Chamonix day 2

My parents decided not to ski today, so it was just our own family. We went to Les Grands Montets, which is our favorite place to ski. There hasn't been snow for a while here, unlike last year when we were blessed with fresh powder. Still, conditions were good for the most part.

We did fewer of the long upper and lower runs and stayed most of the day on the shorter middle runs. The snow was best there and the kids had fun going off-run even though it wasn't deep powder anymore.

Most of the years past, Ivy has had major breakdowns on the first day of skiing. This year...not at all! She has already surpassed the level she was at this year.

Inga had a big spill early in the morning and hurt her thumb. Every tumble she took after that--little ones--she kept falling on the same hurt thumb. As a precaution, we got her a brace at a pharmacy at the end of the day. She's much reassured. I don't think it's even sprained because it's not swollen, but it does hurt from repeated falls. Ivy and Inga swam for a good hour after skiing. Zari and Dio were too tired. I joined the girls in the pool for just a few minutes, but the water was too cold for me. I took a hot shower and then watched them for almost an hour. I was having a hard time staying awake.

Eric took over and I checked out the sauna (it wasn't working yesterday, but today it was open). I did two cycles and then came back to the apartment.

What a treat to have a pool and a sauna! And wifi...and a washing machine...and a real bed. Last year's apartment was a 1-bedroom with no wifi, no washing machine, and only 1 real double bed for 6 people.

My parents are coming with us tomorrow. We're literally at the foot of the big gondola--just walk out the door--and there are some nice, big, open runs at this resort. They are both very good skiiers but they haven't skied for about 25 years! So they want to take it easy.