Fun Family Weekend PART 2

So, I had this all ready to post a while back...just needed to add the pictures. Oh well. Here goes!

President's Day 2009 - part 2 of our fun family valentine's weekend!

I will fully recognize that to most of ya'll, snow is not a novelty and is probably more of a nuisance. But, if you are like my children, born in The Valley of the Sun and don't really have reasons to venture to the snowier corners of our fair country ('cept to visit those we love but we can't always do that) then snow is a fairly vague concept. Cold. White. Christmas songs. SO this year, Molly and I decided to take advantage of the fact that though we live in Arizona there ARE parts of our state that get a fair amount of the white stuff and we would try to plan a surprise snow trip to go play and have a fun outing. As luck would have it, President's Day Weekend was a great snow weekend. There had been a fair amount of snow in the "High Country" and the weather and roads were clear making it an easy drive.

We begged and borrowed gear from more well equipped friends (thank you thank you!) and ended up with snow pants, heavy boots, and waterproof gloves for the little ones.

I didn't TELL the kids we were going on a snow trip, in fact, we woke up Monday morning to Lindsay and Caroline designing games and decorations to celebrate President's Day! I celebratory sign, pin the star on the American Flag game, that sort of thing. They were really mad when I gave them clothes to put on - they were weird outfits of long shirts with jammie pants and didn't match. (Perfect to wear under snow clothes when we got there.) I finally had to break down and tell them where we were going and may have to postpone their celebration of President's Day! They were OK with that.

We met up with Molly's family and after a couple of mishaps getting on the road, we were finally on our way. The big girls were mesmerized as we came into the Flag area and there was snow on the sides of the road. Their eyes were trained out the window on the white stuff for the next 1/2 hour until we made it to our destination.

The warming shed - with a fire pit and tables. Not bad for a free facility.

The view up the hill from the warm, cozy fire.

We went up around Flagstaff to Oak Hill Snow Rec Area and had a blast! Seriously, snow is such a novelty and Lindsay commented that it was for sure different than she expected. I thought for sure they would be scared to down the hill on the sleds but the kids were hooked! Up and down, up and down they went - never really being able to control or steer - hitting moguls and spinning around backwards and occasionally crashing - and having a total blast doing so! Cousins riding with each other, sisters, daddy and his girls, and mommy went a few times too. We brought along folding chairs, hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies to keep us warm. No one got seriously injured, thank goodness! There were only a couple of other families there - next to no crowds at all - how did we get so lucky???

Our cute little snow bunny all bundled up to stay warm. She got a little action on a sled but mostly chilled (figuratively and literally, I guess.) I tried my best to keep her warm and comfy.

Caroline getting busy in the snow - Caroline usually wanted someone to go with her or pull her up the hill so she could then ride down with someone. Her patience wore thin a few times but she was back at it ready for more snow action. Getting her in and out of her snow clothes was not so easy but she was grateful for them when she realized she was dry and warm underneath!

Lindsay was made for this, I think. Up and down, up and down she went, never giving it a rest. She would go down head first like nobody's business and spent the day with that giant ear to ear grin of hers. She got to make her first snow angel ever - she loved this except she had taken her gloves off and the cold snow on her little hands? That part was no fun.

Finally we were worn out and packed it up, headed into Flagstaff for some dinner at Cracker Barrel. A perfectly warm and down home ending to a wonderful fun filled day in the snow!

Yes, we will do this again! A three hour drive to the snow wasn't so bad and if the weather cooperates, we can be in snow in 1.5-2 hours. And come back to the warmth of the Valley. Gotta love Arizona!