Staycation--Day Two

Staycation's all I ever wanted...

Snowy theme continues today as we hit the trails to cross country ski. You can only imagine the surprise as we bombarded the clubhouse at the golf course turned winter sports park.

Boots and skis for seven, please.

The unbundling and boot selection, tying, bundling back up was an event in itself. Then snapping on the skis and getting a short lesson. Incidentally, if you ever choose to take five children cross country skiing and the guy managing the place assures you that poles will only make things harder for the kids, don't believe him.

Poles make things easier. Small children with little upper body strength will fall often and have no way to right themselves. If an adult is right there, no problem, but five children falling over and over again soon becomes defeating.

We didn't realize this until we were too far away from the clubhouse to turn back, so Seth and I sacrificed our poles so the kids would have one. Eli, our fearless leader, became so efficient he disappeared from view several times. We managed to make a 2 mile loop. The runner in me was certain (after skiing for an hour) that we must have made a wrong turn (little boy in the green coat, remind me why you are leading us?) and ended up on the 20 mile trail. I was surprised when we looped around and found that after 90 minutes we had only gone 2 miles. I think I pulled Josiah the last half mile. He kept saying he was having fun, but "I'm ready to have hot chocolate, can we just stop?"


Day Two: Ski and Boot rental for 2 hours $85 (kind of pricey but not anywhere near downhill ski prices)
Fun Factor: Much more pleasant than skating. Weather was perfect, we really did enjoy ourselves once everyone got the hang of the skis.

Probably not as much fun as swimming with the manatees, but definitely warmer.