Ski Jackets for the Slopes with Protest

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The first year we went skiing my jacket was a bright blue and I worried that I would stand out on the slopes, but the more time I spent out in the mountains, the more I realised there was nothing too bright or bold, nothing you can't wear in the snow and I loved admiring the beautiful jackets and fun salopettes that the locals were wearing.  Nowadays I like to choose ski wear that I can also use in the UK and Protest have some beautiful jackets that will not only look great on the slopes, but also on the school runs.  

I chose a pink corduroy jacket this year with a fluffy lined hood and I am totally in love with it.  It looks fun for everyday wear and I know I will be warm and waterproof.  We haven't given up hope of getting out in the snow this winter too and it will be perfect for skiing. 

The selection of ski jackets for women is colourful and adventurous and I was really tempted by the beautiful shades of purple.  There are some lovely women's snowboarding fleeces too which would be ideal for the British winter as well as heading to the Alps. Protest mix functionality for the mountains with fabrics we are loving this season and beautiful designs.  As well as corderoy they also have a fabulous, functional velvet which is water resistant and warm. Within the women's range there is also a new sustainable PVRE green line.

The ski jackets for men are more sustainbly made than ever this year with a real focus on functional fabrics in the most earth-friendly way and I love the camo print in the selection of snowboard fleeces for men.  You can get 10% off your order until the end of February 2021 with the code mummyadventure10. Protest also have a fun streetwear range and plenty of accessories!

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Silent Walks on a Snowy Mountain.

There is so much to enjoy on a ski holiday and the winter sport is obviously top of the list but I love to take an afternoon to explore the hiking trails through the mountains when we go away.  It is uphill at the start, steep and exhausting.  I have to cross the ski slopes with confidence, trusting everyone will go around me if I keep at the same pace, and then I am above the nursery slopes where new learners are practising.  I cross the park, walk through the trees, cross another slope and then things change.

The further I walk, the more the silence strikes me.  There is the swish of my legs as the salopettes move, the crunch of my boots in the snow and nothing else.  As I walk I hear but when I stand still there is nothing, no humans, no animals, no wind, just silence.  Everything is white, the mountains appear in front and around me, cliff edges, forests of trees and the odd marker to tell me I am on the right track.  The path in front of me has been marked out and I can see the odd footprint from someone who has walked the same track this week.  I love the silence, I sit and enjoy it, I breathe in the calm.  I don't find this at home, my walks always take me along the seafront where the waves crash, the seagulls call and the wind blows through my hair.  The air seems so still in this sheltered path through the mountain though.  I can't bring myself to put my headphones in, the silence is too appealing, too novel.

I know when I get back the excitement will commence, the children will bubble around me desperate to ski/swim/sledge/snack and the chaos will continue as it always done so I make sure every year to walk the silent tracks, to climb higher into the mountains, to let my mind wander and to really be alone, just for a short time.

I bought a glass photo ball a long time ago which I have never used but I wanted to take some photos with it last week of the ski resort and I think with some of them you can see the silence and simplicity of being half way up a snowy mountain.  

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Our Week Away Skiing with Snowbizz

For someone who doesn't like to go back to the same place because I am always wondering whether I will like the next place more, it says a lot that this was our fifth year going on a ski holiday with Snowbizz.  It makes it harder to write a blog post about it as I find I have said so much already (You can see some other posts on Snowbizz here) but this blog was started to record our adventures as a virtual baby book for my children to look back on and we definitely had a week to remember.

We travel with Snowbizz as they make everything so easy and their childcare and ski school facilities are incredible.  The creche is staffed by qualified English nannies and is open from 9-5 every day and the youngest skiers (they teach them from 3) have an instructor and a nanny in their lessons.  It was Finn's first year skiing and there were only two 'Totons' so he had pretty much 1:1 attention in his lesson! The big boys went to ski school every morning which was from 9:30 - 1pm and they ski for two hours of that and play for the rest.

