Pardon Me, But Would You Happen To Have Any Ben Gay?

OK...here we go...now if I can just sssttaaaaaaannnd up, (grunt)! OK...I'm standing....WHOA!! (whack) uunnnggg! OK...I think that I'm just gonna lay here for a second and catch my breath before I try to stand up again. (breathe, breathe, rest, rest) OK...here we go again...sssttaaaaaaannnd up, errrg! OK...I'm standing! Now I'll go juuust a liiittle, WHOA!! (whack) uuunnngg! OK...I think that I'm just gonna rest a little longer this time...(breathe, breathe, ouch, breathe)

Welcome to my first time snowboarding! We were given some passes to Timberline at an incredible discount, so we decided to take the boys on that snowboarding trip that we've been promising them for a long time! Brandon took his skis, and I took my blades, and we rented snowboards for the boys. It was supposed to be a horrible weather day on the mountain, but because our passes were expiring we just had to go for it, and the weather turned out to be wonderful. No rain, a little light snow, no wind, fresh, fast snow from the night before. It was great!


I've gotten pretty good on my blades.

We gave the boys a quick lesson on snowboarding that went like this..."Go that way...really fast. If something gets in your way...turn!" They went for it, and it was a little more like this..."Go that way...about 5 feet. Then fall on your face."


Jerrin had a great time, start to finish! He could have stayed a lot longer if we weren't so beat!

Luckily, Jerrin picked up on how to handle the board pretty quickly. He spent the first couple of runs falling, learning quickly that it's better to fall back than it is to fall forward, but then he got the hang of it and spent less and less time on the ground. Dallin was another story. Dallin got a little better, but was so fatigued from having to get up over and over again, that after about 2 hours, he decided he would rather build snowmen and quit boarding. We were OK with letting him rest for a bit, but those were really expensive snowmen and so we got him back on the board.


I love the look on Dallin's face! What a goofy grin! They were on the lift, taking the picture and approaching the end of the lift. I was yelling, "Get ready, guys! It's almost time to get off!" So they hurried and took the picture just in time to get off the lift! Whew!

Another hour of falling and standing, and Dallin was DONE! He gave it a valiant effort, and we couldn't deny him that, but we weren't ready to call it a day, and hated to have Dallin finish the day on a "sour" note. That is when I had the brilliant idea to trade with him. We wear the same sized shoe, and so I offered to let him try my blades, and I would try the snowboard. I've always wanted to, and we already had it rented so it was the perfect time to try. We traded and despite the aches and pains I experienced for the next couple of days, it was totally worth it! Dallin took to blades like a fish takes to water and he did awesome! It makes sense because he is a rollerblader, duh, we should have thought of that before, but he was able to finish the day LOVING snow blading, and I am so glad!


Dallin had no fear!

I did not take to snowboarding like Dallin took to blading, but after a few runs of the narrative above, I was able to figure out how to slowly make my way down the hill without falling and got to where it didn't take me too long to stand up and get going. Here's a video of my snowboarding success.



The boys show you how it's really done! Check out how easily Jerrin stands up. Sheesh!



It was a fun day and we had a blast spending a day with just our boys. The only problem now is that I have to sew all of Brandon's buttons back onto his ski jacket, because they were busting off as he watched his sons take to the mountain! :)