I was up with Julia at 7:35 AM. Sara slept ‘till 9:03. Dan slept ‘till 10 AM! (Dan has been getting up with Julia since the first day, so he finally got caught up on sleep.)
My early time with Julia was fun, though I’d been wondering why when Dan got up with her he never really made breakfast. Now I know. With this whole apartment to explore Julia is into everything, and it takes every bit of adult brain power to keep her from turning the knobs on the stove (which she has done), pick in the kitchen trash (which she tries to do), explore the glass candle holders (which makes a clinking sound), and putting some crayon art on the walls (yellow crayons don’t show very much). I did manage to make oatmeal for the two of us, and since I just dumped the bag in with out measuring, there was enough oatmeal for Dan, Sara, and some spackle for the walls too.
Dan starts work at 10:00 Eastern Standard Time, which is 4:00 in the afternoon. He spends the morning with us, then has ski time, then gets to work here in the apartment.
He helped me pack up the kids into the double Bob-Stroller around 11:00. By that time we had an early lunch in our bellies. I set out with out any real ideas about what to do. A local kid-art thing was canceled so I just headed out with both kids in snow pants, 5 dolls, some money, water, and 2 sleds. Oh, and my village map, which is worn and torn now, but it is essential for navigation!
Sara wanted to try ice skating, so I tried to find the ice rink. I crossed the river, went passed a gondola, and started up a ski hill. Realizing that it was not smart to push two kids up a snowy ski hill, I back tracked and took a snowy road. There are no cars here. “Car free” means that the only vehicles are little electric rectangular things that are tricky since you can’t hear them. Being on the road (which is a narrow path like thing) I constantly am looking over my shoulder to see if a vehicle is coming up behind us. There aren’t that many of them, but you don’t want to be in their path since they expect you to move!
I must have taken a wrong turn, I ended up near a place that blasts music with a seating area. I looked up and saw some cute kids skiis hanging outside a ski shop. Leaving the kids outside I leaped up the two steps into the ski shop and went inside. The man wanted 50 SF for the kids skis.
Thinking that was crazy expensive, I asked to see a used pair. He found one, and offered them to me for 30 SF. I offered 20 SF. And we settled on 25 SF. I retrieved Sara and Julia, and the next thing I knew Sara was wearing skis in the ski shop. She looked amazingly cute. She has been asking to ski for months - and now she was wearing skis! The man taught me how to put them on, then before I knew it we were leaving the shop with Sara wearing skis!
Sara was skiing!
Sara skied up the road - which isn’t much of a road - more of a walk way that happens to have those electric vehicles on them. She looked straight ahead (not down at her feet) and moved forward with ease. She used her poles, and I just couldn’t believe how natural it seemed! She was doing so well! She didn’t want help “I’m fine Mom” she’d say when I tried to assist, so I just enjoyed seeing our little daughter on skis!
We were near the kid ski area, so we headed there. Sara chugged her legs right up a hill, across a flat area, and into the kid area. It is for the ski school, but with only one private lesson going on, the ski instructor didn’t mind that I rolled in with one kid on skis and the other kid in a double stroller. It probably helped that Sara was so happy and she did look cute.
We used the ski school run (free). Sara went right up the side of the run, with me and Julia by her side. At the top she looked down. Her skis were a little crossed in front, “how come I’m not going Mom?” she asked. I told her to keep her skis straight, and when she made the parallel she started moving down the hill. Her first ski run! She went straight down. She was happy with her self and I was so happy she was having such a good first ski day - when just under an hour ago we left the apartment with no plans!
She then wanted to try the ski lift, which was a kid magic carpet. I helped her on, though she said, “I’m fine I can do it” and she rode up the hill like a pro! I was by her side walking in my boots and Julia was at the top of the hill watching. I helped her off the lift and that was the last time I helped her. She did all her other rides on the ski lift magic carpet all by herself. On and off!
She had her first splat (fall) on her second run. She was trying to go faster and her skis didn’t cooperate so she landed on her butt. She stayed there for a while, mystified, wondering what happened. Her pink legs and colorful arms went every direction, and she said, “why did I fall?” I told her falling is part of skiing. (She better get used to it!) She didn’t get bugged by her fall. And she didn’t want help getting up. (“I’m fine Mom” she said for the 10th time.) All by herself she figured out how to get back up - which isn’t easy with sticks on her feet, and poles in her hands. She did it with very few sound effects - sort of matter of factly. Then she continued down the hill.
By this time she was so independent (which I couldn’t believe!) she just skied up and down a while. It was the perfect slope, just enough gradient to keep her moving, but there was no way she could get really hurt. The ski instructor that was there only had one student and I was thankful we were able to share the area with them.
