Japan :: Day 09

It was a full day of skiing, and I’m happy to report I felt steadier on my skies today. After breakfast we walked over to the life #6 at Tangram and started skiing. The day before we just hit up Tangram, but on this day, we skied Tangram and Madero. Finally ate traditional ramen at a restaurant at the middle of the mountain. Japan has been getting dumped on with snow this year, but the days we were there, it was sunny and in the 40s. Too warm. It got a little icy in parts too because of this, but we didn’t ski anything that was too difficult. We dropped off our ski rentals, grabbed a couple sakes to go, walked back to The Brueys, and plopped ourselves in a comfortable bench to take part in a little aprés. Some chicken wings and my favorite cocktail again. That evening we stayed at the lodge again for dinner. It was taco night. What a great day — and such a cool experience.

Japan :: Day 08

We took an early train from Kyoto to Tsuruga to Iiyama where we were picked up and driven to our next destination — skiing at Tangram and Madero. We didn’t know much about this area, but one of Brian’s work contacts mentioned her friend owns a hotel at a ski area so we decided to check it out. The Brueys turned out to be perfect for us. We were dropped off at the mountain where our skies were waiting in a locker for us. Another perfect Brian planning move. We spent the rest of the afternoon skiing! It’s been at least 10 years since I’ve been on skies -- and a good 25 since I’ve skied a non-Midwest mountain - back when I was snowboarding! Needless to say, I was pretty nervous the first day. By the time we got back to the hotel, I was wiped out. But I rallied. We stopped by the bar where I had an amazing cocktail (Red Mustache - whiskey with cinnamon and maple flavors finished with foam top and cinnamon powder). After getting ourselves together we came back down for dinner. The restaurant, Pinchi’s Place, was fantastic. Since it was still early and we could barely stay awake, we decided to take an evening stroll. It was so gorgeous out. And, just look at all of that snow!

Ski Day

Today we went skiing at Little Switzerland. It was in the upper 30s, sunny and perfect. It's a small hill, but only 30 minutes from our house. We ran into a number of people we know, including one of H's good friends, some people who's son plays soccer with C, and my friend Kari's (who lives in Alabama) entire family. So fun. H did great. He can go down anything there, and once he ran into his friend, we didn't see them for awhile as the hit the slopes alone. Then there is C. Skiing still isn't his favorite thing to do nor his forte -- but he had fun. Just like last year, after we got him to try going down some of the larger runs, we ended the day back on the bunny hill. Once there, he didn't even want to leave. I sure hope we will be able to get out a couple more times this year!

Skiing

We haven't made it skiing for a couple years now. But with some time off, it was the perfect time to go. Plus, Little Switzerland re-opened after being closed for the past five years -- and it's only 35 minutes away! We ran into three sets of people either I or the boys knew. It was the place to be, for sure. We decided to put the boys in ski school again. It's something we probably don't need to do in the future, but it's fun for them, and honestly, nice for us to get some ski time without them too. H is getting halfway decent though, so he just needs practice. C on the other hand ... I'm not sure what to say. He does fine and likes it, but my tough guy is happiest on the bunny hill. We made the mistake of trying to taking him down a larger hill later in the day, and we all kind of lost it. He was hysterical. I was mad. But the minute we brought him back to the bunny hill, he didn't want to leave. Note to self -- be a bit more patient, and just take turns with H, even if it means spending half the day on the bunny hill with C. Overall though, it was such a great day and all of us can't wait to go again.

Skiing with C, T, J & M

Last week, Brian was in Colorado and LA. He came home Friday afternoon, and that night, we headed up to Wisconsin to go skiing with my sister and her family. We planned to get away for the entire weekend, but in the end, we decided to stay "local" and went to Cascade again. H is doing fantastic on skies. He's a total dare-devil and it's pretty close to impossible to keep up with him. He turns, can slow down, and is just becoming a very confident skier. It's great to see. C on the other hand turns into a noodle. He does great too, but is a lot more timid and wants to be pulled around everywhere. To top it off, he finally let go of my pole on one run, and ran right into a snowboarder. It totally embarrassed him and pretty much is when his day ended. Brian, who was suffering from a jammed thumb from a tumble, took him home early. We met back at Christie & Tim's for dinner. Brian taught the kids how to do the worm. I had to laugh when he woke up and mentioned his stomach muscles were killing him. But he did say it was too bad we didn't have a piece of cardboard laying around so we could really see what break dancing moves he could really throw down. Oh boy. Thanks for the great weekend guys!

What I Have To Put Up With....

Let me tell you a story. The year was 1988, and I was an exchange student in Germany. My host family took me on a ski trip to the Italian Alps. I confidently said I knew how to ski. But really my experience consisted mainly of visiting a land fill. (I didn't know any better, really.) There I was, on top on the mountain. MOUNTAIN, people. Not land fill. And right on the other side was a cliff. A cliff ... on the mountain. I did what most people would do. I stood on top and cried. And I slid down on my bottom. And my host family decided pretty much on the spot to put me in ski school for a week. Well, if I do say so myself, by the end of that week, I wasn't half bad. When I came back from my year abroad, I was in college. I didn't get a lot of chances to go skiing. And then, my junior year, I decided to switch over to snowboarding. So I snowboarded for about ten years (a lot more than the years spent on skies). Then we bought a house. And got married. And had kids. And we just didn't hit the slopes very much. So last year, I decided to switch back over to skies. My body is thanking me for that (although, I'm tempted to bring out the board just once more to try it out again -- I really love it), but here's the point. I'm not a very confident skier. I can get down pretty much any hill. But I'm not very daring. This is a little video of me. I'm the one in the middle of the hill cautiously contemplating my next move. And the rest is what I have to put up with pretty much on a daily basis. You feel sorry for me, don't you.

Ski Weekend

We went to Wisconsin this weekend to take the boys skiing at Cascade. They were so excited. They spent the morning in ski school. We went a couple times last year, and figured they could use a refresher. H did really great. According to C's "report card" from class, he did good too. But each time we spied on him, he was doing something more like this:

He'd seriously wait like this until an instructor walked by and picked him up.
By having the boys in ski school, Brian and I had some time to ourselves to test out our new skis (our Christmas present to each other). They were awesome!
After ski school, we took the boys on some of the other runs (besides only the magic carpet area and bunny hill).
H wanted me to take some pictures to show his teacher.
This one's just for her. He specifically asked for me to take this one to show her what the hills look like.
H was confident going down by himself. In fact, Brian took him alone on the last run, and was a bit nervous because he was going so fast. H said he was in control. But he did have a big crash on the bottom. C still needed a bit of support.
Overall, both did really well. We put in a full day, and can't wait to go again in a few weeks.