Spring Break at Alyeska

On the first day of spring break I took Kira and her friend Liz to Hilltop for Kira's first official day of skiing. Though she was determined to keep up with Lizzy the skiing dynamo, she struggled to stay on her feet. It was a very long day, for both of us.


The following week Bob and I took Kira and Sadie to Girdwood for a ski vacation. We rented a condo with the Hutchings family while Grandma Ruth took care of little Brie. For three fabulous days we enjoyed good food, great friends, and fantastic snow.



By the time we packed up to leave late Saturday afternoon Kira was getting on and off the chairlift unaided, turning well, and landing small jumps. She did an amazing job. I was taken by surprise at how fearless she was. After watching people at the Freestyle Park she declared that she too wanted to "do the big jumps". It took some convincing on her part but Bob eventually lead her through it once. I was so nervous that she would be run over by a wayward snowboarder that I made up an excuse why she couldn't do it again by pointing to a sign and telling her it said you had to take a special lesson. Lucky for me she isn't reading well enough to argue the point. What excites me the most is her apparent love for the sport. She was the first one on the hill and the last to leave. It won't be long now, another season or two and I won't be able to keep up with her.


Sadie did a great job at getting on and off the "magic carpet", a moving walkway the resort installed last season, but struggled with the actual skiing part. What she really wanted was to sip hot cocoa in the lodge, can't say that I blame her. Unfortunately even after a $70.00 ski lesson, she refused to make a "pizza wedge" unassisted. Her instructor informed me that she absolutely terrified him as she would become distracted and forget to look up. Apparently she didn't realize she was moving. I informed him I shared his terror as she had the exact same problem the few times she" helped me" drive the car from our house to the mailbox. While she loved riding the ski lift, she announced that she "didn't like being on the ground". She did however looked pretty adorable in her sporty new gear.