sledding

We got a few days of snow this year. The first few times allowed enough snow to fall, look pretty and melt. The last time gave us enough snow to go sledding on our hill.

Our first sledding day was at a rock quarry outside of Granite Falls, WA. I was trying to get to a snow park, but the road was so icy and covered with snow that we didn't make it. We turned around and stopped at the rock quarry where we saw a lot of other people sledding. The walk up the hill was nice, but the actual sledding was more for teens and adults. We're talking a 60 degree slope down the hill. My older 2 barely made it up the hill. They came down so fast that neither wanted to do it again. We hiked back down the road and played in the snow with my Dad, Brother , his wife and their 2 year old triplets.


Two days later, we tried heading out to the snow park again. This time the road was clear. We made it to the end of the road and walked down the slippery closed road that has a nice hill to slide down. This snow park is actually a closed road. There were a lot of teenagers coming down the hill (2 at a time). They would get going so fast. We kids hiked up the hill several times and came flying down. We had to jump into the left lane to pull them off their sleds (occasionally) because the older kids would double up (meaning twice the speed) and catch up to ours. There were a few accidents, but nothing major. The snow was so deep that our 2 year old lost his boots a few times. When the snowboarders arrived (with their sharp edges) we decided to leave. Great place (Deer Creek Rd outside of Granite Falls, WA), but their are no bathrooms (a bit of a problem for the girls).

Our last and longest day sledding was just outside our house. Our hill is steep enough to get some good runs in and short enough for the kids to hike up quickly. We taught them how to roll off their sleds if they got too close to the cars parked on the side. When our hill gets snow and ice, it's impossible to drive out. The poor DHL man drove down the hill to turn around and never got back out. My kids sled until it was dark out and were cold to the bone. Great winter!!!

Nutcracker March

Hi,
My most recent outing with my 4 kids was to downtown Seattle. To avoid the panic of them going in every direction in the crowds, we arrived at 830am. Parking was easy (Pacific Place is clean, well-lit and easy to get to). We bundled up (it was 29 degrees) and starting hunting for the Nutcrackers.

The Nutcrackers are 60 7 foot tall Nutcrackers decorated by various local artists. They are sold at an auction, but the are on view for the public. Most of them on are the city streets surrounding downtown Seattle. When we came up the escalator at Pacific Place, we found our first Nutcracker. There ended up being about 10 of them within the mall. We went from floor to floor to see them. The kids were so excited that they would run as soon as they saw one.

We headed outdoors and started walking around the blocks to find more We ended up finding about 30 total. There are maps that can be downloaded, but it was more fun to explore. We stopped at Specialty's Cookies for yummy chocolate cookies and hot chocolate (mochas for the adults). In all we walked for 2 hours without any complaints. We ended our morning with a carousel ride at Westlake Center. The timing was perfect. There were no lines or crowds. But the shoppers were starting to fill the streets and it was time to go home.

It was a great day!! With little cost.