Ski bunny

One of the reasons we visited my mom last week was for Cale and Haven to go skiing. Cale learned how to ski when he was Haven's age and his family went skiing every winter while he was growing up. But once he was paying his own way, he realized how expensive a hobby skiing is so he hasn't gone since the winter before we were married in 2001. And every winter he's been sad about it.

It's certainly not the Colorado mountains, but there is a small ski resort in western New York not far from where I grew up. Cale was given a gift certificate for Christmas so he could go skiing. We managed to beat the system though and through a Sports Day at my mom's school he managed to get 2 days of skiing in with minimal out of pocket expense. And because we were being so thrifty with Cale's skiing we decided to spend the extra money so Haven could go, too. She was free to ski, but we had to pay to rent her teeny tiny skis (which I think are SO adorable!).

Getting suited up to hit the slopes

Haven loved it! With a little help from a ski instructor, Cale and Haven were able to get the hang of skiing together pretty quickly. The skied next to each other with Cale holding the poles horizontally in front of him with Haven holding on. She would have gone all day if we'd let her, but it was very cold and wet and Cale's back could only hunch over for so long.

Taking a hot chocolate break with Nana

Seriously- are these tiny skis not the cutest?!

My favorite little ski bunny and her cute Papa!

We celebrated Valentine's Day together back up at the ski resort. Cale skied for several hours and I spent 4 hours near the fireplace reading uninterrupted. It was a great set up! We stopped on our way up there at a grocery store to get some salads, bread and cheese for dinner. Everything about the night was great even though we weren't technically together. Not your typical Valentine's celebration but we didn't care!

So now I have a budding new skier on my hands and her father who is already plotting how we can get ourselves to Colorado for some more skiing! (And lodge sitting for me!)