The Nienhuis' Winter - 2008

So this is what we have been doing all winter long. We have been downhill skiing! And it has been a fun, wonderful, and growing experience for our entire family. We had a pool at our old house that we loved. We miss it already and it isn't even summer yet. But taking up downhill skiing has turned into our new family sport, our new family bonding time, it is our new "pool". And it has made this long northern winter a whole lot more tolerable, and yes, even fun!

The kids and I all started out on the bunny hill back in the end of November. There wasn't even snow on the ground yet, but man-made snow already covered the mountain. Not one child of mine knew how to snow plow, turn or, most importantly, stop. But the kids were troopers, and kept trying, and had willing enough hearts to learn to keep coming out and practicing. The first time I watched them "clunk" along the parking lot in their heavy ski boots, I thought "here comes the whining". But they never whined about the heavy boots, they barely cried when they fell, and they took instruction to heart and learned from their mistakes. They were truly amazing.

That was back in November. It is now Easter Sunday, almost April, and in 4 months time, they are all 3 skiing from the top of the mountain, on any run we want to take them. To include black diamonds! We have skiied 21 times. (Dean has kept a matrix of how often we skiied, for how long, who went skiing, and the weather on that day. I married a Nerd. I know this.) Sam is almost as fast as his older cousins who have been skiing for many years. Elle is right behind Sam, and can fair any run he can. Jack is a natural. He goes from the top with the harness on, with daddy holding on to him, following 6 feet behind. We call it "Jack's leash". Once they get past the steep part, Dean lets him go on his own. He can turn without snowplowing and parallel skiis already. When he stops, it is almost a hockey stop. He's just a little too young to do the steep part of the runs alone, but as long as he has daddy along, he can do anything.

We live on the south side of the mountain, which means it is easier for us to park at the top of the ski runs, and ski right down the mountain. Now that the kids can ski from the top, we never have to lug through the parking wearing our boots while holding 20 pairs of skiis. We just park, put our skiis on, and ski down. It's really that easy!

So, if you didn't get a Christmas card (which you didn't), and I haven't been blogging much (which I haven't) and you haven't gotten a call from me lately (which is probably true), you now know why. If I haven't been sick, I've been skiing.

So please come visit. We'll take you skiing and it will be great fun! This picture was taken just 7 minutes from our house!!