Vacation Update, Part Duh

The rest of the week was pretty action packed. We agreed to go to this place largely because they had an all-day ski camp for the kids and lessons for us. It took a while to find the drop-off for the kids, which was kind of annoying, but we got them there eventually and headed off for our own lessons. We were pretty much late every morning we went, which didn't help, but we eventually got hooked up where we were supposed to be. I was woefully unprepared for skiing, but the nice thing is I really picked up a lot even on the first two days. Mrs. looked terrific pretty much right away, though her boots were killing her and it really cut into her ski time.

By the end of day one, I had managed to head on down the mountain which was right outside our condo. That feature became neat as I learned to ski better - it's called ski in, ski out, so you don't have to shlep the car down the muddy goat path they call the road. I fell several times on the same spot, and I frankly had little control when heading down on either day one or two. Our instructor on day two actually took us up to the top of one of the mountains to ski an easy trail with him, and I did better than I thought. No more bunny hill for me.

We were actually going to skip day three lessons, but we went anyway. Oddly, Mrs. seemed bored at the beginning, and I felt bored at the end. As it turned out, despite the slow pace, I think I learned more that day than any of the others. We ended up at the top of one of the steeper trails by the middle of Wednesday, and even if they were just the easy trails, I found them fun & challenging.

The kids had a good time at ski camp - cried a bit when we dropped them off, but they got over it. I think it helped younger that older was in the same camp - it gave her someone to hang onto. We kept running into them on the various slopes during our respective lessons, which I think was harder on them than if they hadn't seen us. I got a little nervous seeing them on a "big" hill, but they came back in one piece, so... Thursday was "graduation" and the big cookie race, which involved EVERY... LAST... CHILD in the various levels of camp to ski down the bunny hill & get a cookie. I might not have cared if our kids hadn't been last, but we ended up waiting close to two hours outside. It's the only time all week I was cold - the rest of it I was busy skiing & didn't notice the chill. And the kids clearly learned something, as they made it down the hill nicely.

Packed up Thursday, hit the road early Friday AM to make it to our shabbos lodgings - we spent the weekend with friends in the Bronx, figuring there was no way to make it home before sundown and we had no food at home anyway, went to a party there on Sunday, and made it home Sunday PM. Everybody else fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I carried all the luggage in & unpacked a bit while they were sleeping in the van. 911 miles end to end, and all in the space of 7 days. A good vacation, but WHEW!