Snowboarding

It was a beautiful, wintery Saturday. Stockton and Garrett had been practicing their snowboarding skills on a nearby hill in a park close to our house. The three of us thought it would be a great idea to see how well their snowboarding skills had become. We headed up to Sundance with very happy faces.
We received several smiles and fingers pointing at Garrett, as he was the smallest little snowboarder on the mountain. I thought it was very cute and I was proud of both of them for taking on the big challenge of snowboarding. I also was prepared for the patience that would be required for the day, but I was looking forward to the challenge.

Our first lesson was learning to get off the lift. I remembered how scary getting off the lift was for me my first time down. I was not sure what the boys were expecting, but I gave them a few pointers. Then, we climbed up the hill a little ways and we pretended we were all getting off the lift together. The boys seemed all right with the instruction and anxious to get on the mountain.

We got in the long line and each of us waited with anticipation. When it came our turn we all shuffled our way out in place. Stockton's shuffling was a little to slow for the fast lift. I tried to grab him, but I didn't help him at all. The lift came and knocked him right over.... then, it ran over him. The lift operators stopped the lift immediately. They had to swing the lift up and pick Stockton up off the icy ground. Stockton was all smiles! He told them thanks and just laughed!! That is Stockton for you.... everything is funny! I don't think I have ever heard him cry in pain, unless he is trying to get one of his brother's in trouble.

Once we were all safely on the lift, we laughed, talked, and watched all the other snowboarders. The boys were super cute and I loved to being up there with them. Getting off the lift was simple. Garrett was a little scared, but he made it off well. We buckled on our boards and started going down the mountain. Garrett took off with no problems. Stockton got off pretty good too. They both fell a lot, but they got back up a lot too. They were doing pretty good! Well, as long as they were on a hill.

The next part was fairly flat. It meant they couldn't fall because falling would slow them WAY down and make it hard to get moving. It only took one fall for Garrett, he completely lost it. He started crying. Stockton fell too, but he kept getting up and doing his best to keep his board moving. It wasn't long before Garrett got so frustrated he was beyond reasoning. As I watched and tried to help Garrett, Stockton kept at it. He got up time and time again..... and every time he did it with much excitement. He went all the way down the mountain and by the time he was done, he was pretty good. He had learned the basics by falling and getting back up. Stockton absolutely loved it!

Garrett made it down the hill too but we decided to spend a little more time practicing. He is pretty young to tackle the big mountain just yet. I learned a valuable lesson from Stockton watching him getting up when it was hard, maintaining a positive attitude in a difficult situation, and making it fun! When we got into the car Stockton said, "Mom, now I am so bored! I am going to be bored until I get to go snowboarding again! That was the most exhilarating day of my life!!"

Not only can Stockton make himself happy, but he knows how to make me smile too!