Party of Five in Park City

3 excited kiddos!

For the past several years, Steve and I have been taking the big kids skiing. The first year we hit Big Sky Montana.  Though we put them in group lessons, they ended up being by themselves most days, and therefore learned a lot.  The last two years, we skied at Park City.  Preston is still our risk taker, and always pushing himself, while Bennett is more cautious and timid.  However, they both have continued to thrive, and are getting better each year.

Since Walker is now four years old, and potty trained, we knew it was time to bring him along.  Staying on the mountain was very important for us, and being near to ski school since he would be taking lessons daily.  After lots of research, we decided to stay on the other side of the huge Park City Mountain....at The Canyons.  We found a ski-in/ski-out that worked perfectly for our family.  We booked it, and began restocking our gear since everyone outgrew their gear from last year.

All smiles as he watches his namesake movie "Boss Baby"

Our trip to Utah was Walker's first airplane ride too, so he was doubly excited!  Bennett and Pres were just as happy for him, and both insisted on sitting next to him on the way there, while Steve and I sat behind them.  It worked well for everyone!  Once we arrived, we waited for our uber, and got ourselves checked into our condo, hit the grocery store and picked up our skis.

The kids were anxious to hit the hot tub and pool, so we did that too.  Of course, it didn't take long for Walker to set up his "office" in our condo.  The boy brought some of his essentials and took over the kitchen table.

Walker's Office (AKA our kitchen table)

The morning of our first day on the slopes, Pres and Bennett were up early and dressed and outside before we could even get Walker and ourselves ready.  We finally got all three kids to ski school, and were able to enjoy several runs before the coldness set in.  By mid morning, our fingers and toes were numb, so we headed in early to get hand and toe warmers and defrost our extremities.

We finally warmed up enough to head back out and ski the rest of the afternoon, but we learned our lesson for the rest of the week....it is COLD!  By 3pm, we were ready to get the kids and hear about their days.  Everyone was cold and ready to hit the hot tub, so we called it.

Day 2 went a little bit better.  We were all ready about the same time, and at ski school on time with warmers in our boots and gloves.  Walker asked to skip ski school, but reluctantly went without tears when it was time.  Steve and I skied a lot more terrain this day and got more vertical feet than the previous day.  However, we were a little chilly and ready for our delicious lunch at Lookout Cabin.  Nothing better than an adult beverage (or two) to warm you up.

We hit the slopes hard in the afternoon before collecting the kids.  Bennett and Walker were ready to go back, but Preston was dying to get another couple runs in, so we went out together.

Pres and I came back and were ready to join everyone else in the hot tub.  Kids always have a ball jumping back and forth between the heated pool and hot tub, and we always meet someone fun to chat with about our days.  Kids had another great day on the slopes, but Walker still hadn't left the magic carpet.  His instructor told us that she would be taking him up on the gondola the following morning, and was confident that he could maneuver a lift so we felt optimistic about day 3.

Warm and happy after lunch!

What a difference a day makes!  Day 3 was great for everyone!  The four of us skied together all day, and had a great day, with the exception of one error on my part.  While on a chair lift, I took off one of my gloves to adjust Preston's gator and forgot my pole was on my wrist, which fell off when I took off my glove.  Sadly I dropped my pole....into a bunch of trees, on a double black run.  I reported it to ski patrol, but they couldn't find it, so I was determined to go after it myself.  Preston skied down with me, and we found it!  We had been a little cold, but after going down the run and working hard to dodge the trees, we worked up a sweat.  As the day started to wrap up, we ran into Walker and were thrilled to see him going down a green run.  He loved showing off, and was determined to ski with all of us.  We rode up a lift with him, as he spouted off the rules of riding a chair lift (lean back, ski tips up, safety bar down, etc.)....it was great!

All of our babies can ski!!!

That night, we went out to dinner to celebrate!  After a long day of skiing, some pool/hot tub time and shower, we knew Walker wouldn't last long. We walked to a nearby place, quickly ordered, and shortly after dinner, he fell asleep in my arms.  He completely missed the ice cream that he so desperately wanted.

We tried to milk our final day on the slopes....skiing as much as we could, and grabbing Walker promptly at 3pm.  His instructor told us that he did great and was moved up to a high level 3.  He quickly gained his confidence, and did fantastic.  He did great keeping his skis fairly parallel and kept a pretty good speed going down.

Now that everyone is finally skiing, I already can't wait for our next ski trip.  So until next time...