Best Day Ever!?!

I think it might be safe to say that all of Brad's dreams came true yesterday. We headed off to Brundage ski resort outside of McCall to rent some tiny boots, skis and a helmet. I waited in the car while they went in to rent the equipment, and when I saw him carrying her with her shinny red boots, jiggling helmet and 3 foot skis I couldn't stop my laughing. We took her to the Bear Chair lift and immediately she told me, "I ready, Mama!" I pointed out to her all of the big kids on their skis while we waited for Brad and she was pumped up! We clipped her into the skis and Brad and Kate headed off for the chair lift. I watched and waited with camera in hand to catch it all. Finally I saw the two of them come from around a bend, Brad holding Kate, stopping, putting her down on the ground between his skis and heading down the hill. I knew he was excited to share this moment with her, but I had no idea how much she would love it! She had a great time, and when it was all over (3 runs) she didn't want to give up the rented gear. Luckily, a packed snack of popcorn gave her some incentive to say goodbye to the red boots and the big helmet. An excellent first!
After an afternoon of rest and relaxation back at the cabin we headed back into town and decided to check out the skating rink. It just happened to be Open Skate and we decided to rent 3 pairs and another jiggly helmet and hit the ice! Skiing and ice skating in one day! Oh my! Brad indicated that it was my turn to be the instructor - as of the 3 of us I am the most steady on skates. Funny thing is that at 23 weeks pregnant I don't feel that steady these days, but it was fantastic. We quickly found the easiest and most constructive method was for me to skate backwards holding on to Kate's hands. I learned to skate at 2 yrs old while pushing a chair around the ice. The rink provided stacks of buckets to push, but Kate told me, "No bucket, Mama's hands" so that's what we did. She kept saying, "Look at me! Look at me!" I think we all had a great time enjoying another first.
I was very proud with how happily she embraced these two new, adventurous, potentially scary activities! Makes me marvel at the fun things ahead - ski passes, our own skates, maybe even some ski goggles and a figure skating skirt. Oh my! The places we'll go...