Sledding With The Kids
It’s been a very white winter here in the Heartland. We’ve had a lot of snow (and awful ice) storms. On Friday we were supposed to get 3 inches. We got 8. Today we got another several inches which continues to blow all over the streets. We are currently under a blizzard warning, a winter storm warning, winter weather advisory, and a wind chill advisory as temps hover around 7 degrees BELOW zero. Good times.
But there is one good thing about all this snow. Sledding.
We got the kids new sleds for Christmas this year. [And then we forgot all about them and left them hidden in the garage until 2 days after Christmas. We're getting a little forgetful in our old age.] We decided to try them out this weekend when we were between snow storms. We have a big tobaggon (that holds up to four people), two new single sleds (that actually can fit two people) and an old sled that’s all scratched up and doesn’t slide very well anymore. We piled them all in to the car, along with the kids and headed to a nearby school with a very big hill.
I had forgotten how much fun sledding is. We took several wild rides down the hill, fresh snow blowing in to our faces. The hill was steep and bumpy and our new sleds just flew down the hill, going airborne over the bumps. The kids were giggling and having a great time. Even the teen.
Eventually we started racing down the hill. My husband and I flew down on the single sleds. (It was a close battle, but totally beat him by a good 2 inches). Then my husband and our youngest went down on the tobaggon on the longest ride ever. So the teen and his friends tried to beat their distance. But failed. It was hilarious watching the teens and my husband trying to outdo each other on the sleds.
Once our toes were numb and our necks were starting to hurt from whipping down the hill so many times, we piled our cold, wet bodies back in to the van for a trip to Starbucks. We rarely go to Starbucks for hot chocolate so it was quite a treat for the kids.
It was a great (and inexpensive) family day. What are you and your kids doing for fun this winter?
Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.
Snow? What’s that?
I’m pretty sure we had to run our air conditioner on Christmas Eve. The temperature was good (70-something) but the high humidity was not conducive to sleep.
On the plus side, we went to the beach on New Year’s Day.
Living in South Florida, the year moves so slowly. Other than cars with Canadian license plates, it is hard to tell the season. Our trees never lose their leaves. Our grass is always green (or, in the case of our yard, brownish). We can pretty much wear the same wardrobe year-round.
I envy your seasons.
—Isis
Isis, I live in Florida too so I can relate! I detest the cold, so I’m happy here. But I do wish we had the beauty that comes with the changing seasons, and I really appreciate it when we visit places that have the beautiful leaves and weather.