Ski Trip: Day 3, Night 4, Day 4

Day 3:

I woke up Sunday morning and could not talk at ALL.  No sound came out.  I didn't feel horrible, but I didn't feel great either.  When I was teaching, I went hoarse a couple of times, but this time, it seemed out of no where.  I was kind of bummed that I wasn't feeling 100% on our last day in Taos since I had planned to take a lot more pictures.  Obviously, I still had a photo shoot with Finley and it did force me to get us all packed up!

We non-skiers had a relaxing morning while the skiers went back to the slopes.  Devin was pretty excited to try moguls and jumps again after the 3 of them had tried them the day before.  I wanted to go watch them, but there wasn't a place I could go to see them without actually being on skis and obviously, that was NOT an option.

That afternoon, we again went to watch Adam and Nathan ski.  Nathan was taking a nap so it was just Adam this time, but the ski instructors all encouraged Amy and Dillon to bring Nathan back to the ski school soon because as they put it, he is absolutely fearless!

Night 4:

That night, we came back and just finished packing, ate dinner, and relaxed.  We also took "scarf" pictures.  I had bought us all fun scarves at Old Navy when they were on sale for $1.  I was pleasantly surprised that we actually got a decent one.  It's hard to ever get one with all 3 kids looking, but all-in-all the scarf pics turned out great!

Probably my favorite story from the whole weekend happened while we were hanging out.  The boys had brought these blocks to play with and they were quite the hit all weekend.  Well, both Adam and Nathan had built some pretty complex shapes and were showing them off to all of us and Finley comes over to the boys with a yellow block stuck on her finger just as proud of herself as she could be.  She kept showing it to them like it was just as cool as what they had made and trying to be a part of the action.  It just made me laugh so hard!  She so wants to be one of the big kids!  I should also say that Nathan calls Finley "Finley Ela" all the time and I absoultely LOVE it.  It's so precious!

Day 4:
The trip back was long, but not nearly as frustrating as the way there.  Finley did about as well as could be expected.  She did sleep quite a bit of the 9 hour trip back, but she was also awake a good portion.  We entertained her with her favorite CD and toys, but she was as ready as we were to get back home!!!!

Ski Trip: Day 2, Night 3

Day 2:
We woke up Saturday morning and it was fairly overcast.  I was trying to avoid the whole skiing bit, but Devin convinced me that it would be fine so I layered away (I look a little uncertain in the above pic!) and rented my ski gear.  When I planned this trip, I had no real intentions of skiing since I have only one experience skiing and that was of me going down the wrong side of the mountain straight towards a school bus.  I also wasn't incredibly interested in paying a gazillion dollars on ski lessons this time since at this point, Devin and I aren't really sure how often we will be going skiing.  However, Devin really wanted me to ski at least half a day with him and since I love him, I gave in.

We had been warned quite a bit about the dangers of spouses teaching spouses to ski and Devin seemed quite unfazed by it all, but admittedly, afterwards, I think we will wholeheartedly stand by those who oppose the idea.  First of all, I have no idea how to even snow plow so Devin teaches me two seconds before we are to get on the ski lift to take us up the mountain.  I am terrified and have no coordination with the skis yet at all.  I'm trying rather awkwardly to get into the ski lift line and a guy working there said "Is this your first time on skis?"  I say "Yep... that obvious, huh?"  He looks at Devin and says "Take her to Strawberry Hill.  There is no way she should be trying to ski yet.  There's a magic carpet and everything for her to practice on."  Then he pauses and says "Are you qualified to teach her how to ski?"  Devin replies "I'm her husband."  He says "I've worked here for nine years and I'm telling you this is a bad idea!"

So we go over to Strawberry Hill and I'm already exhausted.  It's hard work walking in ski boots!  I try practicing the snow plow a little and am really just interested in learning how to stop.  I start feeling a little more confident, but have only tried skiing on a pretty flat area.  It takes me literally forever to get back to where Devin was and then I'm trying to go up the hill which was anything but fun.  I get on the magic carpet and get to the top of Strawberry Hill.  Devin is beside me trying to tell me what to do.  I end up in front of him and start going much faster than I'm comfortable with.  Try to stop.  Can't.  Freak out.  Try falling down. Finally fall down.  Look at Devin like "I can't do this."  Manage to get to bottom of the hill.

