I tried snowboarding when I was about 16. It was something I always wanted to do. Unfortunately, my single snowboarding lesson didn’t go too well. I ended up riding the board like a sled down the mountain with tears freezing to my cheeks.
Being a believer in the power of positive thinking, I prepared my kids for the worst before we headed out to Colorado for the winter.
I told them that snowboarding was super SUPER hard and they would probable hate it for the first month.
Parenting at it’s finest.
We were wrong.
At best I thought one of them would love it. Never, NEVER, would I have imagined that both boys would ask to go to lessons and come home happy. Most of the time.
This was their last weekend of snowboard lessons. The season ended on a high note. They rode with one of their favorite instructors and were filmed going down double black diamonds for a Breck website promo.
Thing Two said, “It was Epic.”
Yes, little man this winter was most definitely “epic” and we have the pictures to remember it.
Our first day on the mountain heading to lessons.
First lesson.
They went from this…
…to this.
Brent got his groove back after 15 years off the slopes.
Even mama learned to jump.
We are thankful for the Breck Ski and Ride school. The teachers and staff are amazing. They cared for and challenged the boys with enthusiasm.
Not only did our boys have a blast learning to snowboard at the ski and ride school…
…their lessons gave Brent and I the chance to play by ourselves
…and time to just chill.
In March, the boys and I decided to snowboard for 6 days in a row. Some of the days were only a few hours long but we managed to get all our gear on (no small feat) and head to the mountain Monday through Saturday. In our homeschool, we used it as a lesson in “short term goal setting”.
Their commitment paid off and I could no longer keep up with them. Just weeks before, I was riding slowly behind them offering words of encouragement and suddenly I was speeding along trying to keep them in sight.
Four months at the mountain also gave us plenty of time to spend some quality one on one time with each of the boys.
Dear Thing One and Thing Two,
We have had so much fun watching you go from the bunny hill to black diamonds. While we are so proud of your shredding skills, we are most proud of your willingness to try something new and the courage, patience, and perserverance it took to learn these new skills. Those thing are much more important than any spin or jump. We know at times the winter felt really long, the weather really cold and the rv really small but you guys stuck it out with (mostly) good attitudes. It’s been super fun riding with you and we hope this is only the first of many seasons we get to spend on the mountain together! You both are epic.
Love,
Mommy and Daddy
Love and Laughter,
Jenn
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