Finally she got to the magic carpet one time and asked to go ice skating. Since that was our plan in the first place, I helped her take off her skis and she got into the stroller. Oddly, she broke a ski binding. Maybe buying “used” wasn’t the way to go after all.
I went back to the ski shop and Sara went in and said “my ski broke” she is so cute, that he gave her a new set (this year’s model - and new!) for free - and we got to keep the other pair. So now, for 25 SF, we have little skis and poles for both girls! The one pair has a broken part, but we can still put them on Julia and let her try it!
For lunch we stopped at a bakery with a master baker. He wrote a great book on teaching kids to bake, and there is a bakery museum. The bread and stuff is very good there. I got a ham/cheese hot sandwhich, which came with “salad” according to the menu. When she brought it to the table “salad” as a portion of tuna salad, some corn, some carrots, and other stuff. A great value for 8.50 SF - and healthy too. I shared with the girls - so it was an easy meal.
We continued our original quest of finding the ice rink. I circled the village and followed the map, and ended up by a chair lift. After studying the map to see just how I got onto the wrong side of the river, I asked the lift operator where in the world the rink was. She was helpful. She got out of her office and showed me where the rink was. I was close to it, I just had to get back onto the main road, go down a bit, cross into the sports complex, climb a hill and then we’d be there.
We finally got to the rink. A natural outdoor ice rink. There were some people playing curling, and some people playing hockey, and some kids that were probable about 10 years old. Sara skipped in the snow to get there. Ready to get going, I entered the wooden building to get skates. Nope. The skates are back on the main road, down on the left. Ahh!. Back we went. After asking at 3 different ski shops I finally found our place. It was underground, and Sara got a cute pair of size 28 hockey skates, and I got a beat up pair of size 8 figure skates. 7 SF each.
Back on the main “street” we retraced our steps. Finally, we were ready to skate. Julia was asleep. I got skates on Sara. She stood up and away she went. She skated (walking really) with confidence and she was so happy - and it was her first time - she just did it! No hesitation, no questions, she just did it! "I'm skating Mom!" she said. I stayed in my boots for a while, but she really didn’t need my help so I put my skates on. She used a little bar thing to help her balance and she just skated around the rink a little exploring how it felt and I was so proud of her ability and desire to try new things - and do so well at them.
Julia woke up. I wasn’t sure how to skate with a baby, Sara, and myself. I pushed the stroller over to the edge of the rink. I skated towards Sara, and Julia let me know she had no intension of being left in the stroller. I got her out, and she “skated” in her boots while holding my hand. Thankfully Sara was so independent that I could be with Julia.
Soon Julia was independent too. Sara had left the rink and got Julia her very own bar - so the two of them “skated” around together! All by themselves! It was lovely to see. They were both smiling, confident, and having a great time! I was so happy. It was snowing like powdered sugar so the scene was lovely.
After a long stretch of perfect fun where the girls moved around the rink like tiny rumba vacuum cleaners, Julia took a splat and that was the end of that. I scooped her up, we took off our skates, and I began the walk back to the apartment. The girls were quiet in the stroller, except for Sara asking questions the whole time.
Back at the apartment we ran into Dan who was leaving to go to the store to buy a SIM card for wifi. We went to the store together. Sara told him she skied and skated and he was happy for our adventures.
We had dinner (pork, local pasta, carrots, salad, etc) and the girls did a little coloring and at 6:30 Julia went to sleep with just a quick hug and pat on the back. She was tired from all the fun!
Quotes of the day:
(in the apartment) “Poo Poo” (Julia now says Poo Poo when she has a poo in her diaper, and she grabs my hand, and walks me to her diaper changing area, climbs up on it, and is ready for a fresh diaper. This is the first step to potty training!)
(on our walk) “Doll” (Julia likes having a doll to hold, and will ask if she doesn’t have one.)
(at lunch) "Thanks" (when I gave Julia a drink. Sounded like tanks.)
(on our walk while it was snowing)
Me: “Sara, do you want your shade down so the snow doesn’t go in your eyes?”
Sara: “No. I can only see when there is snow in my eye. See? There is no snow here, and I can’t see, but this eye has snow on it, and I can see.”
Me: “Okay honey.”
(after dinner)
Me: “Sara why are you biting your nails?”
Sara: “So my seeds don’t get bigger.”
Me: “What?”
Sara: “Every time I eat sunflower seeds my nails get longer. So I do this so they don’t get too long.”
(after lunch)
Sara: “Mom, I have the hiccups. The last time I had the hiccups, Grandpa and Grandma ‘Reen gave me a blueberry muffin to make them stop. Can I have one please?”
END
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