More winter fun

As I was downloading my pics yesterday, I came across some more good winter pics. Enjoy!


A little fun on a cold winter's day.



Showing off his new skating helmet.

Conquering the mountain

This weekend marked another first for the little guy -- his first time downhill skiing. It turns out that he's a natural.

We signed him up for for a 2-hour lesson that included ski rentals, and a full day lift ticket. Although he seemed gung ho on the idea of skiing, we prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. Often, he's pretty wary of new situations and new people. Couple that with his intense dislike of the outdoors in the winter, we figured it could all go very badly. It turns out that we had no reason to be concerned. The second he saw all of the other kids skiing he couldn't get to the top of the bunny hill fast enough! When he finished his first run he was smiling, laughing and high fiving his instructor. And, by the end of his lesson he was skiing down the hill by himself.

It was such a great weekend for all of us. We lucked into finding an awesome deal on just about the last vacant cottage near the ski resort. I literally spent hours looking for places to stay. Right as I was about to give up I came across an ad for a tiny little cottage at around 1:00 pm. We were on the road by 3:00 pm. The cottage was nothing to write home about but it was clean and comfy and had a wood stove.

Here are a few pics.


Here he is with his gorgeous ski instructor (no wonder he warmed up to her so fast) eagerly getting back in line to go back up the hill after his first run.



Wipe out! Much of the day was spent just like this.


The little guy with his instructor and the other child in his class. The other child's mother disappeared shortly after the lesson began and the poor little fellow cried the entire time she was gone. It was absolutely heartbreaking.


Up we go again! Going up the hill on the conveyor belt was almost as fun as skiing down.


Here is daddy chasing the little guy down the hill. Although he was good at getting down the hill on skis, he had no idea how to slow down or steer. We took turns running down the hill after him. Daddy's favourite quote of the day was, "No dad, you don't understand. I need to go too fast!"


The fun didn't end when we got home.

Another first

For the five minutes that baby boy's bob skates actually worked, he was on cloud nine. You should have seen the grin on his face as we glided hand in hand along the canal. It was a dream come true.

The slipperiness of the ice startled him at first, and his legs went all willy nilly. When he realized that mommy and daddy were there to catch him, he relaxed. We watched in amazement at how quickly he learned to balance himself. Once he had gained his "skate legs," he immediately began asking us for a hockey stick. I guess he figured he would be an instant hockey pro. We never got the chance to find out. Those cheap, lousy bob skates came loose and wouldn't stay on his feet. After several repair jobs, one of the skates completely broke apart. The skate party was over.

This unfortunate turn of events was devastating to the little guy. He wailed and wailed as we removed the blades from his boots. The only way we could distract him from his sorrow was to buy him a beaver tail. That worked long enough for hubby and I to get a skate in of our own. Baby boy just munched on his treat as we wheeled him down the ice.

Yesterday we bought him a proper pair of ice skates at a used sports store. We'll be hitting the ice again soon to try them out.