Even more ski fun in Kuhtai

So we’re feeling pretty sad that we didn’t realize Elora’s ski school was having “Race Day” on Thursday. We missed Elora race down the hill 3 times and get 2nd place. She told us all about it. How the other kids were slow, how some fell down, and how she got to “stand on an accordion” (podium). There was also a man dressed in a wolf suit that gave her a high five and gave her a silver medal. And we missed it all! No pictures! No video! We’ll have to make sure to stick around for Race Day at the next ski school week in February. We’ll be skiing again then, and it seems most ski schools have a Race Day. Incidentally, it’s no surprise she got 2nd, because the other kids were probably snow plowing, trying to ski under control, while Elora still doesn’t and just keeps her skis pointed straight down the hill.

The kindergarten where Oliver is being watched is packed with toys and slides and all kinds of musical instruments. He’s been the only kid there every day, except for 1 other day when there was another kid. So he’s having a great time.

As I was skiing along I noticed this stud carving up the mountain. He was really tearing it up so I had to take a picture.

Wow, check out that form, skis pointed down the mountain, edges up, body angled, he must be really good.

After ski school was done at 4pm, we’d take Elora for a couple runs down the hill using this harness we bought. It’s like driving a team of horses, and probably just as hard because Elora doesn’t brake and just goes straight down. It’s actually pretty tough to use the harness because if she falls down or if you go too fast you’d plow right over her. So you have to constantly brake, while at the same time keeping speed with her.

Every day at lunch time and dinner time, I’d pick up Elora and ride up the chairlift with her and ski back to the apartment. It was her favorite part of the day. She’d always ask to “go up the chairlift to the big mountain and ski across the world back home.” I’m not sure why she called skiing across the mountain, “skiing across the world” but it’s pretty cute.

We decided to take matters into our own hands with teaching Elora to snow plow. She just wasn’t feeling what she should do with her body. So I went down, pushing her legs into the right position so she could feel what it was like to have her edges dig into the snow. Surprisingly it worked a bit. Also note that I look like a dorky old grampa on skis.

Here we are skiing down the mountain as the sun sets.

And here’s Elora showing off her ski skills! Last year she was terrified if you let go of her and now she’s happy taking 4 hours of ski school for 5 days in a row!

We ran out of food in our apartment and the store was 1km back up hill in the town, so we had to go out to dinner again. What a shame. Elora was really excited about this wooden mushroom.

Oliver was excitingly singing the Hello-song, and it probably didn’t hurt that his cup was filled with Apfel Gespritzt — apple juice watered down with carbonated water. It’s funny because when we first tried it, we thought it tasted like crappy watered down apple juice, but now we like it.

Karen was very excited about her pork chops with mushroom gravy and spaetzle. Elora was excited to gobble up all the mushrooms and vegetables.

Elora was so busy eating off of Mommy’s plate, that Oliver ate all of her spaghetti. He usually picks up the noodles with his hands, but he’s starting to get fussy when his hands get dirty so he insisted on using a spoon.