Stone and Claire both had a desire to learn to snowboard. So we took a day off from school and work and headed to the mountains. We purchased special equipment and lesson packages for them. They were totally excited as you can see. Aiden was also totally excited, he just giggles on the inside.
This is a photo of Claire up on her snowboard. She is the tiny one in yellow.
This is Stone snowboarding. He loved it. He fell a lot, but didn't let that stop him from getting back up time and time again. He was determined to master the skill.
Aiden took snowboarding lessons when he was younger. So he already knew what to do. He took off on his own. Big Richard and Aiden had fun taking the "scary" ski lift together.
UH-OH! It wouldn't be a Hoopes family outing if someone didn't break a bone. And Claire was the first to oblige. She got in two runs, and then fell on her wrist suffering a buckle fracture. I am really grateful we purchased our lesson package on a week day special, because they don't give refunds for injuries. So most of Claire's fun day of skiing lasted about 30 minutes. Then it was 3 1/2 hours in the lodge with Mom.
At one point Stone and Richard came in to rest and check up on Claire. Claire's body language speaks for itself. She was bored and in pain. The First Aid station wasn't allowed to give us any pain medication. But they did say we could buy some ibuprofen in the store. Unfortunately the store was all sold out. So Claire just dealt with it. After I took the photo I decided it wasn't very attractive of anyone. So I told them to try again, and this time to look good.
So this was the result. I think they all look much nicer in this photo. Stone and Claire tease me because they say I stage every picture. I think they will thank me when they are older, and all our family pictures make them look good.
This was the end result of our family outing. But wait! What happened to Stone?! Well, we were ready to go because I had made a 2 o clock doctor's appointment for Claire. Richard went to call Stone in to the lodge. Stone had just completed a run and was at the bottom of the hill, when Richard called out his name. Stone turned to look at Richard and lost his balance and fell. We thought maybe he had sprained his wrist or something. Certainly he couldn't have broken anything with something so slight as falling from a standing position. But at the doctor's office, x-rays revealed that he had fractured his ulna and median distal bone? of the thumb. Let see, that means Stone has broken his right arm once and his left arm three times. Not to mention his three foot bones he has broken. The doctor didn't seem too worried about it. He said his own son has broken as many bones.
We played a game called "cheese-head". We put whipping cream on a hat, and a partner had to throw cheese puffs at it. The winning team was the head with the most cheese puffs on it. Claire and her partner won.
Claire didn't want a cake and ice cream. She wanted Jello. So I bought Jello cups and added whipped cream and sprinkles to them. She is blowing out her candles here.
Claire and her friend Amy have made up nick names for each other. Claire calls Amy "cream puff" and Amy calls Claire " cheese puff". When it came time to open presents, this friend's card was as big as the gift. Claire opened it up and found a sign that read," to" taped to a bag of cheese puffs, and "from" taped to a box of cream puffs. That was as much fun as the gift itself.
At the party we decorated cork boards. The girls really took this assignment to heart, and did a terrific job on their boards. We clued buttons to push pins as well.