Second ski "pass"....  I ask Devin if he could go in front of me so that I can try to copy him because it's hard to learn skiing as you are doing it.  Devin agrees.  Up the magic carpet we go.  At first, I feel better. Can see Devin and copy him.  Next thing I know, I am skiing straight into the moving magic carpet.  Not a good thing.  I ski straight into the moving conveyer belt and fall backwards.  Again, I look at Devin like "I can't do this."

Third attempt... This time I get on the magic carpet and my ski somehow gets stuck.  Half of my body is going forward and half is going backward.  I panic.  Fall.  My body is going in different directions.  Devin yells to the operator to stop the magic carpet.  He does.  I flail off the magic carpet.  Look at Devin this time and say "This is not fun."  He says "Do you want to quit?"  I say "Yes, please!" Devin gives me his disappointed look and I try to explain that he learned to ski when he was fearless.  I am not fearless anymore and am a control freak who needs to feel like she has at least an idea of what she is supposed to be doing.  He understands.

So we go back to the cabin and Devin's dad goes skiing with Devin while I stay inside with Jan and Finley.  I feel bad.  Keep thinking I should have tried longer, but I felt like I couldn't explain to Devin what I needed to know and feeling like he would be having a lot more fun actually skiing that trying to teach me to ski.  So next time, I will go into skiing with a complete willingness to spend a gazillion dollars on ski lessons.  I have no doubts I need professional help... at the very least and even then I'm not sure if I'll ever be a skier.  It would be great if I were, but I'm okay if it is a skill I never develop.  I'm over trying to be good at everything.  I think.

That afternoon, I took a zillion pictures.  I really love the big one above of Devin and Finley.  Is he handsome or what!  Also, notice the scruff is getting longer.  By the time we get to Day 3, he almost has a beard!

We also went to watch Adam and Nathan ski.  After two days of ski school, they were pretty impressive.  Much more impressive than my own pathetic attempts!  Sadly, I actually felt better when Adam said he was afraid of the magic carpet!  I needed commissary from anyone... including my 4 year old nephew!

Night 3:

That night we went tubing.  No, Finley did not go tubing.  I just thought it would be cute to put her in one and take a picture of her.  This was totally up my alley.  I had so much fun tubing and didn't mind at all not being in control.  Weird, I know.

When we got back to the cabin, we gave Jan her birthday gifts and celebrated her actual birthday with cake!

Ski Trip: Night 1, Day 1, Night 2

Night 1:

Devin, Finley, and I left for Taos on Thursday after work... just as the rest of the fam was actually getting to Taos.  We couldn't find one of the major roads we needed and ended up taking a tiny road (at least, it was on the map!) and weaving through the mountains rather slowly.  Around 2 a.m., we were getting close, but still frustrated when we see the car in front of us (the only car we'd seen in forever) flip around and pull up behind us... Yep, a cop!  Apparently, we were blinding him with our brights and fortunately, he decided to overlook the fact that we were going about 15 miles over the speed limit, took pity on us, and gave us directions to get to our lodge.  We finally arrived around 3.  We unloaded and headed to bed.  Finley, who had slept almost the whole way to Taos, fell back to sleep, but it was rather fitful and when the rest of the family was up around 6:30 a.m., we got up too.

Day 1:

The skiers got dressed and ready to go while those of us non-skiers enjoyed our pajamas as long as possible.  Finley and I tried to nap after the skiers left, but it didn't go too well so we, along with Grandma Jan, went exploring the shops outside our lodge.

We met the skiers for lunch and found that they were having a great time which was a relief since we were all still exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before.  Finley and I tried again to get a nap in the afternoon with not much more success than in the morning.  Around 4, the skiers returned and we were able to hear about their day.  Adam and Nathan had really enjoyed ski school and it was fun to hear about pizza wedges and french fries (how to stop and how to go fast).

Night 2:

That night we went to eat at The Hondo restaurant for Grandma Jan's birthday.  The kids colored and enjoyed themselves as well.  Finley was beginning to look pretty pathetic by this point.  I could tell she wasn't feeling well and she quickly fell asleep once we returned to our lodge... Devin and I weren't too far behind!!!!