Alp D'Huez...a relaxed day.

Day 2.

Through the night the forecasted snow had started and a good few inches had landed and was still falling when we woke. So a relaxed morning ensued. We have some school work for Callum who is taken out of school for this week, his teacher is more than happy for him to be here, even though the school and authorities can't (officially) approve such a trip....at least in Scotland we don't get fined for being such irresponsible parents ;-)).....so the first hour was spent on some reading and sums which he really enjoys, Logan also a got some schooling, next year it will be double trouble for Mum and Dad, but this is an educational(ish) trip in our eyes, no lying on a loungers in the sun, we have put a lot of effort into both their skiing lessons before this trip and we are not prepared to pay the premium required to bring them here during school holidays, that's how we justify it to ourselves for the time being anyway. After lesson time Callum, who has harped on as much about going swimming as he has about skiing got his wish, taking advantage of our 5***** facilities seemed like a good idea for the rest of the morning. 

We headed to the superb hotel pool, unfortunately, they are both better skier's than they are swimmers, so full parental control needs to be exercised while they are in the water, Callum's swimming career got off to a good start with Turtle Tots in Linlithgow before he was even 1 year old, but this fell by the way side when Donaldsons School stopped commercial activities in its pool. Logan has been having regular swimming lessons at Exite in Linlithgow and that is progressing well. We had some fun, Logan is a measured wee fella and is sensible, quiet and listens to instructions, the polar opposite of his (sometimes) noisy, silly rambunctious big brother....so its a case of taking turns with them practicing diving to pick things up from the bottom, they actually did well and the pool is good, there was only 1 other person in and she didn't last too long, probably down to Callum's exuberance, lol.

After another early lunch we headed out to the ski area and again I took Callum for a few runs, his instructor said he needed to be more parallel between turns so we worked on this and he was listening well to me and really trying hard. The weather was pretty foul when we arrived, quite blowy and snowing hard but they both seemed unfettered by this and keen to get on with it all. Logan was first into his class, he has been moved up a level and has gone from being the tallest to the 2nd shortest in his group but he progressed really well today, no more magic carpets, he is now onto a Poma and apart from a spectacular fall on his first go, was getting on great with it, he is also holding his own very well in his new group, better than quite a few in fact. I think its good, professional and very fair that the instructors (ESF) recognise when someone is in the wrong level and move them up or down accordingly. I did wonder how Callum was coping, as I said yesterday he is perhaps a group higher than he should be. He was away, much higher up in the clouds, poor visibility and snow. It was a full balaclava and thick gloves day for him, he was keen when he set off. Us (much) older and wiser skiers are never so keen knowing exactly what it's like in these conditions.

Again Joyce, stayed and kept an eye on Logan and I scooted off for a few runs, it was definitely cold higher up in the clouds and clag, but the fresh snow on the runs made the skiing really nice, not so much to make it a real hard effort. Theres no Kenny, Cammy or Ali on this trip so no ego's to be taken care of, I now need to think about how I am going to get Callum and Logan safely down these slope's in the very near future so I need to be working on my own technique so I can try and pass on a few hints and tips to them along the way......even practicing hard on the greens with Callum is good for me......(Kenny, I can hear your comments already as I am typing this buddy).

After a refreshment stop with Joyce it was soon time to get back out and wait on the boys return, I managed another couple of laps before Logan finished up, again he seemed in no rush to take his ski's off. He's enjoyed his first 2 day's and is progressing well. I wonder where he will be after another 4 days of lessons. Callum arrived 10 minutes later, completely red about the gills but totally chuffed with his achievements, his instructor was full of compliments about him, his parallel skiing between turns is much better, he had a couple of falls I think but that was to be expected given the visibility today. 

It wasn't a day for hanging around much longer than needed, it was really snowing hard at end of play so we all jumped in the Alpe Express and headed home, there boys watched a film, had dinner, got a story and crashed out. All this fresh Alpine air is good for us all. I don't think enough kids are exposed to so much effort nowadays, they much prefer to stay at home indoors, playing computer games if there's so much as a hint of anything less than good weather, our boys are not like that, yes, they might moan about it for a bit while their jackets and boots are going on but we find once they are out in it, rain, wind or snow, the moaning stops and they tough out whatever is thrown at them and feel so much better for it. Long may this continue!! The bright red rosy cheeks are testament to their efforts today or perhaps more bad parenting and not putting on enough factor 50🤔😳😁...