotel window playing in the snow we attempted to get Madden in his snow gear which turned into World War III. He wanted NOTHING to do with getting his snow pants and jacket on. I was able to just get his pants on and take him down to the lobby where he refused to even step outside. We brought some snow up to him to touch and he shouted out "NO." I was beginning to realize my vision of Madden playing in the snow was not going to happen.
Jeremy, who is living in Mammoth and working on the mountain this winter, met us at our hotel. He told us how lucky we were because 24 hours earlier there was just dirt everywhere, not one spec of snow to be found. Not to mention the whole town has been completely dead since the weather has been so bad. So we arrived to a empty mountain with a ton of fresh snow...talk about perfect timing!
The both kids were exhausted from getting up so early and the drive that they took long naps. We headed out after having to pinned Madden down to put his jacket on for our walk to dinner. Madden's hatred of the snow continued because the second we walked out of the hotel he refused to walk and demanded to be carried the whole time....which continued the entire trip.
Walking around the village was so pretty. It was covered in white and the trees glowed in the lights. Skylar loved walking through the freshly fallen snow and throwing snowballs at everyone in arms length.
The next morning we headed up to the mountain to check Skylar into ski school. Madden refused to put on his jacket, but he actually enjoyed the gondola ride.
Once again we pinned Madden down and forced his jacket on him but gloves and a beanie were a no go.
I went to Mammoth's ski school as a kid so I couldn't of been more excited to watch Skylar participate in it. She was a little nervous at first and when I left her with her teacher after check in I think a saw her eyes start to tear up, but I knew she was going to love it.
This is the one picture and probably the only moment we have of Madden walking near snow. I think it lasted about three minutes. He hated being up on the mountain, he just wanted to be carried and was constantly pointing and crying to get back on the gondola My wonderful Mom was so sweet and took him back down to the hotel room so Jake could snowboard with Jeremy and I could watch Skylar ski.
Skylar LOVED skiing! It was such a thrill for me to be able to watch her. She went up and down that "magic carpet" over and over again. She listened to everything her teacher told her and had a smile on during the whole 3 hours class.
She had one moment of weakness when she fell down and couldn't get back up. She started crying, but once her teacher was able to reach her she was back at it.
Heading up the "magic carpet!"
I couldn't of been more proud of Skylar. Most of the kids were getting grumpy and tired and wanted to go back inside and eat, but not our Skylar, she was one of the last kids to leave the slope. Her teacher kept asking if her she wanted to go one more time or go inside, to which she answered..."one more time!"
Jake and Jeremy said the conditions were unbelievable. Fresh snow everywhere, snow falling, and the mountain was practical empty. They went from lift to lift, never having to wait. It was hard for me to miss out on the amazing snow conditions on the mountain but I really wanted to watch Skylar and I'm glad I did. I know there will be many more ski sessions for me, but there will never be a time where I get to watch Skylar's first time on skis.
Lunch time in the lodge.
Here are some pictures my Mom took of Madden as happy as can be. She said the second he got on the gondola his mood completely turned around and he was as happy as a clam playing in the room and watching cartoons.
The next morning both kids were up before 6:00 AM (why is it on vacations kids always wake up so early?). Skylar said she wanted to do ski school again, but Jake and I knew she was going to be exhausted and that it probably wouldn't of been a good idea. Instead Jake and Papa walked around the hotel and scoped out the perfect sledding spot. They found a place right outside our hotel that even had a snow cave. We didn't even attempt to take Madden out and just left him in his pj's in the hotel room with Papa.
Sledding was a ton of fun. Jake paved the perfect path for us to go down. Skylar loved it and always wanted to "drive" the sled.
Skylar was such a trooper as the path was a pretty long one and she wanted to walk back up the hill on her own every time. We could tell towards the end that she getting tired as she didn't want to sled any longer and just wanted to push Mom and Dad on the sled.
As we were starting to wrap things up we got a Madden sighting. My Dad promised him that they were going to go out and look for trucks and tractors and he put on all his snow gear without a fight. It was a winter miracle! He wouldn't let anyone put him down, but he actually cracked a couple smiles watching us go down in the sled.
Since we had Madden out we decided to take advantage of it and head back up to the mountain to have lunch with Jeremy. After about 5 minutes of being up there, Skylar was exhausted and wanted to go back to the hotel room. Jake took the kids back for rest and naps and Dad, Mom and I enjoyed the perfect weather and had lunch with Jeremy.
For our last night after dinner I wanted to spend some time in the village and enjoy it. We walked around for a bit, but we all could only carry Madden for a certain amount of time. Skylar and I had a small snow ball fight, we sat by the fire, and then called it an early night. Skylar was still pretty exhausted from all the walking she had done that day and we knew we had to drive home the next day.
All in all I don't think we could of asked for a better trip. The weather, the crowds, the hotel, the drive, everything was just perfect that it made leaving so hard. They were expecting another storm on Sunday to which Jeremy told me they got another 5 inches of fresh snow. I'm so excited to make Mammoth a annual trip for us and more excited for Skylar and Madden to start making their own Mammoth memories. Now, let's just hope that Madden likes the snow a bit more next time!
