Hokkaido Ski Christmas

We spent Christmas with friends in Hokkaido skiing!  It was a fabulous trip with amazing snow conditions, no lines or crowds on the lifts, and a fun time by all.  We went with friends that have 3 kids roughly our girls ages and everyone did great.  It was the first time for all the kids to ski and truly see snow, and they all picked it up!  The kids were really helpful and supportive of each other and were motivators for each other to learn.  By day 2 the kids were getting on and off the lift by themselves, and after 5 days of skiing - doing great - much better than me!  :-)

We skied 3 days, then spent a day snowshoeing, and then skied our last 2 days.  Jeff started on skies and switched to snowboarding. Our hotel had a nice onsen, and provided transportation to and from the lifts (though we could walk it but with gear was nice to have the ride).

After skiing in Furano, we took the train to Asahikawa to go to go to the famous zoo with the Penguin Parade.  In the winter for exercise they take the penguins on a walk to get fit.  Super cute.  The zoo had a lot of other animals, including hippos, tigers, leopards, chimpanzees, polar bears....  Then the last 2 days we spent in Sapporo going to a German Christmas market and exploring the underground.  When we got home, the girls were happy to see that Santa had found us.

It was a wonderful trip, and the girls have already been talking about wanting to ski next year!  Love you all Jelimobe

Onsen outfits

My Little Snow Angel

My Frozen Princess

First Snowmen - snow was so powdery it was hard to make good snowmen