Sledding

I am embarrased to admit that the first time I took the girls sledding in Illinois was 5 days ago. I know, sledding is a favorite winter pastime of all children and it's not like we don't get winter in Chicago. The problem is we just don't have decent hills around here. I mean, growing up in Utah, when we went sledding we did it on some serious hills. In Chicago, it is a challenge to first, find a hill to attempt sledding and then once you find a so-called "hill" it so pathetic it hardly seems worth the effort.

This year, however, I decided to quit depriving my children and promised to take them sledding. I made good on this promise last Friday and all I can say is that I am glad Paige is still with us. Okay, I'm exaggerating but she did have a close call with a tree. Our park district has a "man-made" sledding hill. When we got to the hill, there were a few people already sledding. And although the hill wasn't steep it was a pure ice track. Once we clawed our way to the top, Ashley gets a little wimpy, but Paige is all gung-ho and jumps on her sled and is down the hill. On Paige's second ride down, she somehow launches 50 feet farther than anyone else and goes flying into a grove of trees that no one else even gets near---I had visions of Ethan Frome. Fortunately, there was no injury, but after Ashley caught air on one of her rides down the girls were a little bit spooked, so we moved over to a tiny little hill where they girls enjoyed themselves with no worries. I guess pathetic hills are good enough for my girls.