Skiing the Porkies

 Took the crew to the Porkies today.  Hardly saw Clare; she was off with her cousin all day, doing gladed runs through the trees and having a blast.  The younger three had never been on downhill skis but they did really well!  I didn't see Karl much; he figured it out pretty quick and was cruising on his own.  Nora took some major falls on the first hill we did.  After a warm-up in the chalet (it was really cold this morning), Nora and Lena spent the rest of the morning on the bunny hill.  There Nora did much better, figuring out how to snowplow and how to turn.  For the last two hours, we headed back to the big hill and Nora impressed me with how much better she did.  Lena was on a leash/harness the whole time so she didn't have to steer or control her speed at all.  She did have to balance though and she did admirably well at that.  

Using Lena's leash backwards to pull her to the chalet. 

All in all, it was a perfect day.  A little cool but sunny with blue skies and no one got hurt (besides the typical bruises, a blister or two, and sore muscles).   Amazingly, the skis and boots that I grew up with still worked for some of our kids!  After borrowing other equipment from family, we only had to rent a pair of skis for Karl, boots for Clare, and helmets for the younger three.  It's so fun to see the kids enjoying the hill that I grew up on.