When my parents moved to Africa one of our family's (very important) concerns was: HOW IS DAD GOING TO SKI?
Okay, so it wasn't a serious concern, but for those who don't know, legend has it that when my parents got married my mom was pretty sure she was marrying a really nice, really great, top notch... ski bum. He'd skied competitively, coached the women's ski team at BYU, and had skied all growing up. Thankfully my dad proved to be a lot more than that ;) but has kept skiing. Fast forward to moving to Africa. Really, HOW IS DAD GOING TO SKI?
So for the past 5 years the weekend before April General Conference has become an unofficial ski weekend for the Hamilton family. :)
Now, full disclaimer: I grew up skiing but I haven't been in about 5 years. I tell people it's because of babies and pregnancies and timing but really... I just don't like being cold. I like blue skies with freshly groomed runs well enough but my favorite part of skiing is the hot chocolate at the end. On the other hand, Taylor has become a skier since we got married and he loves it so he gets to represent our family on the slopes. :)
This past General Conference my parents rented a house for the ski weekend and all of the Hamilton kids were there. We were missing some spouses and some grandkids but we had a pretty good size group! Obviously, being super pregnant, I didn't ski. So we planned to go up one afternoon and hang out at the lodge while everyone else skied so the kids could play in the snow. Will did ski school in the morning, Taylor skied on his own most of the day then took Will on a real run with him (as opposed to the bunny hills with the rope tow that Will had been learning on). Despite Will's larger-than-life confidence on the chair lift (he kept telling his cousin Jude how he was going to teach him how to stop and all the things he learned at ski school), Taylor ended up carrying him down most of the run. Will came back and the first thing he said was, "It. Was. Terrifying." Looks like he needs some more ski school first (next year).
Emma even gave skiing a shot! She borrowed Will's skis and boots and after one run down the ski school bunny hill with Dad she was over it. Then she went back to playing with cousins.
As the other grandkids got too tired or too cold to ski they came to warm up at the lodge, eat snacks (mostly Oreos from Grandma), and fawn over baby Rosie (who is, by far, everybody's favorite right now).
Then they all went to play out in the snow. An epic snowball fight between Star Wars characters broke out and it was really fun to watch all these cousins play together. Even though Will accidentally hit his cousin Noah with a rock or ice chunk instead of a snowball (It left a mark and everything...Sorry, Noah!) they had so much fun together.
And Luke, sweet Luke. He was not very sure about the snow. At first it was too bright for him, and then he got hit by a snowball or two (thrown by DAD of all people) but once the sun ducked behind the clouds again and he realized that snow actually just meant an unlimited supply of balls to pick up and throw he was okay with it. He mostly stuck to the stairs by the lodge, but he enjoyed himself.
Love my little snow crew.
After skiing we went home and the kids watched movies, went in the hot tub and stayed up way past bedtime before going to sleep in a room full of bunkbeds. A massive cousin sleepover.
The next day some people did Ski Day Round 2 but we decided to let Taylor go ski while we went to the aquarium. It was a busy Saturday and I didn't have my stroller but somehow we made it through all the exhibits with 3 kids by myself and without losing anybody or having any meltdowns. Not to mention I was 30 weeks pregnant at this point so... go Mom!
We finished the weekend with my nephew Isaac's baptism Saturday night and church on Sunday at my sister Michelle's ward. It was really special to watch Isaac get baptized and be surrounded by his family.
On a less spiritual note it was also pretty funny watching all the 6-year-old boy cousins (there are 4 of them!) sitting in the front row and waiting for the baptism to start... playing thumb wars with each other. The kids seriously had so much fun together and I think they were all completely wiped out by the end of the weekend. They are super excited for another cousin party at our Outer Banks reunion this summer!
Okay, so it wasn't a serious concern, but for those who don't know, legend has it that when my parents got married my mom was pretty sure she was marrying a really nice, really great, top notch... ski bum. He'd skied competitively, coached the women's ski team at BYU, and had skied all growing up. Thankfully my dad proved to be a lot more than that ;) but has kept skiing. Fast forward to moving to Africa. Really, HOW IS DAD GOING TO SKI?
So for the past 5 years the weekend before April General Conference has become an unofficial ski weekend for the Hamilton family. :)
Now, full disclaimer: I grew up skiing but I haven't been in about 5 years. I tell people it's because of babies and pregnancies and timing but really... I just don't like being cold. I like blue skies with freshly groomed runs well enough but my favorite part of skiing is the hot chocolate at the end. On the other hand, Taylor has become a skier since we got married and he loves it so he gets to represent our family on the slopes. :)
This past General Conference my parents rented a house for the ski weekend and all of the Hamilton kids were there. We were missing some spouses and some grandkids but we had a pretty good size group! Obviously, being super pregnant, I didn't ski. So we planned to go up one afternoon and hang out at the lodge while everyone else skied so the kids could play in the snow. Will did ski school in the morning, Taylor skied on his own most of the day then took Will on a real run with him (as opposed to the bunny hills with the rope tow that Will had been learning on). Despite Will's larger-than-life confidence on the chair lift (he kept telling his cousin Jude how he was going to teach him how to stop and all the things he learned at ski school), Taylor ended up carrying him down most of the run. Will came back and the first thing he said was, "It. Was. Terrifying." Looks like he needs some more ski school first (next year).
Emma even gave skiing a shot! She borrowed Will's skis and boots and after one run down the ski school bunny hill with Dad she was over it. Then she went back to playing with cousins.
As the other grandkids got too tired or too cold to ski they came to warm up at the lodge, eat snacks (mostly Oreos from Grandma), and fawn over baby Rosie (who is, by far, everybody's favorite right now).
Then they all went to play out in the snow. An epic snowball fight between Star Wars characters broke out and it was really fun to watch all these cousins play together. Even though Will accidentally hit his cousin Noah with a rock or ice chunk instead of a snowball (It left a mark and everything...Sorry, Noah!) they had so much fun together.
And Luke, sweet Luke. He was not very sure about the snow. At first it was too bright for him, and then he got hit by a snowball or two (thrown by DAD of all people) but once the sun ducked behind the clouds again and he realized that snow actually just meant an unlimited supply of balls to pick up and throw he was okay with it. He mostly stuck to the stairs by the lodge, but he enjoyed himself.
Love my little snow crew.
After skiing we went home and the kids watched movies, went in the hot tub and stayed up way past bedtime before going to sleep in a room full of bunkbeds. A massive cousin sleepover.
The next day some people did Ski Day Round 2 but we decided to let Taylor go ski while we went to the aquarium. It was a busy Saturday and I didn't have my stroller but somehow we made it through all the exhibits with 3 kids by myself and without losing anybody or having any meltdowns. Not to mention I was 30 weeks pregnant at this point so... go Mom!
We finished the weekend with my nephew Isaac's baptism Saturday night and church on Sunday at my sister Michelle's ward. It was really special to watch Isaac get baptized and be surrounded by his family.
On a less spiritual note it was also pretty funny watching all the 6-year-old boy cousins (there are 4 of them!) sitting in the front row and waiting for the baptism to start... playing thumb wars with each other. The kids seriously had so much fun together and I think they were all completely wiped out by the end of the weekend. They are super excited for another cousin party at our Outer Banks reunion this summer!
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