(don't forget you can click on the pictures to enlarge them!)
Downhill sledding - pulling your sled to the top of the hill = nothing but serious fun!!
Yes, Lucy started out like this, but by the end of the day she was riding the flats with her hands raised high!
The green stuff you see is hay that the attendants spread out at the end of the flats to help slow you down. Just past the hay there is a steep up slope that ends abruptly at a crash wall for bigger folks who work up some serious speed! If you enlarge the picture of Emma coming down, notice the adults at the top of the hill - aside from one attendant who unhooks you from the tow rope and another that shouts out "Go" once all is clear below, the rest are parents of the party goers, including me. While Loren lounged at the bottom I was getting a workout up top! =) It was a serious challenge to hold back the tubes and keep the kids from prematurely jumping the gate! Often I had 2 or 3 tube ropes in my heavily gloved hands trying to pull them away from the tow rope and maneuver them into their different lanes. I imagine the experience to be a lot like arctic dog-walking. Needless to say, after about an hour I was sweating and glad it was time to go in and do the birthday cake thing. While the kids were happy eating, Devin's mom told us to feel free to stay as long as we wanted because the tickets the kids had were good until 5pm. Loren and I took one look at each other and decided there was no way we were going freeze our buns off watching the girls tube down that hill for another 2+ hours. So... we bought tickets to join them! All I have to say is it was a BLAST!!! Loren thinks we were going at least 30 mph by the time we got to the bottom. Both Loren and I got up close and personal with the crash wall. Lucy lamented that she never got to "go up that hill" - just one perk of being heavy on a tubing hill! We always beat the girls to the bottom even if we gave them head starts! I would whiz by Lucy laughing and wave but careful to close my mouth before I hit the hay otherwise I got a mouthful of chaf!! By the time we were ready to leave it was nearly 5pm. We tipped the nice attendent that smiled everytime Lucy asked him to spin her as he sent her off down the hill and waved good-bye on our final run.
All in all it was a FANTASTIC day.
As I lounged in my tube being pulled up hill I couldn't help but think how much fun it would be to do this with friends and family. Wish you were here!A quick disclaimer for my mom's sake - don't think I was out there in 13 degree weather without adequate head covering, I had my cool 360 earmuffs on that wrap around the back of my neck - gotta look cool when your on the slopes!
Looks like a lot of fun! My kids are missing playing in the snow.
ReplyDeleteThat looks awesome!! I think Andy took Porter there one time when we lived there. I am all for tubing if it involves being pulled back up the hill.
ReplyDeleteI wish we had known about this before-that would be so much fun. The kids keep asking when it is going to snow!! probably never.
ReplyDeleteFun, fun, FUN! I wish we had tried that while we lived there. Miss you guys, as always! =]
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