Mammoth 2016

Back to the snow for us.  We got a week off from skiing and then we packed up the kids and repacked our snow gear to headed up to Mammoth for a long weekend.  Since Jake and I had our own solo ski trip, this one was all about the kids.  It was going to be Skylar’s third year on ski’s and Madden’s first.    I really wanted this to be the trip that we got to ski with the kids,.  The usual suspects join us as well; Mom, Dad, and Jeremy.  We made record time and arrived to Mammoth by lunch time.  The condo was great and the kids were in heaven like they always are when it comes to hotel rooms.  That evening we ate dinner at the condo and after much discussion decided on ski school instead of a private lessons for the kids. 

We headed up the mountain early to get the kids signed up to ski school.  For weeks now we had be talking to Madden about skiing and he was pumped for it.  He kept telling us how he was going to go super-fast just like he does on his scooter.  He was going to ski with Sissy and get to have hot chocolate and a cookie.  He was all about it…well that was until we paid for ski school. I spent 10 minutes trying to convince him to just take off his snow boots so they could measure him for skis and boots.  He got sized up and put on his ski boots to only walk three steps and demand we take them off and he proclaimed he wouldn’t be skiing.   I tried for another 15 minutes telling him how much fun he was going to have, how he will be with Skylar, how he was going to get to ride an escalator and go really fast down the small hill.  I even threw my birthday at him, telling him its Mom’s birthday and the only thing she wants is to see him ski.  Nothing work…he would just say “No, No, No!”  So me dream of seeing Madden ski is just going to have to wait until next year.  Jake and I skied most of the morning while trying to peek in on Skylar.  Skylar was of course a gem and rocked ski school.  She had a blast and improved so much and got the OK to try and ride the Poma lift. 

#skischoolfail

Skylar age 3, 4 and 5.

That evening we went out to dinner in the village to celebrate my birthday.  Jake and the kids made me my favorite ice cream cake and everyone sung happy birthday to me.  It was a perfect birthday for me. 

The next morning Skylar was all about skiing with Mom, Dad, and Papa.  Yes, Papa rented skis and hit up the mountain for the first time in years. I don’t think I have seen him ski in almost 20 years.  What grandparents will do for their grand kids.  My dad was always an awesome skier and he still had it, I just wish he would of lasted longer than 5 runs. 

Jake and I probably should of listened to Skylar’s instructor better because we decide to forgo the Poma lift and head straight up the mountain on a bunny slope with Skylar.  Skylar got off the chair lift like a pro.  When we told her it was time to start skiing down the mountain everything went downhill, and not Skylar skiing downhill.  The tears began running down her face and they didn’t’ stop. She would only move as long as she was holding on to my arm, which in turn was us falling and not moving much.  We tried to tell her it’s just like what she did at ski school, she wasn’t going to get hurt, she wasn’t going to go fast.  It was just pizza all the way down, but she was crying and screaming so much she didn’t care.  She just wanted off that mountain.  At one point my Dad took her between his legs and was able to move her more than two feet.  That didn’t last very long and by that point she had pretty much given up and wasn’t even trying.  She would honestly move 2 inches and fall down on her butt and just cry and cry.  We finally just took her ski’s off her and she walked down the mountain with Jake.  In the end it took us an hour to get down the bunny run and it made me realize why lessons and instructors cost what they cost because they are worth every penny.  Jake and I said it was the hardest hour of our life as a parent for Skylar.  We knew she could do it and were so frustrated that she wasn’t even trying, but at the same time felt so bad for putting her in that situation.  I figured she would never get on a pair of ski’s again.  We left her with Jeremy at the bottom of the mountain and took off for a couple runs as we figured she  needed space from us and we did from her.

The chair lift up was fun.

This was just one of her many falls.

To our amazement when we came back from doing a couple runs Jeremy had Skylar back on her skis and she was skiing down the bottom part of the bunny slope, and not to mention she was skiing amazingly well.  Jeremy was a miracle worker and so great to  see her having fun after the debacle on the mountain with us.  She even hit the Poma lift and rocked it doing it a handful of times.  We couldn’t of been more proud of her!!!

Snowman building with Dad.

All smiles.

High five to sister after her awesome run.

Lending a hand to his sister.

A storm was brewin so Friday evening into Saturday morning we got some snow.  We decided to not ski and take the kids to our old sled run.  We built a snowman, did some sledding and the kids had a snowball fight with my Dad and Jeremy.  Snowballs were definitely Madden’s highlight of the trip.  We ate lunch at one of my favorite places in Mammoth that I hadn’t been to for years.  Saturday the snow really started dumping so we stayed indoors and played rounds and rounds of monopoly and uno.  Madden was definitely the champion of the weekend after winning most of the games.  Sunday morning we woke up to so much snow that it was hard to leave it.  Fresh powder was everywhere.  The snow was so bad and coming down still that we had to put chains on just to get out of Mammoth. 

Madden refused to be in the picture because the snowman didn't look enough like Frosty the Snowman.

Until next year Huck the Bear.