Remembering How Fun Winter Can Be

The second day of our winter getaway was full of more fun, outdoor activities. One thing the kids have been asking about for quite awhile is downhill skiing. They got one beginners lesson in last winter and so we wanted to build on that.

  

Thus, on Saturday morning we headed to the ski hill. I hadn't actually skied since January of 2010, when Sam was not quite ten months old. I have never been an avid downhill skier, but I have skied in some pretty amazing places -- Utah, the Rocky Mountains in Canada, and in Switzerland. Dave made fun of me though because I had never actually downhill skied in Ontario, the province we live in.

  

We had, once again, signed the kids up for lessons. They had one just for the two of them and their instructor was amazing. What was also amazing is that the ski hill had us all outfitted in gear in about twenty minutes and then they were able to fit Sam and Rachel's lesson in an hour early. So Sam and Rachel headed off with Zach (their instructor), while Dave and I went to check out some easy runs. I had to reacquaint myself with skiing!

Sam and Rachel spent most of their time on the bunny hill while I skied "5th Avenue." I LOVED that name! Dave challenged himself a little more. Then Zach asked for permission to take Sam and Rachel on the chair lift and we all skied 5th Avenue together, twice. That was so fun!!!

We skied with the kids on the bunny hill a few more times, and then, while the kids headed back to the ski lodge, Dave and I fit in one more run. I don't know that we'll ever be a family who spends a ton of time skiing, or takes ski vacations, but it will be fun to grow our skills in this sport over the coming years.

After a morning of skiing, we grabbed lunch in town, and hit the hot tub at our resort. It was amazing! We spent the afternoon having down time, checking out the (sad, little, busy) skating rink at the resort, walking a very short path outlining the history of the resort (it's where Shania Twain got her start and where the G8 summit was held in 2010), and eating an excellent supper in the resort's pub.

After supper, I convinced everyone to head out and try snowshoeing the Starlight Trail. Okay, really it was a trail lit by twinkly lights which was really fun. The snow was so packed, we could have walked it without snowshoes.

This was a good thing, because one of Sam's snowshoes was broken so he ended up carrying it part way while only using one snowshoe. We laughed so hard while attempting this trail. When I think about this getaway, I will remember all the time bundled up outside, having new adventures, and laughing A LOT with my family.

And we still had one more day to go...