Snowshoe, WV

Back in the fall or early winter, Dan and I got the idea to take our family on a little ski trip to see if the kids liked it. Since neither Dan nor I had ever been before, we wanted to introduce our kids at a younger age to see if there was any interest. We talked with some friends who advised us to skip Wintergreen and Massanutten and go to Snowshoe. It's one of the best places to go within a few hours' drive of our home. So we booked a condo for a long weekend in February, got geared up, took our kids out of school, and away we went!

The condo was a minimum four night deal. We arrived late Wednesday night. Thursday Sam and Afton had ski school (Sam with the bigger kids while Afton was stuck with the younger ones). While they were in school, Dan took his first lesson (I had Eli) and then we switched. The weather on Thursday was TERRIBLE!

SOO windy, SOO cold! While I was waiting for my lesson to begin, I took this video from inside the shop.

I ended up getting a one-on-one lesson. My instructor was super nice and very encouraging, but at some point, honesty would have been a better route, I think. As I would go sliding backward down the mountain he'd say, "You got it! Nice job!" or something to that effect and I'm just thinking, "What is he talking about?!" Anyway, we practiced by taking a conveyor belt thing up a small hill, then getting off and going down the hill. Next we got on the chairlift and took a slightly bigger hill. We were pretty much the only people outside because it was just so crazy. I'm glad I tried it and I'm glad I got a lesson. I took a shuttle bus back to our condo and we all got back together for lunch. Later we went swimming at the indoor pool and then I think Dan may have gone out again.

The view from our condo:

Friday, thankfully, was a beautiful, clear day.

We all went out and practiced some more on the bunny hill. (Poor Afton - it's hard to get back up!)

Then Dan took Sam on their first run. From then on, they had a blast. Eli started to lose it so I took him and Afton back inside. We discovered on this trip how much Eli likes to watch basketball games. So we did a lot of that. And Curious George.

Later that afternoon I took the big kids to play in the snow and on to the tube park.

After dinner, Dan went night skiing.

Saturday Dan and Sam went out in the morning.

I took Afton and Eli to ride the bus (which Eli loved) to the main Snowshoe area and we explored a little bit.

 Later I took Sam out for a while and we just did the small lift and run over and over because that's all I could handle!

Then we stuck around Snowshoe Village and met the rest of the family for pizza.

And we caught a gorgeous sunset.

Dan went out that night for one more night skiing session. (I brought along a good book, so don't feel bad for me being at the condo a lot! Plus they had HGTV...)

Sunday we packed up and headed home. We stopped in Charlottesville to go to church since we happened to be there at the right time to catch sacrament meeting. We went to the singles ward and Dad, who's in the stake presidency, happened to be there that week! So at the end of the meeting, I told Eli he could run up and see Grandpa. Well, right after the closing prayer, he jumped out of my arms and started racing up the aisle. But no one was getting out of their chairs. It's still dead quiet in there and here I go chasing my child who is so excited to see his grandpa... Anyway, slightly embarrassing, but Eli got to sit on Grandpa's lap while they introduced any visitors - which was why they were all quiet and not moving after the closing prayer...

We joined Dad for some dinner (Mom was out of town) and then we came back home. Fun trip!

Since then, Dan has purchased a year-long pass and has taken Sam two more times before the season ended. They have a great time and Sam makes it look so easy!