Ski New Mexico 3

Brian and I took turns taking care of Arden and Jack while the other went up the mountain.  Jack was content with hanging out on the swing or playing on the snow castle.  Halle watched the littles one or two times, but she mainly got to go off on her own and ski.

all of our ski stuff lined up

Halle's snow man by the snow castle.  Look, Google did it again with the snow!

The Hargraves hogging the swing.

After we got the hang of skiing we decided to hit the mountain.  I was a nervous wreck on the lift.  There was no cross bar to keep us from falling and the chair would shake occasionally.  I fell on my butt the first time I attempted to exit the lift.  Halle and I were with our ski instructor the first time we went down the green slope.  Really the instructor didn't want me going since I wasn't ready, but since my daughter was ready, I had to man-up and accompany her.

I fell about twenty times getting down that stupid green.  My heart was racing because although it was considered a green, the lane was rather narrow and the edge gave way to a huge drop off.  I was scared to get going too fast and not be able to round a corner.  Had I been younger without the thoughts of broken bones, insurance co-pays, and the sheer hassle of finding the closest emergency room, I probably would have done fine.  It really made me mad that I passed NO ONE on the way down.  Ever.  Like in the whole trip.  Little seven-year-olds would fly by me, just inches from the edge and I would just cringe, fearing for their safety.  Then I would get pissed that some seven year old was going faster than me.

By the last day my only goals were to 1) exit the lift without looking like an injured deer, and 2)make it down the mountain without falling.  Halle was a pro by this time so I told her to go on ahead of me.  She could make it down a good ten minutes faster.  I planned to take my time and enjoy my final run and the beautiful morning.  The snow was perfect, not too powdery and not too slushy.  It was nice!  I was finally getting the hang of this skiing stuff.  I was admiring the day and beaming because I hadn't fallen yet when all of a sudden I realized that no one else was on the slope but me.  And it was a lot steeper than what I remembered from the day before.  It turned out that I landed myself on a blue slope by mistake.  The green trail has turn-offs in order to go down harder blue and black routes.  That's exactly what I did; my dumb self wasn't paying attention to the signs and went the wrong way.  Immediately I fell.  I couldn't get up because the trail was too steep, so I scooted down the whole way on my booty.  I didn't achieve my second goal of not falling, but thank goodness for waterproof pants!

Once I reached the bottom, a much longer time later, I told Halle and Brian what I'd done.  This gave them the confidence to go for the blue.  If I could make it down the blue (regardless if it was on my backside) then surely they could make it down.  Gee thanks.

Back up a day to when Halle and Brian decided to go up higher on the mountain, to another set of lifts.  They were so excited to try some different trails.  I went back to the hotel room while the littles napped.  I noticed they were taking a really long while to come back, but thought they were just having a blast and didn't want to quit.  They returned a couple of hours later.  I expected them to come bouncing in the room with excitement and a story of how much fun they had.  Nope.  Both of their faces were drained of all energy and there wasn't a smile in sight.  You should really hear them tell their story in person because their mishaps are HILARIOUS!!