FAMILY SKI DAY

Last Friday we checked the kids out of school early to go ski. While they were waiting in the office the principal asked them if they were going skiing. They panicked and said no they were going to the dentist. The principal (who knows we often take the kids skiing) just smiled and said "oh, well it would be a lot more fun to go ski today." They should have known better than to lie, it only brings bad luck (just ask Ben).

It was the first time that we have taken Sarah and the whole morning she was so excited. She was excited right up until she got on the lift, then she FREAKED out! She was yelling, " I DON'T WANT TO SKI" and people were looking at us like we were so mean to put a three year old through such an ordeal. Tony stayed at the top with her trying to get her used to the gear while I took a run with the other kids. They have improved so much. Hannah cruised down and can take her skis on and off all by herself. She has no fear. Ben is way past the bunny hill and was bored, but made perfect turns and took off into the trees. Whitney is working on moving from a snow plow to parallel turns.

They are awesome. By the second run Tony decided to just ski down holding Sarah to get her used to it. She screamed the whole way and kicked her skis and boots off! I ended up sitting on the side playing with her while Tony took the girls up and Ben took off to do a few runs on a harder lift by himself. After about 15 minutes we got a call from him in total pain saying he thought he broke his leg. Tony helped me get the girls to the lodge and then took off to find him. By the time he got to him the ski patrol was loading him into a sled to take him down the mountain. Back in the lodge I was getting the girls some snacks and came back to the table to find that Sarah had stripped down to her jammies that we used as a base layer. She was just hanging out in her bare feet and jammies having a great time.

As soon as Tony got to the first aid station with Ben we walked over and found him like this...

Doesn't that guy look like Rob Schneider?
They knew something was wrong with his knee, but we had to wait for the doctor because he was out skiing. Hours later we found out he had dislocated and re-located his knee-cap. They put a cast on and sent us to the orthopedist. The good news is that Sarah spent so much time in her ski boots at the first aid lodge that she is now really comfortable with her gear. She also forgot that she didn't like skiing because everyone was making such a big deal about how cute she looked in her gear. If you ask her now she will say that she went skiing on the mountain and had fun. The bad news is after having a MRI we found out Ben has a partial tear and a bone bruise and may need surgery (we will find out for sure on Monday) At the very least he will need physical therapy. At least he will have company because my dad tore his ACL the weekend before and is having surgery next Friday. Poor guys, they are both facing an early end to the ski season:(