Snow Days

“This is the best vacation ever,” Leo announced. Jack agreed.
Sara and I smiled. We hadn’t gone very far or done a whole lot or been gone very long. But as these guys get older, it seems they keep redefining what was, or is, the best ever.

Leo’s face told the story on Saturday: a pensive look of determination followed by a big grin. He spent the morning in a ski lesson and then the remainder of the day climbing onto the chair lift and sliding down the beginner hill. Jack, initially miffed he wasn’t old enough to take lessons, brightened up when we went sledding and then tried on some little, tiny skis.

Exhausted, but excited, they asked questions about skiing until the eyelids were just too much to keep open. The next afternoon, Leo launched into a three-mile cross country ski route with a level of energy and focus I’ve never seen in him. We were just a half mile from the car on our return when the binding on his ski broke. He sighed. “I’m tired.”

Later, he decided he liked downhill skiing better than cross country. You can go fast, he said.
But his favorite thing about the trip: “When I broke my ski.”

Go fast. Go until it breaks. It seems a five-year-old’s measure of accomplishment is not all that different than some grown ups I know.

all content © Tim LaBarge 2011