Ava Goes Skiing!

To say I hoped Ava enjoys skiing would be the understatement of the year. As much as Adam and I enjoy skiing we truly hoped she would enjoy it as much as we do. Skiing is our favorite family vacation. We would much rather spend a week skiing in the mountains that we would at any beach or lake, sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong state. I love the cold weather and even though I am partial to my reef flip flops, I’m sure I could make the switch to Uggs with no argument if I could negotiate cold weather in the trade.

As we were pulling out of the driveway on Thursday afternoon, I made the remark to Adam that I was plum giddy! I was so excited for Ava to be able to play in the snow and see how she would do skiing.

We owe Mr. Grady and Mrs. Reba Moretz so much for allowing us to ski for free. They set it up so we can park in the member’s parking area (right at the door- which means alot when you are walking in snow and/or ice!), give us free rentals of our skis and boots, and a locker so we can easily store our things (which also means alot when you have a 2 year old!). We like App Ski Mountian so much because it is easy to get to from my grandparents and very user friendly for beginning skiers- a great place for Ava to learn to ski. They also have a terrain park and its neat to watch skiers or snowboarders jump- but I will say sometimes it causes my heart to stop when it doesn’t look like they are going to complete the jump- we have seen some nasty falls!

There isn’t really any way to practice skiing, especially in Florida. After we put Ava’s boots on we showed her how to snap them into her ski, I knew it would be hard to do it out in the snow, and that was probably more challenging than anything! (I always hated for my skis to pop off because it meant I would have to snap them back on- ughh!)

By the way, are her skis and ski boots not the cutest things you have ever seen?! She was by far the cutest little skier on the mountain!

She was excited to get on the slope! I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting much for a 2 year old that isn’t ever around snow. I just wanted her to experience it- all the while crossing my fingers for her to absolutely love it. She didn’t have to be great at it- just love it!

By the time her Daddy finally got both ski boots snapped into the skis she and I were both ready to take off! We had decided before hand I would be the one to take her down the slope first and Adam would take pictures and video the whole experience.

Ava and I rode the ramp up to the top of the bunny slope and got ready to head down. I quickly realized that this was going to be a workout for me. Anyone who wants to get into shape just needs to carry slide a toddler down a bunny slope! Ava was so funny! She wanted to hold onto me with both hands and kept trying to lean back into me, which anyone who has ever been skiing knows that if you lean back and let your feet slide they are going to slide faster and faster. I kept trying to tell her to stand up straight.

Eventually I talked her into holding onto me with one hand instead of 2 to see if that would help, you can tell by the tongue sticking out of her mouth that she was concentrating so hard! Every so often we would stop and reset and I would tell her she needed to make a triangle with her skis and I would explain that was called snow-plowing and that it would slow her down. I know she didn’t grasp it because when I stood behind her and told her "Okay, make a triangle!”, she would make a triangle alright, but with her fingers instead of her skis!!

By the time we made it down the hill I was completely drained of any energy I had and sweating to death! I motioned for Adam that it was his turn the next time. I wasn’t sure if Ava was going to go up the hill again, but she said she had fun and wanted to go again.

Adam and Ava started riding the ramp up the hill and he was trying to once again explain the concept of snow-plowing. Because it was a Friday and not a holiday weekend, it wasn’t busy at all, there was no line to get on the ramp, which made it very nice.

Ava and her Daddy made their way down the slope and by the time he had made it down, he agree that it was a lot of physical work. In hindsight I should have gotten some of those straps that keep kids skis pointed in. Having the straps would have kept us from having to stop and point her skis in the right direction since they seemed to go every which way.

We had briefly talked about paying for lessons for her to learn, but I really liked the idea of teaching her myself. I haven’t ever had lessons and I taught Adam how to ski and while I wouldn’t say that I am a phenomenal skier, both Adam and I can handle black diamonds (East and West versions) pretty well, so I really wanted to be the one to teach her.

By the time we made it down a couple of times it was Noon and Ava was tired. I didn’t want to end the day of skiing on a bad note and since we hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night I knew she needed a good nap. We took her in and within seconds of taking her boots and jacket off she was asleep. Apparently it was a good workout for her as well!

Ava’s second day of skiing was quite warm, at least for snow skiing standards. It was also much more crowded. Even though it was Saturday, schools in the area were in session because they had missed so many days so far because the the crazy winter weather they have had. However, there were tons of groups who came and usually when you have groups there are tons of people on the bunny slope (at least for the first part of the day).

Since there was a line for the bunny slope ramp, Ava and I decided to perform some cross-country skiing to ski over to an area that was cleared, enough for Ava to ski. We had been talking to Ava about snow-plowing since the day before and she had finally gotten to the point when Adam or I would say “Triangle!” she would point her toes in, however, she seemed to forget what she was supposed to do as soon as she was out on the slope- haha! I think she was just excited and her legs might not have been strong enough to turn her skis inward. Of course, my argument was that I felt those same legs kick me in the ribs for weeks and felt as though every rib in my body was going to break while I was pregnant, there wasn’t any way I believed her legs weren’t strong enough! ;0

She seemed to enjoy the sections of the slopes that weren’t as steep. I think she felt more in control and since it was as steep she skied a lot slower. We did this a few times and even though she never skied without holding onto me- tightly- I think she had a good time.

Towards the end she started to have a meltdown, she was getting frustrated and I wanted to stop before she never wanted to ski again. I’m so glad we brought her and what makes me even happier is that if you ask her if she wants to go skiing again she says “Yeah!”. Although I’m not wishing for time to fly bye (or more than it already does-) I’m really looking forward to how much better she does next year!

We ended up taking Ava inside to sit with Grammy and watch all the skiers while Adam and I hit the slopes for a couple of hours and enjoyed being with each other!

The Moretz’s are always so gracious in allowing us to come whenever we like- Adam and I commented numerous times throughout the weekend how grateful we were for them- paying for lift tickets can get expensive, especially when you spend most of your time walking a toddler down the bunny slope- Ava might not have such a fabulous opportunity at such a young age if it wasn’t for their generosity!.