Sandy and I flew in to Massachusetts via Skybus last Saturday and my mom and dad picked us up. 

On Monday we took my nieces, Becky and Kayla Bonnell to New Hampshire.  We wanted to do something fun with them.  So on Tuesday we went over to Mount Cranmore.  We got a full day pass which included equipment rental, lift ticket, and even a two-hour lesson.

My wife knew how to ski, but my nieces and I had never done it before.  In the beginning, there was a lot of falling, as this video shows…

But after our two-hour lesson, we all started doing better. 

The video below shows dramatic improvement by the girls in particular.

Overall, I was happy I got to learn how to ski.  My wife was a good trainer.  I’m quite sure the girls will continue to go without us and get better.  By the time Sandy and I get up there again next winter, they will probably be much better than me.

Here is a whole bunch of other pictures from the little trip…

Here’s me pulling out of the driveway.

Here’s my brother-in-law Brad Bonnell telling us “you kids be careful”.

Here’s Becky on the drive to New Hampshire (after she finished her Popsicle).

Here’s Kayla finishing up her Dunkin Donuts.  (Dunkin Donuts was a continuing theme throughout the trip as you’ll see.)

This was the little cabin we stayed in.

Here’s Sandy and I making our way over to the main house.  You can see the other cabins in this picture on the left.  I think there are about ten of them.

Becky acting goofy…

 

Here’s the dining room we had breakfast in each morning.

Our first night there we had dinner at Horse-feathers in North Conway.

This is the inside of our little cabin.

Here are the ladies outside our cabin.

 

Becky getting ready for breakfast.

 

And wow are those ski boots hard to get on or what?

Kayla got hers on!

When we got our gear on, Sandy was our first teacher.

Here’s me. 

I think I can, I think I can…

Becky thinks she’s cool.

The girls are looking good.

Becky had a hard time getting off the lift.  You can’t tell from the picture below, but she totally wiped out both times she had to get off.  In fact, she took out several of those cones you see and the guy had to come out and fix them.  It was very funny.

Here is all of us later in the day with our “official trainer” Bob.

Once we were done, Kayla’s legs were sore.  Sandy had to help her.

The 2^nd night we did dinner in North Conway.

Becky was “down with that”.

The peanut butter pie and chocolate cheesecake was great.

The girls call the picture below “girls in the hood”.  Personally, I think they look more like elves than anything else.

More Dunkin Donuts.  Yay!!

And lastly, this is what Kayla did for most of the trip home.

What a cutie!