new mexico-day three

Waking up in the cabin together was pretty surreal.  The fire was crackling as we woke the kids up, but they still weren't quite ready to crawl out of their cozy beds. 

Once the kids were up they were anxious to get outside and explore, but they lasted less than one minute before bundling up to face the 25 degree weather. 

We ate a big breakfast and headed over to Sipapu for our first day of skiing. It took a while to get outfitted with skis and helmets, but we were eventually decked out in full gear. 

Then it was time for lessons with Daddy!

All seemed to be going well for the first hour as we rode the "Magic Carpet" up and down the bunny hill. 

After practicing our turns and stops, we headed over to the larger "Magic Carpet" which took us to the top of a green slope.  As we headed up, I started to freak out because it was so much steeper than the bunny hill and Brooke started telling me that we weren't ready.  I felt the same, but I tried to remain positive and encouraging that we could figure it out.  Well, it was an epic fail and after Brooke and I slid down part of the hill, the kids took off their skis and had to walk down the hill. Brooke was pretty angry with me and I know it all came out of fear, but I was just disappointed in how it all played out. 

The good news is that after talking it out, we decided that we just needed more practice.  So we headed back to the bunny hill.  Brooke apologized for being rude to me and I apologized for the way things turned out.  I loved seeing their smiles again after a rather traumatizing run down the green slope.

Kevin, who is amazingly patient, took each kid separately down a slightly less steep green to boost their confidence, but it took FOREVER to get down the hill.  But, their confidence was boosted, so we'll call that a success.  

We ate a quick lunch, then headed back out to the bunny hill for more practice. 

I adore these pictures of the kids and admire their courage to try something new!

Before we knew it, it was time to clean off our skis and return them to the shop.  

Who knew cleaning skis was gonna be so exciting for the kids, haha. 

As we were leaving, the ski patrol was bringing a teenager off the mountain on a stretcher.  The teenager's eyes were closed and I had no idea if he was alive or dead.  That was a very sickening feeling and I really started to second guess our decision to bring the kids skiing!  I knew that we needed to be so cautious, but the reality of serious injury freaked me out and Kevin definitely had his work cut out convincing me that we could keep our littles safe.