The Hannigs hit the slopes
We decided to get our kids on skis this year...to prepare for a Spring Break trip to Lutsen, MN with 4 other families. Paul's quote perfectly summed up the experience of skiing with three little kids who had never been on skis before..."It's a lot of hard work, but at least it's expensive." Hahaha.
Let's start with pictures from the weekend *before* Spring break. We took a trip to Powder Ridge in Kimball to see what this skiing was all about for the kids (Paul and I have skied before, but not in about 15 years). Meredith had an individual lesson at 4pm and the boys were going to jump into an hour long class at 5pm. Benny didn't make it that long. He made it about 35 minutes and then was done as you can see from the first picture below. :) I was really proud of Luke. He went into the class by himself, no Ben and no mom or dad, and by the end of the class we saw him riding up the ski lift with the instructor...virtually a complete stranger. He came down all smiles. The lesson was done then so he went up with mom and did a few green runs. Meredith spent some time on the bunny hill after her lesson, then suddenly I spied her going up the lift with Paul. She skied down between his legs and loved it....and they went again and again and again. "One more run" became about 10! We headed home that night, not sure how prepared we were for our trip to Lutsen, but we were going, so there was no backing out now!
And now for our trip to Lutsen. It started with some time in the pool! The next morning we took a shuttle to the base of the mountain, spent a small fee (haha) for our lift tickets and equipment, got geared up, and headed to what we thought was a nice green run. Well, it turned into a blue and by the end of the first run (and only about 9:30 in the morning), all three of our kids were laying in the snow crying and wanting to go home. After the small fee we paid for skiing all day, we gave them no option but to try again. A kind soul (Steve Vick) told us about the bunny hill that we didn't know existed. We headed over there and all three kids rallied (I was so proud of them) and they built up their confidence. Soon enough we were heading back up the lift to head down "Big Bunny" - a green run that was somewhere in between the bunny hill and a true green run. It was perfect and Ben and Luke mastered it on their own. Small success! Lunch was on top of the mountain, a sweet gondola ride with amazing views. Then after we headed back to the bunny hill and did a few more Big Bunny runs before ending the day on a true green called Lodge Run. By the time we got to the bottom we knew our kids were done. Paul and I didn't get in any runs on our own, but at least our kids rallied and got some runs in.
After day one of skiing we weren't sure if we were going to give it another go the second day. We decided, after much back and forth that morning, to opt out and spend the day exploring as a family. It happened to be Luke's NINTH birthday. So we headed to the town of Lutsen to find a grocery store and buy a birthday cake. Paul got a phone call and we blew right by Lutsen while he was on the phone. When he got off, we realized we were only 20 minutes from Grand Marais. We decided to head there to explore. We hit up a local grocery store and bought the one and only sheet cake they had (we took of the red roses for Luke) and got some ideas from the employees on where to go, what to see, and where to eat. We explore the lake, walked out to the lighthouse, and ate at the cutest little local diner called "South of the Border." (Sounds Mexican, right? Well, Grand Marais is just south of the Canadian border, so the name is actually quite fitting. The pictures below are from our day in Grand Marais. We all agreed that this was our favorite part of the entire trip. And it was free! 
Back at the hotel, we met up with the other families when they finished skiing. Luke got a birthday gift from his friend, Liam. A Skewb Xtreme (some crazy new Rubicks-type cube), hit the pool, had dinner at Mogul's restaurant, then headed back to one of the rooms for birthday cake.
The next day we headed for home, stopping in Duluth for lunch and a tour of the Maritime museum. We explore the lake for a bit before hitting the road for the final leg home. It was such a fun trip! I love, love, love our family time together!
Let's start with pictures from the weekend *before* Spring break. We took a trip to Powder Ridge in Kimball to see what this skiing was all about for the kids (Paul and I have skied before, but not in about 15 years). Meredith had an individual lesson at 4pm and the boys were going to jump into an hour long class at 5pm. Benny didn't make it that long. He made it about 35 minutes and then was done as you can see from the first picture below. :) I was really proud of Luke. He went into the class by himself, no Ben and no mom or dad, and by the end of the class we saw him riding up the ski lift with the instructor...virtually a complete stranger. He came down all smiles. The lesson was done then so he went up with mom and did a few green runs. Meredith spent some time on the bunny hill after her lesson, then suddenly I spied her going up the lift with Paul. She skied down between his legs and loved it....and they went again and again and again. "One more run" became about 10! We headed home that night, not sure how prepared we were for our trip to Lutsen, but we were going, so there was no backing out now!
And now for our trip to Lutsen. It started with some time in the pool! The next morning we took a shuttle to the base of the mountain, spent a small fee (haha) for our lift tickets and equipment, got geared up, and headed to what we thought was a nice green run. Well, it turned into a blue and by the end of the first run (and only about 9:30 in the morning), all three of our kids were laying in the snow crying and wanting to go home. After the small fee we paid for skiing all day, we gave them no option but to try again. A kind soul (Steve Vick) told us about the bunny hill that we didn't know existed. We headed over there and all three kids rallied (I was so proud of them) and they built up their confidence. Soon enough we were heading back up the lift to head down "Big Bunny" - a green run that was somewhere in between the bunny hill and a true green run. It was perfect and Ben and Luke mastered it on their own. Small success! Lunch was on top of the mountain, a sweet gondola ride with amazing views. Then after we headed back to the bunny hill and did a few more Big Bunny runs before ending the day on a true green called Lodge Run. By the time we got to the bottom we knew our kids were done. Paul and I didn't get in any runs on our own, but at least our kids rallied and got some runs in.
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| Last run of the day |
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| Note Luke' face in the background. :) |
Back at the hotel, we met up with the other families when they finished skiing. Luke got a birthday gift from his friend, Liam. A Skewb Xtreme (some crazy new Rubicks-type cube), hit the pool, had dinner at Mogul's restaurant, then headed back to one of the rooms for birthday cake.
The next day we headed for home, stopping in Duluth for lunch and a tour of the Maritime museum. We explore the lake for a bit before hitting the road for the final leg home. It was such a fun trip! I love, love, love our family time together!
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