Rhonda & Company: Last Ski Weekend of the Season

This was our last opportunity to head up for some skiing at the family cabin until next season. It was an amazing weekend with spring skiing conditions. You really can't ski any earlier than 10:00 a.m. because everything is too hard and crusty. Then the sun heats everything up and the snow gets nice and soft. This is my favorite type of skiing. We spent Saturday and even a few hours on Sunday sqeezing in the last bit of skiing we could. It's been such a fun season for our little family. Cooper has gotten to be such a strong, stable skier. Nate has really taken off. All of a sudden it really clicked for him and he can keep up with Cooper easily. Nate is not as concerned about style and control, but definitely can keep up with Cooper's speed. And the most amazing skier in our family is little Lizzie. She is not even five years old and all of a sudden can snow plow, stop and turn like you wouldn't believe. She spent the whole weekend on the chair lift skiing real beginner runs without a harness at all. We were so proud of her!

Jeff and I took the three kids up Sunday all by ourselves. No grandparent backup at all. It was the first time since having Cooper that we could ski with all of our kids and have it not be stressful. It was fabulous. Jeff took Lizzie on the green runs in the morning and I tried my best to keep up with my two speed demons on the blue runs. Then we switched and Jeff took the boys and I got some time with my girl. Toward the end, we all skiied together and just had the best time. It was so fun. Jeff and I looked at each other and said, "We made it." All the years of carrying the gear, holding kids between our legs, trying to keep them stable with the harness, bribing them with candy, encouraging, encouraging, encouraging...have finally paid off. They can ski and it is so fun to be able to do this as a family.

There's no way this would have been accomplished without Jeff's parents. Grandma Kerry spent countless weekends taking one of our kids to the bunny hill and working with them. Grandpa Jeff was also vital in the "buddy system". Not to mention all the help with lift tickets and building a place for all the family to stay whenever anyone wants to head to the mountains. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

This weekend was also the weekend before Lizzie's birthday. She has been counting the days for about a month. Grandma made her requested meal of spaghetti and meatballs and a gorgeous butterfly cake. Lizzie even got to help with the frosting. Jeff's aunt, uncle, cousin and fiancee' came over to celebrate with us. Lizzie was thrilled.