Getting ready for the first day of skiing is one of those chores I savor. With each visit to a gear shop, each waiver signed, each romp through the closet to see what still fits and what makes the shopping list, I get more and more excited. This year, though, the amount of growth in both of my boys since last season caught me off-guard.

Lance now wears a full boot size larger than I do, sporting a 23.5 to my 22.5 shell size. Pro tip: If you’re part of a seasonal rental program, as we are, taking good care of the equipment pays off. The team at Utah Ski and Golf were happy to fit Lance with brand-new, comfortable Dalbello boots ​because he returned last year’s goods in great shape.

Both boys also jumped up a couple of ski sizes.

I had to adjust their poles to the longest settings. And, no kidding, when we got to the season pass office, Lance measured a full inch taller that day than he had six days earlier at a doctor visit. And, yes, he was wearing the same shoes.

The ladies in the ticket office even remarked upon the boys’ growth from the year before.

When Opening Day rolled around, my family started our ski season with deliberate restraint, in deference to my still-recovering post-surgical knee.

Ok, so “restraint,” isn’t exactly my strong suit. In fact, as we were having breakfast, my husband made an announcement to the kids, that “Mommy needs to take it easy, so we are going to make sure we do mellow runs.” In response, Seth piped up, “Blacks, but no bumps?” I couldn’t help but have a momentary surge of pride, as Jeff looked over at me and said, “Gee, I wonder where he gets his sense of restraint.”

The day got off to a great start, in part because we reached a critical milestone in family skiing—the youngest child confidently, and quickly, slipped into, buckled and adjusted his own boots.

Upon arriving at Deer Valley, we were welcomed, warmly, by the ski valet team.

Then, we stopped into Jans to pick up a new helmet for Lance (all that growing, again!).

And with that, we were ready to go. As we took our first runs, I remembered the benefit to having big kids—we can ski together, as a family. There are few better payoffs for all the years of hunched-over snowplows, all the times you had to literally bribe the kids down the hill with bits of candy from your pocket, than skiing behind your family as they make gorgeous turns.

Then again, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I still packed a stash of leftover Halloween candy.

Which we enjoyed, al fresco…