Ski day

One of the reasons we moved to Canada was to have the opportunity to get up and ski on any given day in the winter -- something we have not been able to do in other places we have lived (sorry, Illinois and southern Wisconsin skiing doesn't quite qualify). There are literally dozens of great ski areas 1-2 hours door to door from our house. Yesterday we ventured to Mont Sutton, quite by accident as we were heading to another area and there was light rain so we decided to go someplace closer in case the conditions were not good. It turned out to be a great choice. 

However, it's important to remember that parents should not teach their kids how to ski or do long division. Since we missed the ski lessons we decided to take Louis up on our own -- Danielle is a good skier already! We ended up on a lift taking us to all intermediate runs, not a wise choice. After several falls, we took off Louis' skis and had him walk/slide down the hill. It was an excruciating hour or more. With his low muscle tone, skiing is not the easiest activity for Louis. After lunch and an adult beverage, Kish ventured to the real beginner's hill for a few runs with Louis while Danielle and Paul took in some real runs. After again, a painful half hour or so Louis finally got up and charged down the hill in time to catch up with Paul and Danielle for a couple of beginner hill runs. Kish wanted to make sure he knew how to fall safely when he needed, and we accomplished that! We have to admire his spirit...the first part of the day was less than ideal and would have shattered just any kid's drive. But instead of giving up, he was eager to get back up on skis and try again. And Danielle was a patient big sister too -- eventually taking Louis into the lodge for a soda so Kish and Paul could get in a couple of runs on their own. 

We've been fortunate to ski at great destinations and both agreed that Quebec skiing is ideal for us right now. Louis will start a Special Olympics program in January so we'll be off skiing every Sunday for eight weeks. Canada really promotes winter sports, especially for kids. All 4th and 5th graders like Louis can order a coupon book full of free lift tickets for resorts all over Canada. And again, having been to ski areas all over the U.S., we have never seen little kids ski like this before -- they are really amazing. 

It should be a fun winter, despite mom and dad's very sore muscles today. Danielle is off to Chicago for a couple of days to visit friends and the three of us are more than happy to watch football all day!