I learned that . . .
. . . when you expect crappy snow on the slopes, you may be pleasantly surprised.
. . . when you expect large crowds and long lift lines during spring break, you may be extra pleasantly surprised.
. . . 9 year olds will not listen to you when you tell them they need to take it easy the first run or two to get the feel of a brand new board.
. . . 9 year olds will whine and complain and fall a lot when they refuse to adjust to their new board.
. . . it takes approximately 2 runs for a 9 year old to relax and just “feel” the board instead of trying to control it.
. . . trying out lots of new runs is a TON of fun!
. . . boarding with friends is always great.
. . . getting random calls from friends who happen to be on the same slopes on the same day is awesome!
. . . the more kids you have in a boarding/skiing group, the funnier it gets.
. . . my kids are fearless.
. . . my friends’ kids are fearless.
. . . it takes a lot of self-control to let your kids be fearless and experiment on the slopes.
. . . kids love to go through the trees and launch themselves off the jumps on the other side.
. . . kids are very flexible.
. . . kids bounce and bend when they fall.
. . . boarders and skiiers can have a great time together on the slopes.
. . . skiiers are awesome for being patient enough to wait for you to strap in at the top of the runs every single time.
. . . 1 fruit cup and a Gatorade costs $8 on the mountain.
. . . $8 is enough to instantly rejuvenate a drooping child near the end of a full day of boarding/skiing.
. . . my kids LOVE the mini terrain park.
. . . Dude thinks that because he rode a small slope up onto a wide rail and rode the rail to the end that he can “grind.”
. . . Princess gets pissed when she doesn’t go fast enough to make it across the entire rail and has to jump off in the middle.
. . . Princess will not make the same mistake two times in a row.
. . . it’s so fun to see your kids so excited about something new.
. . . I’m so glad my kids are willing to try new things.
. . . my Hubby will go in the terrain park with the kids.
. . . I was not willing to go into the terrain park on my last day on the slopes.
. . . I was SOOOO excited to end an entire boarding season without the slightest injury!
. . . we have wonderful friends who will invite us to their condo for awesome spaghetti dinner after a long day of boarding.
. . . friends are priceless.
Stay tuned to see what I learned in Part VII of Spring Break!