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We Had Hoped to End With Vagabond
There were tears on our last day of skiing on the Steamboat Mountain. The sun was peering out of the clouds by the time we buckled our bindings while we road the Gondola to the top of the mountain. Dad and the older boys already had an hour of skiing on the little boys and me by the time we made it to the mountain. The three of us, our first venture on the slopes alone, after kind training by our friend, had painstakingly carved out route for the day — committed it to memory. The boys each picked a run, and I picked one. We planned to take some…
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Caught Between a Rock and a Hot Place
I’ve had some long walks in my life, but nothing was quite like the walk I took last Sunday night while snow fell on my swimsuit-clad body, in 29 degree weather, from the tee-pee (where I got dressed into my bathing suit) to the pool of hot water. My friend, who was leading the way, could not walk fast enough to lead me to that pool of hot water. She was trying to walk slowly to protect me — so as to keep me from tripping on hurting myself on the stone walkway. The sky was dark, as it was 9 p.m, and Strawberry Park Hot Springs operates off –…
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I’ll Meet You At Rendezvous
Today, there is an 86″ base of snow, (395″ total) on the Steamboat Springs Mountain. Snow is falling this morning, and making it impossible for me to see the middle to the top of the mountain right in front of me — there’s simply a big white cloud in front of me. The temperature is 29 degrees, and the winds are 20-25 miles per hour. Dad and the big boys have already left for the day. We have one day left on our ski tickets. I’ll write this post, and gather the little boys and brave the weather and out we’ll go. After one more cup of hot chocolate. For illustration purproses, understand that…
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Ski School Did Not Prepare Me For This
My first day out of ski school, my friend, who lives here, joined me for an adventure. She knows the slopes like the back of her hand, and she had big plans to show me, and the little boys, around the slopes. We were going to hit the highlights on the green trails — Wally’s World, Why Not, and Bear Claw. Ironically, my friend, by the way, was the friend who doubled water-skiied with me this summer — and now we were hitting the slopes together. Or were we. The little boys had other plans. The boys were more interested in the trees than the slopes. Every time we found…
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Just like walking on water
They tried to stick me into the beginner class. That would be one level lower than level one. OK, fine, so I didn’t know how to tighten my bindings…yet…, but if they could see me on the slalom water ski… So, when that instructor wasn’t watching, I scurried over to level one and tried to act natural. When I was able toget my skis on the first time, under the critical eye of this instructor, I knew I was in. Here, I come, Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Now, to conquer the mountain. Was I just a bit scared? No question. Could I show it? Not an option. But seriously, wouldn’t this…
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How High Do Planes Fly?
I would show the picture I took of the massive amount of bags that are strewn about our living room right now… but I’ve packed my camera already. Six large bags, six carry on bags (full of granola bars, Frog and Toad books, Foxtrot Comic Books, Beatles Anthologies, and a book on how to build desktop weapons for spit balls) are loaded with ski gear, bathing suits, winter coats and layers and layers and layers to face the weather in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Somehow, my friend tells me, we’ll be able to swim outside in the springs, and still wear our cold-weather gear and snow ski down the mountain on…
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Shamrock Cookies and Gold Coins
“Mom, are you going to buy the stuff for the pot of gold scavenger hunt?” “Probably.” “See! I tricked you. There is no leprechaun! It’s you.” (I wonder….. who’s tricking who?) “The leprechan contacted me to find out if I wanted to place an order this year.” “There’s no leprechaun… how come last year I found those shamrock cookies in your cart at the grocery store?” “The leprechan saw me looking at them in the store, and he put them in my cart. See, he’s always watching me to find out what I want.” “Come on, Mom, you bought them didn’t you?” “Do you think I’m that rich that I…
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One Hard Game
Our team made it to the final championship game — knocking down all of the competitive teams like they were dominoes on every Saturday since January. Now we faced our rival. A team that had also knocked down the same teams — and we had yet to have our own face off. Halfway through the game, I started to wonder how in the world we ever made it this far — because this team… our rival … was giving us a run for our money like we had never seen. In agony, I was torn between cheering for the team, and wanting to run out and pull those boys off…
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Loser’s Trophy
There was no beginner’s luck… or any luck at this year’s Pinewood Derby Race. When I said to the littlest boy, “Hey, but look, here’s your trophy!” His big brother quickly said, “But Mom, that’s the loser’s trophy.”
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