I took the kids up to to Castle Mountain today. We packed a lot of the ski equipment last night up in the topper. Devin was really good to see that a lot of the equipment was packed up there. We also packed a lunch so that we could be ready to go early in the morning. Despite all my efforts in packing the night before I still was up till 1:30am. So I was pretty tired then I got up early at 6:30am.
It took forever to get out the door again in the morning and we didn't get done till 7:30am. I drove. We went through Lethbridge and then to Pincher Creek onto Castle Mountain. The gravel road just before we got to the ski hill was terrible! We thought the van was going to lose its wheels going over/ through so many potholes. When we got to the hill, I left the kids to unload the van while I immediately went to get lift tickets. We were quite a bit later than we wanted to be so we were all in a hurry to get on the hill. I was paying for the kids ski passes from the school when Devin came in and asked if I had the topper keys.
Nope. No keys.
Big crisis! Gigantic crisis! Huge crisis!
We forgot the topper key back at home in Raymond!!
Without it we couldn't get out helmets, poles, ski boots, and skis so that some of us could go skiing. We had gear in the topper and in the back of the van. We didn't know what to do.
I stopped the purchase of the tickets and went back out to the van see what I could do to help. I started a prayer in my heart that Heavenly Father would help us that we might find a way to open the topper so that this day wouldn't be wasted.
None of my keys worked. We couldn't find any keys that worked. Brandon had his gun lock keys with him and that was our closest chance but we couldn't get the locks open. I asked the maintenance crew if they could let us borrow a bolt cutter. The guy came and we decided not to cut the padlock if we couldn't get the locks open. We would need it locked as we were driving home to keep it closed in the wind. He left looking for some small keys on the off chance they would fit our lock.
The kids suggested that we go to Waterton and play around for the day when I commented that we would just have to go home. We had a lunch!
In another last effort, Devin was on top of the van and he and Aaren tried to take the hinge screws off but they didn't move as we broke the mini socket. Devin tried prying open the topper and reaching his arm into the locks. Aaren helped wedge it open and by jiggling it around he was actually able to pop one of the locks on the front side of the topper open! We were getting pretty excited! We had one side open. Maybe he could get the other open too. Devin and Aaren moved around to the back and they did the same thing and Devin was able to get the back locks opened.
Now all we needed was that bolt cutter to cut the padlock on the outside. We figured the padlocks were cheap and we could just replace it but we didn't want to wreck the topper locks. Another guy came back. He had the bolt cutter and we were able to use it to get the padlock off. The topper was opened. Yay, yay, yay!!!!! It was after 10:30am when we finally got it open.
I went back in to the ticket office to purchase lift tickets while the boys and kids got all the gear out. We decided to only buy tickets for the Huckleberry chair lift. The top of the mountain was in bad shape and the red chair was closed because it rained on Saturday. Consequently the whole mountain was super icy. We did not pick a good day to come skiing and were a little disappointed. We determined to try and have fun anyway. After the lift tickets were purchased and everyone was dressed in our winter gear, we headed out. There was no magic carpet for Savanna so we immediately went right to the green chair and started off. She did fantastic. After a few runs on the green chair we headed over to the Huckleberry. It's a longer lift with longer runs. Savanna's little legs took a beating. They are going to be very sore tomorrow. She did a lot of snow ploughing.
We loved the view of the icy stream de saw from the chair lift. So pretty.
Evan is a speed racer. All he does is go up and come racing down. We had a hard time instructing him on more advanced skiing techniques because all he wanted to do was fly. He still needs to work on control.
Devin met up with several of friends from town and spent a lot of time with them. Brandon and Aaren and Evan spend a lot of time together. Cassandra and Maren were together a lot. Savanna and I skied together all day.
As the afternoon went on, the hill got better. It was not so icy but a little bit softer. It was a beautiful blue bird day. The sun was shining and the sky was clear and blue. It was a little chilly, little windy, little nippy on the face but overall a lovely day. There wasn't a lot of other skiers. It was not a very busy hill for Monday morning.
Savanna and I on the Huckleberry lift.
Brandon and Devin behind us.
Tired! Resting as we go up the hill.
Maren, Savanna and Evan
Cassandra, Maren and Savanna
Devin's 1st jump series
2nd jump
We had a great day together as a family!!
It's always sad when the ski day comes to an end and we are hearing the words "last run." Savanna was especially sad as the day came to a close. She was having so much fun and was getting so much better from the start of the day to the end of the day.
I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father heard our prayers and was able to help us find a way to open the topper so that we could enjoy the day skiing together as a family.
Jeff stayed home with the two little ones. Tysyn was not happy to be left at home. We didn't have cell reception on the hill. I wasn't able to send texts back and forth. On our way home I received Jeff's message that Tysyn was so sad when he found out he was left behind. Next year we will teach him how to ski.
On the way home, we had to come back with the topper IN the van. We unbolted it and took it off the top of the van. It fit, filled with ski equipment, inside in the back of the van so that it wouldn't get wrecked on the way home. We didn't have keys to lock it. I'm grateful it fit.
Before we left Castle Provincial Park we stopped at Syncline. Back in February Devin went on a scout camp and left a hatchet. Jeff's hatchet. He wanted to return and see if he could find it. Brandon and Devin both went down to the camp area and were gone for quite a bit. When they went camping, the creek/river was iced over. Today Devin had to wade it to get to the camping area. The water went up over his boots. Brandon didn't cross. Devin came back to the van and his boots and socks were soaked and full of water. Icy toes!
The miracle of miracles, he found the hatchet he had left. It was definitely an answer to his prayer. I assumed that it was gone found by some other camper who had been up there. After Devin emptied out his boots and got back in the van, we drove down the road a little ways until we saw a washroom. We stopped for a few of the kids that had to go. It was funny to see each other joke and laugh. They called out to each other "bear" to scare each other. Aaren slid down the snow hill on his back, upside down, to be silly. We had a good time together as a family. We missed Jeff and the two others at home.
We live in a beautiful province!
My legs are super tired tonight. I used a lot of muscles that I haven't used in a long time. Skiing slowly when you automatically want to just go fast, takes a lot of leg muscles. I felt those muscles as I was driving home. They were aching and protesting.
I was grateful that Jeff started supper and we arrived home to spaghetti nearly completed. Thank you. I appreciate it so much.
I unloaded some of my things out of the van when we got back. The things that were necessary to bring inside. After dinner I was off to bed. We arrived home at 7:30pm. By 9:30pm, I was heading to bed. So tired. It's been a long day and I'm running on empty, so good night!!
