if you live in a place with no snow on the ground, pack up the kids, a bunch of winter gear, and head up to the north country. it's always fun to get outdoors and enjoy the snow--before it gets washed away by another rain event.
much of massachusetts is beset with bare ground. when my friend kelly heard we had a bit of snow up here, she made a plan for a visit when the kids had their school vacation. david was able to come along having presidents' day free. i suggested they bring sleds.
last thursday it was still warm~ish, so i went up and built up some banked turns in the s-curves on the town hill right of way. i figured i would build a run up before things froze up. temps were forecasted to drop well below zero the next couple of nights. on saturday when i woke up, it was 16-17°F below. a last minute suggestion to the guests was to bring plenty of warm clothes. when they rolled in just before dinner, they had plenty snow suits, mittens, hats, jackets... and a couple of sleds--one of them a covered inner tube! tomorrow was looking pretty good!!
sunday dawned early, not as early as the kiddos woke up, but definitely warmer than saturday morning. a few pancakes apiece later, after a good deal of excitement dressing for outdoors, dave and the girls and i were trooping into the field to give that a try first. after a slow run, we opted to head up town hill to the steep. it was a bit more of a walk than into the field, and tired out the shortest legs. no problem, they took a short nap.
as soon as they woke up, we got the sleds sliding and didn't stop. in fact, the runs got so fast that it was hard to stop, even if you wanted to!
runs got faster and faster, with several of them ending up jumping the bank i had built up and shooting off into the woods. those that stayed on and made it around the corner had to deal with a clump of trees, island-ed between a split in the trail. there were several confrontations where the tree, small as it was, turned out the winner. we are still hoping kelly's back suffers no long term affects.
we came back in for lunch and to hang all the outerwear over the drying rack, strategically placed over the heating register. after lunch, four of us went back out, headed 'over the river and through the woods'. we were going to the school as opposed to grandmother's house. walking over a frozen river was a both exciting and a little anxiety producing. i convinced them that if anybody fell in it would be me--i was the heaviest.
after a tour of the new parts of the school, including a nostalgic stop at the old room kelly taught in, we headed back home. on the way across the middle school playground we found three 'zipfy sleds' perched at the top of an icy hill.
after two or three runs, eva and tatum asked if we could take them home. since it was vacation week and no one would be using them, i said sure--i could bring them back after they went back home.
they were pretty excited to try them out, back at the house. that, and the barred owl that flew and perched in front of us, made for a 'whine free' return hike. given all the walking we had done that day, the stamina of those with the short legs was impressive.
monday morning, after another pancake breakfast, we were dressed and outside just after 8:00a. we had some really excellent runs-- a few of which made it onto film. the first one with each of the three girls on a zipfy.
dave, riding backwards on the tube, took a great video of tatum, framed between his boots, hanging onto the leash.
dave trusted me with his new~ish phone and i took one of the whole family.
we kept at it until charlotte bashed her nose. full disclosure, i was pulling the tube at the time and swinging it around the car when it hit the snow bank and careened her nose into the bumper. she was a trooper and soon enough we all went in for snacks and some packing up.
tatum, eva, and i were back out for a little more before the final packing up and departure. it was worth every run. dave's smile was evidence of how much fun it is to 'go outside and play!' if we keep the cold and snow, i predict that the gang will be back up for more--especially if the ground stays bare down south.
much of massachusetts is beset with bare ground. when my friend kelly heard we had a bit of snow up here, she made a plan for a visit when the kids had their school vacation. david was able to come along having presidents' day free. i suggested they bring sleds.
last thursday it was still warm~ish, so i went up and built up some banked turns in the s-curves on the town hill right of way. i figured i would build a run up before things froze up. temps were forecasted to drop well below zero the next couple of nights. on saturday when i woke up, it was 16-17°F below. a last minute suggestion to the guests was to bring plenty of warm clothes. when they rolled in just before dinner, they had plenty snow suits, mittens, hats, jackets... and a couple of sleds--one of them a covered inner tube! tomorrow was looking pretty good!!
sunday dawned early, not as early as the kiddos woke up, but definitely warmer than saturday morning. a few pancakes apiece later, after a good deal of excitement dressing for outdoors, dave and the girls and i were trooping into the field to give that a try first. after a slow run, we opted to head up town hill to the steep. it was a bit more of a walk than into the field, and tired out the shortest legs. no problem, they took a short nap.
as soon as they woke up, we got the sleds sliding and didn't stop. in fact, the runs got so fast that it was hard to stop, even if you wanted to!
runs got faster and faster, with several of them ending up jumping the bank i had built up and shooting off into the woods. those that stayed on and made it around the corner had to deal with a clump of trees, island-ed between a split in the trail. there were several confrontations where the tree, small as it was, turned out the winner. we are still hoping kelly's back suffers no long term affects.
we came back in for lunch and to hang all the outerwear over the drying rack, strategically placed over the heating register. after lunch, four of us went back out, headed 'over the river and through the woods'. we were going to the school as opposed to grandmother's house. walking over a frozen river was a both exciting and a little anxiety producing. i convinced them that if anybody fell in it would be me--i was the heaviest.
after a tour of the new parts of the school, including a nostalgic stop at the old room kelly taught in, we headed back home. on the way across the middle school playground we found three 'zipfy sleds' perched at the top of an icy hill.
after two or three runs, eva and tatum asked if we could take them home. since it was vacation week and no one would be using them, i said sure--i could bring them back after they went back home.
they were pretty excited to try them out, back at the house. that, and the barred owl that flew and perched in front of us, made for a 'whine free' return hike. given all the walking we had done that day, the stamina of those with the short legs was impressive.
monday morning, after another pancake breakfast, we were dressed and outside just after 8:00a. we had some really excellent runs-- a few of which made it onto film. the first one with each of the three girls on a zipfy.
dave, riding backwards on the tube, took a great video of tatum, framed between his boots, hanging onto the leash.
dave trusted me with his new~ish phone and i took one of the whole family.
we kept at it until charlotte bashed her nose. full disclosure, i was pulling the tube at the time and swinging it around the car when it hit the snow bank and careened her nose into the bumper. she was a trooper and soon enough we all went in for snacks and some packing up.
tatum, eva, and i were back out for a little more before the final packing up and departure. it was worth every run. dave's smile was evidence of how much fun it is to 'go outside and play!' if we keep the cold and snow, i predict that the gang will be back up for more--especially if the ground stays bare down south.
