The first lesson I threw Laura in with the preschool set because she had never been on skis even once before. Plus it was just easier to keep them together. They were understandably a little shakey the first day, but after the second lesson, they were both doing pretty well, and they had even taken off Laura's toe rope. The rate we paid included a ski all day pass above and beyond the tot lessons, so the third day we decided to stick around after the lesson was over and try some of the bigger hills. Rachel was dying to go down the big hills. We ventured over to the bigger kids learning area and the girls went down the hills with no problems with the skills they'd learned already. We even made it over to the biggest/ steepest hill in the learners' area, and they both made it down several times (Rachel took a bail once, but other than that they did great!) They both have gained a lot of confidence from learning this new skill and are excited to continue (unfortunately they will probably have to wait until next winter at this point, but they have a good base to start now, I think).
We have also been occasionally taking advantage of the Parent and Tot free skate that happens twice a week in our town. The girls both felt they needed a skate support to get the feel for it, but I wasn't willing to pay for them as they are $30+. Luckily, one of our friends had one to donate to our cause, so they had one to share. They would take turns using it until Laura decided she was ready to try with out it. So far she has made one lap around the rink solo, and will only improve from here. She is again, so proud of herself for learning a new skill and is excited to continue improving. I must say I am a bit surprised; I expected Laura would be easily frustrated by skating, but she is actually really enjoying it and persevering. Rachel is not loving skating so much, but that's okay. We'll get there.
Raising Canadian girls. <3
