3 Mar
Sat
9am till 10pm
We set off to Brighton Ski Resort (about 1.5hour's drive) in the morning. It had been snowing continuously for about 4-5 days this past week and dh reckoned it should be great for skiing on Sat when the weather forecast said it would be sunny.
Out of the many ski resorts, we chose Brighton as it is supposed to be child-friendly. Children under 6 ride the ski lifts free, and there is quite a large percentage of beginner terrain. As Brighton was situated amongst the mountains at even higher altitude, it was super cold. But once we got the skis rented and got out and moved a lot, it was better.
They don't have skiing for kids under 4 years old, at all the resorts, so ds2 couldn't do much, but play with the snow. I didn't rent skis because of him, but I had a lot of fun anyway. I did want to join in the action though, so I made dh promise that the next time, I will also rent skis or the snowboards, and we will take turns watching ds2.
ds1 skiied with dh's help. dh and i had learnt some basics long ago, at Melbourne's Snowy Mtns. Was that in 1998, and which resort did we go to? I can't remember, help Mary! We went with Mary and Zhiyang, who are now our sons' "godparents". Surprisingly dh remembered it all, I am still uncertain if I will be able to ski with ease after such a long time. But it is so much easier to learn as a kid!
[dh (yellow) and ds1 (red) skiing in the distance]
I was so frightened to see ds1 almost fall dangerously many times but he wasn't afraid at all, and if one is not afraid of falling, learning and progress would be so much faster! ds1 hurtled down the slope many times but he got the hang of it after awhile and somehow even skiied backwards once, when his skiis turned uncontrollably. haha. quite a sight to behold.
but kids tire very easily so after 2 hours we left for lunch and headed to nearby Park City where there are 59 outlet stores, like Gap, Osh Kosh, Carters, Aeropostale, adidas, Nike and so on. Oh, there were so many things I wish I could buy! I saw the lovely adidas track pants, sold much cheaper than in Spore, but I still can't afford to splurge, not under our current circumstances. There were very beautiful shoes too at Nine West and Skechers.
But it was fun to browse, and we bought the most stuff at the Borders Outlet. A lot of books were going for $5.99 that kind of price. We bought this huge family Bible (KJV) for only 5.99 and a thick encyclopedia of sorts on spiders and insects. This insect book had beautiful illustrations and photos, hundreds of insect and spider stickers, plus a CDROM but cost only 4.99. What's more, for every 4 books you buy, you get 1 book free. We bought 12 books and came home with 15. I wish I could buy the whole store, because all those fiction novels are going for similar prices too. Totally unlike the Borders in Singapore. Of course, that's not a factory outlet lah. I bought some kids' story books for the kids in Singapore too. :-) Will ask my parents to bring back for them when they come visit in July.
And Grace, Mag, all those who love to shop: when you come visit, I'll bring you there. You can spend the whole day buying stuff and not get bored. I didn't finish browsing every store that afternoon! You'll be extremely happy to buy things at a bargain too. :-)
