The bunny hill holds no more challenges for Dan, so next weekend let's hope the Bronze chairlift is open here, which gives access to the resort's green runs, the next step up for Dan.. And Olga and I can ski together with him, which will be nice
Sunday, 13 December 2015
Thursday, 10 December 2015
Happy 8th Birthday, Larissa
We woke Lara up early this morning to give her her presents and chat with Grandma, before she went off to school, then onto Skating, before she had a "Nerf Battle"-themed party at the local recreation centre.
I started this blog before Lara was born to help follow her progress as she grows up, and so she can look back at this when she's older. So much as you might be embarrassed, Lara, we love you very much and are very proud of you (all the more so if you ever volunteered to clean up your room!!)
I started this blog before Lara was born to help follow her progress as she grows up, and so she can look back at this when she's older. So much as you might be embarrassed, Lara, we love you very much and are very proud of you (all the more so if you ever volunteered to clean up your room!!)
Dan Skiing Progress
Dan has had three proper lessons now at Olympic Park, and he seems to be doing really well. He's not as fast as the other kids, but he is one of the youngest, and frankly I'm happy for him to be slow but in control rather than fast and not-so-in-control - it wouldn't be fair to say the other kids who are faster than him are out of control. I did like the brief conversation I heard between the parents of one boy, about Dan's age, who tends to hurtle straight down the hill without turns or snowploughing, until he stops himself by falling or being caught by someone...
Mum, just arriving back from a coffee break: "Hey, how was Ryder?"
Dad: "Kamikazee."
That seemed pretty accurate to me.
Here's Dan putting in some nice turns:
Dan does get some practice in at the weekend at Nakiska, where we play a game with Mr & Mrs Pole, he has to grab them or high-five them on the way past..
Mum, just arriving back from a coffee break: "Hey, how was Ryder?"
Dad: "Kamikazee."
That seemed pretty accurate to me.
Here's Dan putting in some nice turns:
Dan does get some practice in at the weekend at Nakiska, where we play a game with Mr & Mrs Pole, he has to grab them or high-five them on the way past..
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Almost start of the ski season
This was our last chance at a practise of our weekend schedule before Lara's ski lessons start again next Saturday morning. It takes some planning to get everyone in the right place at the right time with the right equipment.
At least Lara is helping now by carrying some of our gear (and it is only some!) in her boot bag. It's a lot lighter than it looks. Dan had a dozen or more runs down the nursery slope over the weekend, and so long as we don't pressure him too much, he's enjoying it. He likes going fast more than he likes stopping, though.
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
A bit of a snowy weekend and Remembrance Day
The weekend was nice, Lara is nearly fully fit now, the physio hasn't quite released her to full action, but she's out of her protective "boot" completely now, and wears just a normal, soft, ankle support for taekwondo and school. On Saturday morning she returned to dryland ski training, where a bunch of the kids do exercises for 90 minutes in a sports hall, all related to improving their physical condition for skiing. After that we bought her a new helmet for skiing, one that's hard plastic all over, as opposed to a normal ski helmet, which has soft bits over the ears to make it more comfortable, I presume. This "full-shell" helmet is a requirement for the 4 races she will enter this winter, and we'll not put kids' stickers all over this one! It's red, rather than pink, so it can be handed down to Dan as well, given it was rather expensive!
After that we went out to the trailer, and a little hike up a valley by a babbling stream. There was some snow on the ground so the kids practised snow-ball throwing, Dan is definitely a lefty. A dog walker we passed told us she'd just seen an elk on the other side of the river, but we missed it.
There was enough to build their first snowman, but they had as much fun knocking him down a couple of hours later - Lara practising her taekwondo on it!
Whilst walking the dogs on Saturday night, I was struck by their shadows as I walked them in torchlight and couldn't resist trying to take a photo:
On Sunday we picked up our ski lift passes from Nakiska, and had a look around, so the kids could see how it looks when there isn't much snow around. Those slopes look different when you can see the grass, I would think twice about walking up or down some of them, but I have no problem skiing down them.
Then I took the kids and dogs down to the river for a bit of adventuring while Olga cleaned up the trailer - Nakiska is due to open on Wednesday, and then on weekends for the rest of November, so if there is any good snowfall in the next few weeks, we might well be skiing at the weekends, so it's important to get the housekeeping tasks done now while there's time!
Yesterday was a full-on sports day once the kids were home from school/nursery: Dan had skating then gymnastics, and at the same time Lara had a swimming lesson then her taekwondo. It's just as well the main sports centre where three of those activities happen is only a nice, 15 minute walk away around the lake.
After her lesson Lara took great pleasure in demonstrating some self-defense techniques on me, she really does know where to pinch my arm to tweak the nerve!
Today Lara's school had their Remembrance Day service, as 11th November is a public holiday here. Lara was singing as part of their Senior Choir, and it was an outdoor service, which in temperatures around 0 degrees, was quite a brave thing for them to do.
Today is a relatively quiet one, with only Lara's skating to deal with after school..
After that we went out to the trailer, and a little hike up a valley by a babbling stream. There was some snow on the ground so the kids practised snow-ball throwing, Dan is definitely a lefty. A dog walker we passed told us she'd just seen an elk on the other side of the river, but we missed it.
There was enough to build their first snowman, but they had as much fun knocking him down a couple of hours later - Lara practising her taekwondo on it!
Whilst walking the dogs on Saturday night, I was struck by their shadows as I walked them in torchlight and couldn't resist trying to take a photo:
On Sunday we picked up our ski lift passes from Nakiska, and had a look around, so the kids could see how it looks when there isn't much snow around. Those slopes look different when you can see the grass, I would think twice about walking up or down some of them, but I have no problem skiing down them.
Then I took the kids and dogs down to the river for a bit of adventuring while Olga cleaned up the trailer - Nakiska is due to open on Wednesday, and then on weekends for the rest of November, so if there is any good snowfall in the next few weeks, we might well be skiing at the weekends, so it's important to get the housekeeping tasks done now while there's time!
Yesterday was a full-on sports day once the kids were home from school/nursery: Dan had skating then gymnastics, and at the same time Lara had a swimming lesson then her taekwondo. It's just as well the main sports centre where three of those activities happen is only a nice, 15 minute walk away around the lake.
After her lesson Lara took great pleasure in demonstrating some self-defense techniques on me, she really does know where to pinch my arm to tweak the nerve!
Today Lara's school had their Remembrance Day service, as 11th November is a public holiday here. Lara was singing as part of their Senior Choir, and it was an outdoor service, which in temperatures around 0 degrees, was quite a brave thing for them to do.
Today is a relatively quiet one, with only Lara's skating to deal with after school..
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