Skate and Ski

This has been a very warm January! It's a little disconcerting to see so much grass in the middle of winter around here, though I certainly don't mind the consecutive days above freezing. There have been a few flurries here and there, but most of the collection from December has melted, and what ice remains melts every day and re-freezes every night for slippery, slushy, muddy conditions. So what to do in our free time with no snow? We took the city up on its free-skate hour last weekend. We do this so infrequently that it's a little like relearning the skill each time we go.

Hadley stubbornly agreed to use the guide, although she didn't want any advice on how to skate! Much like when she learned to ride a bike, she did better when her parents gave up and left her on her own. This is what it looked like early on, but she was doing much better with the guide by the end. And Owen, who was reluctant to go and fell quite a bit, ended up liking it very much, despite his wearing ankle socks and getting severely chafed!

Both kids were off from school for MLK the next day, so we went in search of snow. Harriman State Park always delivers, and they did not disappoint! I rented some "real" skis for Hadley, thinking that it would help us equalize our paces, but the poles and hills presented a whole new problem. And just like skating/biking, I had to let her work it out on her own. But, can we just agree that it's frustrating to try to help someone and be willfully ignored? Okay then. Someday I'll learn my lesson...

Anyhow, it was a gorgeous day, the scenery was beautiful, and the swans were plentiful. 

Owen did great and kept waiting for us patiently. It was hard to resist messing up all of the pristine snow beside the trail! But we did have a little break by the river, and I think we took nearly 2 hours to do a 0.75 mile loop trail. Whew...

So by the end, we put our skis in the car and took some time to just play in the snow.

There was a vicious snowball fight, wild snow cougars, snow slides, making lots of new tracks up to our knees, and of course, snow angels.

A new diversion was this snow dunk tank where you had to try to hit the stop sign with a snowball to knock the person off the post into the snow. Even hangry Hadley enjoyed playing in the snow after a snack! And Owen wants to drive back here just to play in the next snowfall. Never thought I'd ask for more snow, but maybe just a little more... especially on our local ski hill.