You're Never Too Young

This past weekend I went to my parents’ house to meet up with some of my family for a weekend at the local ski hill. The plan was to take my niece and nephew (my sister’s kids) out for a day on the slopes. My niece is five and my nephew is three. Since this was their first time on skis I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was fairly certain they wouldn’t be hucking off the kickers in the terrain park. The shorties had a lesson scheduled for the afternoon so my brother-in-law and I decided to go out early to get in a few turns before my sister showed up with the kids.

I have to admit, the conditions were better than I expected. The sun was out which softened up the snow and warmed things up enough to make it a good day all around. After my brother-in-law and I did a few laps we met up with my sister and the kids. They had just finished their lesson and wanted to keep skiing. Fortunately the beginner slope was shallow and short so I decided to ditch the board and chase the kids around on foot.

I think it would be an understatement to say that my niece and nephew were having fun. They would start at the top, point elevens down the hill and laugh the whole way to the bottom. I ran along beside them in case they started getting off track or fell. When they got to the bottom I would scoop them up, carry them back to the top, and let them do it again. While it would have been nice to continue digging trenches with my board, it was much more fun watching my niece and nephew experience the excitement of sliding down a hill on planks attached to their feet. Their smiles were all I needed to see. Now I just need to figure out how to get them on snowboards.