Cousins Christmas

We met the Girards on New Year's Day at Jiminy Peak in western Massachusetts. Minimal snow, but enough to cover the bunny slope and a few of the main mountain trails. Our kids were skiing for the first time, so they took a 90-minute lesson with a volunteer named Patricia, who works for tips and a season pass so she told us that our kids were dream students. By the end of the lesson they were bombing down the bunny slope and making a few turns. Enough to feel confident on the main mountain with Peter. Or so we thought. Greta made it about halfway down before a wipeout, stabbing one of her skis into the back of her leg and walking the rest of the way as Peter carried her skis. Max tells me Lincoln fell "a few times," but I met him at the bottom and he had a big smile. Both kids were eager to sign up for a second lesson, which they'll take later this month.

After skiing, we all drove back to Niskayuna and spent Saturday running around at the kids' school playground and then bowling three games. Max will hate me if I don't hereby record that he was the top bowler on the night with a high of 164. Peter was second with 135 and I carded a 121. Though to be fair, as Max said, he won "the junior league," since his lane had bumpers. All in all a lovely visit. I like how we're seeing more of each other even though we're an hour farther apart.