Do they make any ski trails easier than green?

Greg and I were so excited to go on the annual CYO ski trip this year. A bus trip and condo stay with 34 teenagers may seem daunting to some, but for a work-a-holic and a SAHM, it was paradise.

A little background info: CYO is the Catholic Youth Organization. Many Catholic parishes have these youth groups that provide fun activities for Catholic high school students. Greg was very involved when he was in high school, but I had never joined. When Greg realized that his old CYO advisors had moved back into the area and were in charge of the CYO again, he wanted to help out. So last year we officially became CYO advisors for Blessed Sacrament. We've been having fun helping to plan events and getting to know the kids, but we were always looking forward to the annual ski trip. This year we were given the opportunity to go.

Our trip lasted four days over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. We left on Friday night and got back home on Tuesday morning. The kids stayed with both sets of grandparents while we were gone. I packed up a ton of suitcases for them (bottles, diapers, clothes, toys, sleeping bags, bouncer, strollers, etc.) and after writing out four pages of instructions and making calls to go over everything, I felt comfortable enough to leave my babies for the trip. Big thanks to the grandparents for watching the kids. They are a lot of work and we were happy to have the break. My parents even redecorated my brother's old room for them to stay in. They bought bunk beds and turned the closet into a play area. One half was a spaceship control room for Jacob to play in. Mom saved up groceries and made the other side of the closet into a little store for Claira.

Anyway, on Friday around 6pm we loaded up the sleeper bus with 34 teenagers and 6 advisors and left for Winter Park, Colorado. I think I slept for a whole hour on the bus. Those tiny beds and curvy mountain roads do not make for good sleeping.

We got to our condos on Saturday morning in time for breakfast. The condos were actually very nice. They were like little apartments. Greg and I got our own room and bathroom and the six teenage boys shared the other room and pull-out couch. All the other kids were divided into other condos. It was a nice arrangement and we were able to cook our own meals and save a lot of money. We hurried though breakfast and layered on all of our ski gear because I had to be at ski school first thing in the morning.

Most of the kids knew how to ski and had been several times before. I had never gone and given my poor coordination and aversion to sports, we thought it best that I go to ski school. Luckily, three of the seniors went with me and we had a great time laughing at our lack of skill. Ski school lasted half a day. It started with us not even knowing how to put the skis on and ended with us going down very simple hills (although to me they seemed very steep). I have discovered another sport that I do not excel at. Skiing was a little more than uncomfortable for me. Although I loved the scenery and the fact that I had to buy a ton of new clothing just to go, speeding down a hill is not my thing. I hate the feeling of not having control and I definitely didn't have control. I didn't fall too often actually, but my skis were in that V move almost the whole time. And the ski lift.. don't even get me started. That thing is scary!

Here is a picture of me with Sarah, one of the seniors who attended ski school with me. I pretty much hung out with them the whole trip. We had a blast! It took an incredibly long time to take this picture. We had the hardest time not sliding down the mountain. Big props to Abby for taking the picture since she kept sliding backwards. Our theme song was "We get knocked down, but we get up again"

Ooh la la... who is that little ski bunny? I look like a natural. Yes, the ground may look level, but know that it was still too fast for me. Do they make powder puff pink ski trails??

Most of the trip I skied with my ski school buddies, since Greg was a bit more advanced than me (yes, he hasn't skied in ten years, but who's counting). On the last day we went shopping and actually took the ski lift to the top (in jeans and sneakers) to go eat at a restaurant. I didn't even know you could ride a ski lift down.

Monday late afternoon we loaded up the bus and headed back for Wichita. After a stop at Casa Bonita for dinner, we converted the bus into the sleeper beds and had an uncomfortable night's sleep through the freezing fog. We were able to catch a couple of hours of sleep in our own bed before the kiddos came back home. They were all happy to see Greg, but seemed a bit betrayed by my absence. Claira wouldn't let me hold her and Luke refused to even look in my direction. By the end of the day they were back to normal and happy to be home though. All in all, we had a great trip. I especially enjoyed getting to sleep through the night without waking up with the kids. When we got back my dad wondered when Luke actually sleeps, since he doesn't appear to ever sleep. Don't I know it.