"I hated it, but we did it"

On Saturday we decided to get another ski day in so we got up early and drove to the mountains. It was hard not to compare it to our perfect Christmas day trip, so this one came up a bit short. The traffic was much worse so it took us longer to get there, the lines at the chair lifts were much longer and the snow was more icy, but we made the most of it. By far, the most challenging part was when we convinced Cameron to try a new chair lift. It was a 4 seater so we could all go together, but we didn't get off to a good start. I've never seen a lift like this, but you basically slide out onto a magic carpet that pushes you out until the chair comes around to pick you up. Well Cameron dropped a pole, he fell and then the chair bumped him in the head. He was a real trooper and got himself together on the chair ride up despite a lot of tears. There were no tears when we got off the chair lift and then when he saw the hill the real crying started. 

Brian and Addy took off together down the hill while I tried to convince Cameron there was nothing to be scared of. The top was a lot steeper than he was used to and for at least 3 straight minutes he just screamed saying, "I am NOT doing this, I am NOT going down this hill." I finally convinced him to try and slowly, turn by turn, we went down together as I held onto his pole and guided him side to side. It was the longest most exhuasting hill of my life. About halfway down we both fell and Cameron said "That's IT. I'm calling it, I'm walking the rest of the way down." He proceeded to take off his skis and walk down the hill. I was so tired I didn't even try to stop him. But he did realize toward the bottom third that it was no longer steep and he skied the rest of it and looked awesome. When we met at the bottom after declaring that he would NEVER do that hill again he said, "I hated it, but we did it." It summed it up perfectly.