In the morning we dropped all 4 children in childcare and Ed and I had some time together to eat freshly baked croissants in peace, to ski  our favourite slopes and to practice our skills.  In the afternoons we either took the children to the sledging slopes which are located conveniently next to the playground, took them out skiing or sometimes let them have some time in the creche (which they were desperate for) so we could have some calm time without them!

This year Dylan and Archie progressed so much that we could take them all over the mountain and ski with them (although we struggled to keep up with Archie) and Finn found his feet on the snow and did so well in his lessons! Cora loved spending time in the creche and chatted to everyone and anyone and we had a relaxing and snow filled week.  

Dylan's highlights include the evening kids clubs which are different every day (his favourite was the crepe and games night) and we loved that Finn was old enough for a couple so we could drop all three boys and go out for delicious French food (mmm, cheese) with just Cora. The disco was Finn's favourite and Archie loved treasure hunt night!

Finn's favourite part was when we all went up on the chairlift (there are certain times you can walk on and go up and down) to eat at the restaurant in the top and play in the snow that was really deep.  Cora loved 'shledging on my bum' and was so happy to have all her brothers around her.  

Archie loved going fast and really enjoyed having afternoons on the slopes with Ed and I where he could go as fast as he liked and hurtle down the mountains! The boy has not got nearly enough fear (I think I have his share though!).

We stayed in the three bedroom apartment which was a good size for us and had everything we needed including a balcony where we could watch the Totons learning to ski from! Everything was familiar and everyone was so warm and we are definitely planning to go back again! It is such a lovely resort for children to learn to ski at and the customer service both in the UK and in France is outstanding.

The pictures will probably tell you more about our week though, the big smiles, the white snow and the time together.  We love the balance we get from a family ski holiday as we get time together as well as time to do our own thing.

Cora's snowsuit was gifted to us last year from Reima but as she is quite petite it didn't fit until this year! 

We took the children up on the chair lift where the snow was really deep and I sank down into it!

There is a little park on the side of the slopes which the kids love!

I was gifted the most amazing jacket from Helly Hansen which was perfect for skiing!

These kids will find a muddy puddle anywhere!

I went for a walk along one of the hiking paths and found this beautiful frozen stream

It snowed one day (which is when these photos were taken) and it was so much fun to play and ski in!

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A Video of our Ski Holiday with Snowbizz

Photos and words can tell you so much, but there is something special about video, so I decided to try and make one whilst we were away on our family ski holiday with Snowbizz.  Unfortunately my video camera decided to pack up on the first day so I had to make do with some clips I took on my rather knackered old phone.

Many of the special moments were not captured and my skiing skills do not extend to filming whilst I am moving, but here is a little look inside our holiday, a peek at Puy St Vincent, the stunning views, the snow, the sledging, the siblings, the special week we had.

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Going on a Ski Holiday when Pregnant

So it may not be the first holiday you plan once you see those two blue lines, but it may be that you booked it before you knew you were pregnant or maybe you want to go on a family ski trip but don't actually fancy skiing yourself.   Either way a ski trip can be a wonderful week even with a bump, as I got to find out last month when the boys and I headed over to the alps with Snowbizz.

I knew a whole week of snow without being able to ski would be hard and I wasn't wrong, after having such an amazing experience two years ago I knew exactly what I was missing out on.  I looked up skiing pregnant, spoke to friends and my midwife, but for a beginner like me it just didn't feel worth the risk.  I hired a ski jacket and salloppetes as my expanding waistline meant nothing fit anymore and prepared for a week of fun.

One of the best things about my week away was the peace.  As a mother to three under fives I don't get a whole lot of time to myself.  I have the children every day and I work most evenings.  Whilst we were away I would drop the three boys at the creche every morning at nine and soon after the bloke would head out for his lesson.  The first day it felt strange, I felt a little lost but it didn't take long to start making the most of my quiet mornings and I took my book down to one of the cafe's on the snow's edge, enjoyed some syrup or a hot chocolate, watched the world go by and managed to read a whole book in the first three days.  After a really tough first trimester it was exactly what I needed to recharge my batteries, and despite having three small dependent people and a bump I came away from the holiday feeling rested (not something I have said for a long time!).

