In the Spirit of Adventure: Skiing Bluewood

We have had many adventures over the past month and I have been sorely remiss in my posting. But here's to getting started again chronicling the Chapin family adventures.

History of Chapin Family Skiing:
Heidi- Skied a total of 5 days before moving to Walla Walla and is now teaching herself to ski with some pointers from Stuart.
Wren- Skied a total of 2 days before moving to Walla Walla and is now on fire having been taught mostly by Heidi (ha ha). No really teaching himself and getting help from Stuart.
Stuart- Skied a total of 120 Days before moving to Walla Walla is teaching his whole family but focused mostly on the sweet Dakota who is not really willing to let go of Stuart at anytime when skiing.
Dakota-skied a total of 0 days before moving to Walla Walla is now attached to his Dad and loves to ski as long as he is attached to his dad.

Chapin Family Agreement upon deciding to move to Walla Walla. We will learn to ski if we move out west.
Okay so here is how it goes.
We start the night before with everything packed up and ready to load except the hot chocolate. The skis are pre-loaded but everything else will get too cold if we leave it in the car. In the morning we rise as early as we are able and willing. Eat a hardy breakfast and move ski boots, lunch, ski cloths, and the necessary lodge bag to the car. Off we go! About a 1 hour drive up to our local ski area, Bluewood which has the distinct advantage of being 4000 feet higher in elevation. So that means they get a bunch more snow than we do here in town. For example, we got a sprinkling of rain two nights ago and they got 8 inches of new snow.

Once we get to the slope, Stuart and Dakota head in to get their passes (they both get free passes...perk of the job for Stuart and perk of being the littlest skier for Dakota). Wren and I get ready. Wren heads for the slopes while I get Dakota ready and Stuart gets ready. Once we are all set, we head for the Platterpull (bunny hill lift). This is where Stuart and Dakota spend a bunch of their morning ski time while Wren and I head for the blue runs. After a few runs with Wren, we hook up with Dakota and Stuart and ride the big lift up to the top of the hill so they can do the long green run called County Road. Dakota really likes riding the lifts and this is a big motivator for learning to ski. After a few full family runs from the top of the mountain, we are all ready for lunch.

Quick lunch in the lodge for Wren and Stuart while Dakota and I relax. This is where the lodge bag become essential. (Lodge bag contents: Lunch, hot chocolate, water, snacks, UNO, Spot-It, books puzzles, markers and drawing paper.) Wren and Stuart head back out quickly for a few hours of as many runs as is humanly possible. Then they head back in to get Dakota and I out of the lodge for an afternoon session with the whole family. So far this is working fabulously and we are all having a great time. We don't have a ton of photos because it is just hard to take a camera around with us when we are skiing but our smart phones seem to be capturing the moments.

Check out some of the beautiful days!