Day tubing at Mt Hood Ski Bowl

I don't have any photos, so I guess this post rightly belongs on this main blog.  See the photo blog for other updates on our family.

Libby has been asking about snow since December.  Spring is now here...I know it's not official on the calendar, but the birds and flowers and sun tells me it is here.  So, once it was clear that snow was not coming to Oregon City, we decided we'd go to the snow.  The ski bowl is a little over an hour away from us and they have a tubing park where kids can slide down the hill on donuts.

The kids loved it! We all loved it. It was a bit corny seeing the side of one hill with manmade snow on it, otherwise surrounded by sunny mountainside.  But at the same time it was great since this is definitely off-season and we didn't have to wait in long lines or anything.

The kids had on snow jackets, snow boots, hats, mittens, and sunglasses. They were adorable.  Mae's jacket and boots were purple and she wore a hot pink knitted hat with ear flaps.  She wore a pair of knit leggings underneath some fleece pants that were turquoise with pictures of polar bears on them.  Even with all that gear on, the wind blew and she complained of being cold, though she warmed up soon. Libby's jacket and boots were hot pink, and she wore a knitted cat hat with ear flaps.  Libby has tan fleece-lined snow pants.

We started our first run on double donuts even though the kids insisted they wanted to go alone.  To get to the top of the hill, you and your donut ride on a conveyor belt.  It takes a second to find your balance, but the kids did great, and by the end of their 2-hour shift they were pros who could get on by themselves and Mae could even do a trick of walking sideways up the conveyor belt as it was moving, so she could catch up to Libby and they could hold hands.

After their first ride down the hill with us parents on the back, they were hooked and wanted to go by themselves in single donuts.  We knew Libby would love it, but we were kind of surprised that Mae was willing to go alone.  But she wasn't scared at all and was all smiles the whole time.  Big smiles, both of them.

At the top of the hill, the attendant would signal everyone when they could slide.  "Ok everyone, 3, 2, 1, Go!" and Mae Mae repeated that happily as we got in the car to go home.  "3, 2, 1, Go!"  "3, 2, 1, Go!"