When we booked to go back, I was really excited about the outdoor pool and I loved going for a swim again this year.  The pool was open in the afternoons (3-7) and I felt like I needed a swim after all the cheesy French food I was consuming.  The pool is outdoors, but the water is wonderfully warm and you get in and out of the pool inside.  I could float around, swim lengths and feel weightless even when I am getting heavier by the minute on dry land.  There seems something so luxurious about being outside in a bikini when it is -7 degrees outside and you are surrounded by snow and I would defintiely recommend you take a dip!

Let's be honest and admit that one of the most enjoyable things you can do when pregnant is eat and the French do food well.  From freshly bakes croissants in the morning that are hands down better than any I have ever tasted in the UK to cheese fondue, raclette, creme brulee and my favourite tartiflette (a mixture of potato, onion, bacon, cheese and cream).  I may have over indulged just a little but you have the excuse of wanting to keep warm and of course, what baby wants . . .   

Getting to watch the children learn to ski was an amazing experience.  I hid behind pillars so that they wouldn't spot me and get distracted but twice during the week I crept up to the nursery slopes during their lesson and watched them skiing.  Archie is not yet three and Dylan is naturally a cautious and not a particularly physical child and I couldn't believe how well they took to the snow, how supportive their instructors and the nannies that accompanied them were and that they were actually skiing.  They loved the lessons and I know that had I been skiing myself I would have had to rely on their reports of the day.  This way I got to see it all and I couldn't have been prouder of my big little guys.

The March of the Totons

Snowbizz is a small and cosy resort and I met so many wonderful families, bonded with other parents and we marvelled together at how well our children were doing on the slopes.  I went for walks, I went up in the chairlift as a 'walker' to take in the views from higher up the mountain and to dine at the restaraunt set in the middle of the snow.  I took the children out of the creche to build snowmen and to go sledging and on occassion so that we could all curl up back in the apartment and have a cuddle and a film (and a snooze) as the week was rather busy and exhausting for them.  I got to experience the wonders of a family holiday alongside rest, relaxation and plenty of cheese.

For a busy mama like me, this holiday was exactly what I needed to recharge, enjoy and indulge, but I am desperate to get back on my skis next time!

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Me and Mine January

It is our third year taking part in the Me and Mine Project and I am so glad that we started taking our monthly family photos.  Not only have our boys grown, but so has our family and by the end of this year there will be an extra child to squeeze into the shot - we do like to make things difficult!

January has been a busy month for us, we announced our fourth pregnancy as well as sharing a little gender reveal video.  We headed to the alps for a week away skiing with Snowbizz and Dylan and Archie had their very first ski lesson whilst Finn had his first experience of the snow.  Dylan started his second term of school and we have started preparing for two little birthdays next month.

Our photos had to come from France, although leaving it until the afternoon of the last day meant the boys were not feeling particularly co-operative and a mixture of the sun starting to set and me still not feeling particularly comfortable with my camera settings in the snow meant that our skin seems to look particularly grey and the snow a little blue.  This is us though, as we enter an exciting year.

Mummy is loving the 2 weeks she seemed to have energy amidst all the pregnancy exhaustion, finally being able to show off her bump, quiet mornings reading whilst the boys had their ski lessons and shopping for a baby girl.

Daddy is loving getting his skis back on now that he is more confident on the snow, finding out he is going to have a daughter, catching up with old friends and spending more time with the children.

Dylan is loving learning about space at school, making friends on the ski holiday, seeing Aunty NatNat and having packed lunches at the Snow Creche.

Archie is loving learning to ski, telling me all about what his baby sister is up to, playing Vikings and dragons and finding new hiding places.

Finn is loving learning to crawl,  all the attention that he got in the creche on holiday, eating chips and roaring.

 We are looking forward to a calmer and cake filled Febraury now.

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