MISSION - Impossible

Caiden has sure been putting his new skis to use!  (And not just in the backyard).  Casey took him skiing at Mission (though Caiden thinks they went all the way to Michigan - we've since clarified) a few weeks ago and not only did he do great and have a great time, but he came back with a really GREAT story.  I know he'd be disappointed if this wasn't included in the family journal, ha.

First a little explaining, the chair lift they were riding is the kind where the pole is in the middle.  This makes it very hard to help a child on, thus leaving you with the only other option of relying on the lift operators to assist.  Let's just say most lift operators are not "fully operating" if you get my drift.  

So they had made it throughout the day with no incident....until the last run.  Apparently after Casey let the lift operator know that Caiden needed help getting on, the lift guy proceeds to pick Caiden up and literally drop him onto the seat as it came by.  Well, Caiden was not expecting this and when he dropped he slipped right off the chair.  Caiden manages to quickly grab onto Casey's forearm and his other arm was trying to hold on to the side bar, but his whole body was dangling.  You'd think they'd stop the lift at this point and help the poor dangling child, but no.  

So Casey is desperately trying to pull him up with his left arm as his right hand happens to be holding both his and Caiden's poles.  When he realizes they aren't stopping the lift, he chucks all 4 poles and pulls Caiden up to safety.  Caiden was a bit freaked out, but obviously recovered and now has had a great time reciting this story to anyone who'll listen.  

So then.....last Saturday, Casey and I decide to take him up night skiing and see if he can handle a little harder run.  Well, he did fabulous!  Just cruised right along.  But you guessed it, we come home with another great story.  I'm not sure why I feel this needs to be included in the family journal as it involves me...but, it is kinda funny.  

So once again, we're on a lift that has the pole in the middle, but this one is just a tad bit higher and a tad bit faster than the one he had ridden before, so we REALLY had to rely on the lift operators to help him up.  Everything is going fine (the lift guy was doing a fine job of actually getting Caiden up onto the seat....carefully).  Casey and I had been taking turns riding with him, and all was well.  

Then on the last run (this should have been Clue #1) Caiden wanted to ride up with me.  I noticed that there's a new lift operator, a younger one (this should have been Clue #2).  Well, we get up there and I say "Can you help him up please?"  And the guy is totally looking off in another direction.  I repeat the question (probably a bit more snippily, knowing me - and without the "please") and then he takes notice.  "Huh? Oh. Yeah."  

I knew instantly Caiden was nervous as he forgot to hand me his poles, like he usually does.  So he goes to hand them to me, they slip, the guy decides to return to reality and "help" him up, but by this time the chair is there.  I glance back, while still trying to contain both sets of poles, glance down at the approaching chair (which I happen to notice there is a pair of very large mittens on my seat (what the?) and I realize.....either both of us are going to get plowed....or just one of us.  

So the chair is there and the guy doesn't have him all the way on....I really don't want Caiden to have another bad experience, so I thrust my elbow pushing Caiden back onto the seat and the chair freaking TAKES.ME.OUT!!!  Knocked me out of both skiis, and I face plant it in the snow.  And when I say face plant, I truly mean FACE PLANT as I was holding 2 sets of poles.  For real.  I sincerely hope that if anyone got this on video, they let me know, because I will definitely be receiving a $10,000 check from America's Funniest Videos.  

All of this happened in a split second, but you know how 1000 thoughts can run through your head in moments like those?  I was thinking "Hello?! Help my kid!!" and "Oh crap! I'm dropping the poles" and "Oh no! The chair is here!!!" and "HELLO!!!!! HELP MY KID"  and "What the heck is that on my seat???" and "Oh please don't let Caiden get hit by the chair!" and then "OHHH NO!!" aaaannnnnnd .....FACE PLANT.  It was awesome.  I know I say Paige is Phoebe Buffet sometimes, but let's be honest - she gets all her Phoebe-ness from me.  I'm super talented :)

Oh, the things I do for my children.  Let's recap, shall we?  Willingly catch spewing barf from sweet daughter during church.  Check.  Sacrifice mind and body by letting big heavy metal chair lift plow me over. Check.  If my kids ever question how much I love them, I'll just have to refer them to this post :)