After falling hard last December (falling in love, that is), we returned to Lutsen this year for our second big ski trip. Most of us decided to ski for three full days, except for slacker Mom, who only paid for a one-day lift ticket. She claims she was making the ultimate sacrifice so that the rest of us could have fun while she selflessly reserved a booth in the overcrowded chalet as our homebase. I’m pretty sure she’s just a safety-first scaredy cat, but I will admit: it was nice to have saved VIP seats to call our own, complete with a lunch spread when we got hungry.

This time, instead of staying onsite, we booked four nights at a lovely Airbnb called The Meadows in Grand Marais, about 30 minutes from the slopes. That meant early-morning drives and lots of cozy nights around the kitchen table playing board games & drinking 1919 root beer, or snuggled up together on a queen bed, watching Ted Lasso.

Day one of skiing started off strong… except for that little snafu where I forgot my jacket. Whoops! That’s one drawback of not staying onsite, since dad had to make a 1-hour round trip back to The Meadows to retrieve said jacket. Once the crisis was averted, we were off to conquer the Flapjack Learning Area (for mom). Although we barely practiced since last year (except for one trip to Bruce Mound with Cortney), Genesee and I decided skiing is kind of like riding a bike… unless you’re my mom.

One of the neatest moments was seeing our ski instructor from last year, Tim—and he remembered me and Genesee! He even greeted us by exclaiming, “There’s my favorite family of all time!” Which feels correct.

I must admit, this year was WAY cooler. And by cooler, I mean single digits, brisk winds, and face-freezing kind of cold. [Check out this video below]

But the weather didn’t stop us! Instead, what almost stopped us was when Genesee lost a ski in midair, while on the lift. Fortunately, she’s a pro at getting off the chair on one leg because this wasn’t the first time she pulled that stunt. And then, after riding the Raptor Express, Genesee experienced one brief moment of fear, but it was nothing a good, deep breath couldn’t fix. My sister is pretty fearless and tough, which she definitely inherited from her favorite brother.

Speaking of fearless, Dad and I ventured over to Moose Mountain this year to discover some new terrain, where we “accidentally” went down a few black diamonds (which is how we explained it to my cautious and worrywart mother).

Even more daring, Genesee and I challenged ourselves by taking on a few jumps! That part was actually unintentional, and while we didn’t stick the landing, mom luckily made a full recovery after learning about our perilous adventures. Genesee declared: “I almost took out a whole squad, just like a sniper bullet in Fortnite,” which was a video game reference lost on my mom.

Following a couple full days of shredding the slopes, we rang in 2026 back at the Airbnb with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and marshmallows dipped in chocolate fondue, sparkling mango juice in our plastic champagne glasses, a bubble bath and “room service” for Genesee, and a competitive family game of Farkle.

All in all, Lutsen got to meet a braver, tougher, and better-skilled Goodenough family than last year. (Well 3 out of 4 ain’t bad.) Yet one thing remained the same: Skiing adventures are still my favorite trips ever. They’re exciting, exhilarating… and exhausting. Good thing I only wiped out on the bed and not the slopes.

But there’s no rest for the weary because after tomorrow’s 5½-hour drive home, Dad and I will head straight to basketball practice to get ready for our Top 32 championship league tournament this weekend.

Huge thanks again to Grandma and Grandpa for watching our little sister Artemis while we were gone. We missed our furry friend… even though she probably enjoyed living a scandalous life of McDonald’s cheeseburgers instead of her NutriSource dog food while we weren’t around to hold anyone accountable.