I can ski!

Today was the day!  Ted took Joe to the mighty Hyland ski hill.  It is true midwestern skiing, where the chairlifts only have a dozen or so chairs strung from bottom to top.  But it is perfect for learning, with "magic carpets" and tow ropes a plenty (and about 15 minutes from our house!).  We got our rental gear (fortunately just before a busload of school kids arrived) and headed to the second floor of the chalet (they seriously call it that) where we met our teachers for the Hot Cocoa Club.  The first 45 minutes or so were spent learning about skis and walking through an obstacle course of sorts in order to learn the feeling of skis on one's feet, rocking from side to side, and making a snowplow (or pizza as they called it).  We then got out for a few runs on the hill using a tether that attaches to the child's boots.  Joe was great!  He rarely fell, kept his skis the right distance apart, and was able to make some turns.  We had hot cocoa with the class and then Joe wanted to go back out again.  So we marched back to the magic carpet and did a handful more runs.  Joe was able to get himself on the magic carpet and was getting better at his turns before he declared he was cold and wanted to go inside. After returning our skis we sat outside and watched the snowboarders do their jumps, flips and flops - maybe that will be for next week!

Out for our second set!