If you and the kids are headed to the mountains this winter, grab your camera and this fun photo tutorial for ski lessons!  And there’s a bonus photo tip at the end for getting great shots from the ski lift!

Ever since we told the kids we were going to go skiing, they were BEGGING for skis! They wanted to rent their skis the moment we got to Vail, Colorado. But Brian ended up getting altitude sickness the first night. It was brutal! The elevation in Vail is 9,000 feet. If you don’t drink a ton of water when you get here, you can get pretty sick. And even if you do drink a lot of water, you can still get sick like Brian did.

His head was pounding, he was throwing up throughout the whole first night, it was so sad. Instead of hitting the slopes the first day, Brian recovered and the girls took the kids sledding.

By Day Two, we were ready to hit the slopes. Clear blue skies. Sunshine. Fresh powder. It was what you picture Vail to be.

Brian headed out early with the guys while Shannon helped me get the kids ready and checked in to their first day of ski school. It was a bit chaotic to say the least with dozens and dozens of kids getting checked in and half of them crying. Things were going okay, until the school said I had to pass them through the rainbow and let the teachers take over. But we still needed to get their boots and skis fitted! “We’ll take care of them, just pass them through the rainbow tunnel and we’ll take it from here. No parents allowed past this point. Be back in three hours.”

Panic started to rise inside me because I knew this was to abrupt of a goodbye for the kids. But we tried it and once Pascaline was on the other side of the rainbow, I heard her SCREAMING which of course made Blaze cry, and I said to hell with the rainbow!

I would not have been able to leave the ski school without the kids if it wasn’t for Shannon. She took my arm with a firm grasp and said, “Me Ra, they are only as strong as you are strong. Don’t lose it.” I’m on the brink of tears at this point and cursing Brian for making me do this without him. But Shannon was right, I needed to pull it together b/c this is one of the best ski schools in the world. They would be fine after ten minutes, but to leave, oh my goodness, it was horrible! Like I said, Shannon and only Shannon got me through it. (Shan-you know I’m eternally grateful for that one!)

Without the kids seeing me, I came back 45 minutes early to see if I could grab some shots. The school didn’t call so things must have been going okay. I hid on the other side of the window and tried to find them without being seen.