I’ve said it before—skiing gets the grumpies out.

There is no question we headed out to the mountain in snippy moods.

In spite of the promise of my shiny new boots, I was a little grumpy myself—for no apparent reason.

We took so long to get out of the house (add that to the reasons we were grumpy), that by the time we got to the mountain, it was lunch time. Baked Potato soup did a great job setting me straight, let me tell you!

Soon, I was back in Jans getting my boots fitted to my ski bindings. Boot Dude would not let me slide into the boots without parking them on the boot heaters for 5 minutes. Then, a quick review lesson in how to put them on. Apparently peeling them open from the collar, stuffing in the foot and then stomping down, hard, is NOT the preferred method. Nope…one should pull apart the leaves of the boot at the ankle, and the foot will slip into place, no problem. Yes, a quick kick-down on the heel is permitted. I’m now ruined forever for cold boots. I’m even considering splurging on a heated boot bag. Hear me out—Boot Dude said you can toss in boots, helmet and gloves, plug it in and it will dry and warm the whole lot. You can even plug it into the AC adapter in the car. Which is perfect for my ski days without the family—I really, truly prefer to boot up at the car, for reasons I can’t even explain.

Let me just say, the boots did not disappoint. The purple color made me smile (and ski better, I’m sure of it.) And the ski day, overall, was a huge success. Sunshine and sweet smiles of accomplishment from my kids go a long way to erasing a foul mood.

We tried out every obstacle on the hill—from the race course to Candyland, to a bumps area and even the new SunKid conveyor lifts. What a hoot! Plus, as the day wound to its end, Bucky made a surprise appearance. Apparently, he’s camera shy, so I couldn’t grab a photo at the top of the flower-pinwheel racecourse he and his pals had set up. My kids were thrilled to earn a prize just for agreeing to run the whirling “gates”—bubbles!

And the day ended in smiles!