Free the Tips, Free the Mind

Ally and Tyler made their first turns yesterday without the aid of their Edgie Wedgies! Trying to put together a little movie to document their first season on the slopes, but having some technical difficulties with my editing equipment right now. Regardless of my video challenges, this seems huge to me. Lauren was kind of pushing them towards taking them off, and frankly, I think I was the only one who didn't think it was a great idea. Not so much that they couldn't handle it (although it did occur to me), but moreover, I was afraid it would make skiing too much work and maybe not as much fun as it had been earlier in the year. Just didn't want to discourage them, right?

Wrong. Couldn't have been more wrong. They took them off and really never looked back. It took about 1/4 of a run down the slope for them to find their groove again, and by the time we finished that run they were skiing with just as much control as they had all season. Awesome! They did both decide to put the wedgies back on again for a couple of runs after that, but after lunch they came off for good and I don't think we'll be going back to them.

We ended Sunday with about a half dozen runs through the terrain park -- yet another first for them that is light years ahead of my first experience. Both of them took runs through the half-pipe and followed me off a few jumps. Not much *air* yet, but I'm sure it's not far off. :-)

Ripping it up with Mogul Mouse

"I've got to be crazy! I'm on a pilgrimage to see a moose! Praise Marty Moose!"
- Clark W. Griswold, National Lampoon's 'Vacation'

We haven't made it to Wally World, yet, but I now know where Clark was coming from. The highlight of our ski season has without a doubt been our relationship with new friend Mogul Mouse (although his good friend 'Billy Bob Bear' is running a close second). The kids absolutely LOVE him. Any afternoon that we remain on the slopes until 3pm or so means a chance to hang out with MM and BBB for apres' ski. For those who have been out to places like the Mangy Moose Bar in Jackson, WY or the Pickle Barrel Nightclub in Killington, you'll have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. ;-) But, if you've had hot chocolate and pizza with a giant mouse, we're on the same page. This weekend had the best conditions of the year, and we took full advantage. Lauren had a fantastic 'chick's day' at Sugarbush on Friday, we all had a pizza party with Mogul Mouse on Friday night, then a FULL day of skiing for all four of us on Saturday and another family half-day on Sunday. Sunday afternoon I got to ski some grown-up trails on my own -- had some tired legs but a great time.

Aside from their friendship with the characters, Ally and Ty continue to blow us away with their skiing. Not only are they learning quickly, they are also REALLY into it. Pretty much the first question each morning is whether or not we can go skiing today. Their aptitude and focus has been a blast to watch. I had pretty much envisioned a season of getting gear ready, getting to the mountain and spending no more than an hour at a time on the bunny slope. And that would have been fine, for sure. Instead, though, it's been the opposite. I think we were out for 4-5 hours on Saturday, and another 3 on Sunday. And, although we have made use of the bribe of hot chocolate and/or french fries, most of the time we haven't really needed it. Lauren pointed out yesterday what a great discipline this is for them -- it seems a little crazy to expect three year olds to be focused on one single thing for an extended period of time, but yet, there they are waiting in lift lines, controlling their speed, watching out for others and listening to instructions (sometimes). Yeah, I'm proud.

We gave up on the T-bar and magic carpet lift the first day, and have since been riding the lifts. It's a lot easier for all concerned, and we can now ski top to bottom without providing any assistance (except for getting on/off the lift) for Ally or Ty. We've started spending time on a new lift, and the fun thing about it is that it has a trail which leads to a little slalom run. I think I took turns in gates for the first time at about 17 years old -- Ally and Ty have me beat by 14 years! We've noticed that Ally is much more likely to make turns just for fun on the hill, where Ty won't turn unless there is an obstacle present. They love skiing the gates, and it turns out they are a great teaching tool, as well. Here are some pictures:

That's it for now... hope you're all enjoying this great snow as much as we are!

Digging out from the Blizzard of '07

The storm of the century hit Vermont on Wednesday -- dumping down somewhere around 30" of snow at our house (by my perhaps less than scientific measurement). An absolutely crazy amount of snow -- I think Sugarbush reported 48" at the summit! The only bummer is that we were pretty much too snowed in to get out and ski it on Wednesday, however, we did manage to make a couple of turns yesterday afternoon at Smuggs, which was awesome. So much drifted powder that I actually got myself stuck for a few minutes just trying to traverse between trails! It's tough to explain to your manager that you need a snow day when you work at home, but I did my best and he was very cool with letting me out. I do have to work today though, despite the fact that Lauren is out with the girls tearing up the powder on the Castlerock chair at Sugarbush. Jealous!

So far, I think we've snowblowed (snowblown? snowblew?) the driveway 4 times since Wednesday, and I just went out to find that there is probably another 6" that's fallen/drifted since yesterday. It's all good with me, though -- I'll take another storm just like it tomorrow.

Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning:

It's hard to really show how deep it is, but take a look at the roof of our shed... remember that is after 24 fairly windy hours, too. I'm hoping there is nothing in the shed we'll need before April.

This is really the best of living in Vermont -- everyone who can is out enjoying a big ski/snowboard/snowshoe day. As I told some co-workers from Austin, TX yesterday, what others call a 'state of emergency' we just call a 'powder day'. :-)

Tiny-Brained Wipers of other People's Bottoms

Do you remember that line from Monty Python's 'The Holy Grail'? Where the French knights are hurling insults at King Arthur's knights? "I blow my nose at you... I fart in your general direction..." I always thought that referring to someone as a "tiny-brained wiper of other people's bottoms" was a great insult until I took up potty training for 3-year old twins. :-) Jokes aside, it's gone very well with the exception of the occasional argument over whether or not trying to go is a good idea. Ty has been the more challenging kid in this arena, so we've tried introducing a little diversion to get him in the right frame of mind:


Last thing... and believe me, this is the kind of comment that makes the challenges that come with parenting all worthwhile... after using the bathroom yesterday, Tyler says to me, "I wouldn't poop on you because I love you, daddy." Fantastic. Good to know I'm getting through to him. :-)