W2 of Y4

Ski Week Continued...

Day one of ski week is finally here!

Whitney was in the 5-7 year old (beginner) class. All the kids were just chilling and watching movies while they waited for everyone to get registered on the first day.

Connor and Aiden were in the intermediate to advanced group and it was total chaos!! Their group started with over 20 kids in it! We were all worried how they would divide the kids up, would our boys be together, would they get their favorite teacher that they had last year, etc...

The boys headed out to the "backyard" for try-outs to see where they would be placed

Connor was sticking close to Kyle hoping to be in his group again. They are almost the same height! hee hee

One by one the kids were getting placed with the group that fit their skill level. This was the moment they heard Kyle say "Connor and Aiden, you're with me". Jeremy and I both heard the boys yell "YES!" at the same time. Whew.... major crisis adverted! The group left right after that and we didn't see them for the rest of the day.

Boys are happy.... Mama's happy!

Now it's time for Whitney's class to get started. The cuteness was almost killing us!!!

The entire morning was spent just learning how to put the skis on and off. I could tell Whintey was getting a little bored.

Jeremy and I stayed in the lodge on the first day so we could watch Whitney . I had fun beating him all day at scrabble on the ipad :)

All the kids eat lunch together in the lodge. By lunch time Whitney had lots of new friends and was having a blast!



After lunch they side stepped up the hill and "attempted" to ski down. I won't lie... I was a little worried. (Please excuse the videography and commentary!)

Whitney loved all the male teachers. She was always talking with them. Here she is throwing snowballs at one of them. She didn't do that with the girl teachers....

First day completed! She had a well deserved cup of hot cocoa while we waiting for the boys to come back down the mountain.

After skiing all day we did the usual, straight to the swimming pool and hot tub for a couple of hours, dinner, then movie in the room before bed!

While the kids watched a movie we met up with my good friends who also happened to be at the same hotel for a convention that week. We went to an awesome Indian restaurant and had a great night!


The next day the kids were excited to get back out on the mountain again, so that was a good sign. Once again, as all the kids were lining up to go out Whitney was hanging back to talk to the male teacher. It was so funny!

Whitney was already a pro at holding all her gear and was all smiles as she headed out the door

Today was Olja's big day for skiing too. She had never skied before so she spent the day on the same hill that Whitney was at. That way Jeremy and I could watch both of them. Olja was a natural! After just a few hours she was already doing french-fries!

After we felt good about leaving Whitney and Olja on the bunny hill, Jeremy and I went up for half day to do a little skiing ourselves. There was so much more snow than the previous 2 years which made for great skiing and absolutely beautiful scenery!

I love running into the kids while they're with their class up on the mountain. Here they are following their teacher down. Connor and Aiden are the 2 at the rear. We skied with them for a little bit. They are so stinking cute! They go down steep hills where we all line up at the top and I feel my heart racing because I'm nervous. The teacher says "Ok, let's go" and one by one the kids all bend at the waist and put their hands behind their backs so they can go faster! You can hear them all yelling down the steep parts "Whoo Hoo"!! They love it.

Going back up with the boys and one of their good buddies they made during the week.



It's hard to catch the boys on video because I can barely keep up with them when I have both hands free, so this is rare footage!

Dinner that night, after swimming, was the buffet. I hate it... the kids LOVE it!

The next day I had to find out who Liam was. Whitney talked about him all day the previous 2 days. Well, it wasn't hard to figure out who he was because they immediately ran to each other first thing in the morning. They were such good friends all week!

Jeremy and I went downtown to do a little shopping while the kids were in school this day. Garmisch is such a charming old town. I absolutely love it!

Lunch!


When it was time to pick up Whitney all the kids were skiing and her and Liam were hiding behind the shed tickling each other!! I had so much fun watching them knowing that she had no idea I was there.

Connor came down that day with a bloody nose. He's trying to look really pathetic for this picture. He said it just started bleeding on the way up one of the lifts. He purposely left a little blood on his face so that I could see it. He was so proud of it!


The boys had so much fun seeing who could lay in the snow the longest before jumping back in the hot tub!


Dinner at Griesbrau. We go there every year and love it more each time we go!

The next day Jeremy and I had planned to ski all day. Today was race day for the boys so we went up to ski a couple of runs before their race times. We got there early so we could be in line for the races only to find out that Connor wasn't there. He went on a jump the day before and landed weird. He was complaining about his knee a little the night before but that morning it seemed to be ok. I guess after the first run he said he couldn't do turns, that it killed his knee. He was hanging out in a restaurant with one of Kyle's friends. We rushed down there to see him and he was in tears. He was so upset about having to miss his race. I took Connor back down to the lodge and Jeremy rushed back up the mountain to see Aiden's race. He saw Aiden finishing the race as he was in the gondola going up there - so, he basically missed the whole race. We were all so bummed we didn't get to see Connor or Aiden race that day! I took Connor back to the lodge where he watched movies and had lunch and I met back up with Jeremy for lunch and to ski for a couple of hours before Whitney's race.

Lunch on the mountain. Spaetzle and hot wings! Life doesn't get much better than this.

When it was time for Whitney's race we got there early to watch them practice. When we got there I noticed Whitney was on the ground with all the teachers around her. I quickly ran out to see what was going on. She never wants to do pizza wedges down the mountain and ends up going way to fast! Well, this time she skidded down on her face. She had an impression of her goggles on her face and blood and skid marks on her cheek. She got up and went back up the mountain though. I was so proud of her for that! After that big wipe out she was doing pizza wedges much better and was all smiles!



Whitney's race. I can't believe how much she improved from the first day!
Right before the race we watched them practice going down and Whitney made the jump every time. Darn it!

She graduated her first year at ski week!!!

All of her ski buddies!

We were all really looking forward to the last day because we were all going up the mountain to ski together for the first time. I really wanted a nice family picture with the beautiful view behind us, but... I think it was too sunny for the boys!

This side was better

It was so warm all week! The last day was the warmest, we were skiing with short sleeves and putting sun screen on!

The boys racing down one of the obstacle courses.

Whitney too!

After skiing together for a while Jeremy wanted to go up higher with the boys. Connor was worried about his knee so it was just Aiden and Jeremy. They went up lifts that I hadn't even been on. They even found a restaurant on one of the highest peaks in the area. I was so jealous I didn't get to see that! Instead I was trying to ski with Connor and Whitney all day. Let's just say it was 1% skiing and 99% skating, pulling, pushing, poking, and prodding. It was so tiring and they were both pooped after just a couple of hours. We waited for Jeremy and Aiden to come back to where we were and then I took all the kids to the bunny hill which was much easier.

After skiing we went back to the pools for one last dip for the week

Everything was right in the world!

That night while the kids watched their movie, Jeremy and I went to the best restaurant! I couldn't believe that we have been to Garmisch so many times and never heard of this restaurant but it was soooo good! It was a Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolian grill all in one! We had such a FUN night!


That night, as we were sound asleep, I heard those 6 words that every Mom dreads "I am going to throw up!" It was Aiden sitting up in his bed. He was also burning hot with a fever. Poor baby was totally sick! The fever came down with medicine but he felt awful and we had to drive the whole way home that day. He threw up a few times in the van but never complained. He was such a trooper about it.

I guess no matter how many times you've been somewhere there are always going to be surprises... especially with kids. We still had a great week, made great memories, and enjoyed our last time in Garmisch. Jeremy's already making plans for our next ski week next year in the USA!!!