Speeding down a hill is a joy for kids And for adults, too, but there are no sled resorts in Vail. Adults have to pay far more for the same thrill. Somehow I think that if I walked into the lodge to warm myself around the fireplace with a good stiff drink while holding my plastic saucer, the snow bunnies would not be clustered around me as I recounted my run down Demon Hill backwards.
But I digress.
Over the summer, I introduced Mister and Lamb to the slip and slide. I don't know why I never thought of getting one of these before this summer. I have a pool so that's where we get our summer water cooling, but in the spring I spotted a slip and slide at the local CVS and I had to buy it.
Lamb was thrilled by it:
And Mister liked it, too, despite being the advanced age of ten:
One thing I didn't realize is that a slip and slide takes a tremendous toll on the lawn beneath it. I kept moving the thing every five or ten minutes to keep from gouging a muddy scar through the grass. The grass healed after a couple weeks, but how on Earth would you have one of these in your backyard all summer and used every few days?
After that first day, I tried to place the slip and slide on a slope so the water would not pool under the mat but that had no noticeable effect. I still had to move the thing over every 5 or 10 minutes to save the grass. It's a lot of effort but the kids sure thought it was worth it. I am glad, however, that the pool is the usual coolant of choice.
This followed on another good year of sledding fun. Mister still had fun on the small hill by our local park and for Lamb, this was her first time on the slopes.
Lamb was a bit worried at first and even told me she really didn't want to go. I told her she could just play in the snow if she wanted to, but after one ride down with me was sold and eager to go on her own:
Mister extended his enjoyment of the small hill with a new sled that went faster and farther than the saucer he passed down to his sister:
This year, I'll have to take Mister to a park across town for a real hill. Lamb will still like the small hill, so I broke the news that when I'm taking Mister and Lamb, small hill by us is our destination. On other days, we'll go to the big hill.
And me, I'm still trying to impress the babes with tales of head-over-heels tumbles down a hill when the saucer edge digs into the snow. Seems like an Extreme Sport to me. But apparently not. It's the agony of defeat every winter.
I bet if they sold $500 dollar sled boots, Italian leather sled gloves, and designer Austrian saucers with special wax for them, the chicks would be all over me at the park.
It's very unfair. Snow boards are edgy. Snow saucers are childish. Where's the logic?
