9 / 52 weeks

52 weeks of daily life in pictures: trials and celebrations,
the extraordinary and mundane -- 
whatever is unique to the week. 
Join me if you like.

What a GREAT week we had!

Two weeks ago we hopped onto the computer to check out the 14 day weather forecast for our area. It still looked promising for completing the outdoor winter goals we have yet to check off.

And golly gee whiz - some super great opportunities still abounded for partaking in those winter activities we had already committed ourselves to, or have yet to partake in. 

And so it began...

...when this mom boldly declared this next two weeks to be a mandatory  "winter break" (of sorts) to get to the slopes and enjoy whatever we were able before the snow began to melt. It was a funny thing, as I never had any arguments over this from anyone.

Truly, I also have to admit, even I have been surprised by the wonderful weather we've been blessed with as each scheduled event day approached.

Yes, all really has turned out wonderful - despite two questionable early morning treks; one through roads with freshly fallen snow, and one very short distanced (thank goodness!) white knuckling drive through a zero visibility snow squall, requiring a bit of recovery afterward for mom when hearing shortly after our arrival, of the 50 car pileup and dozens of accidents on the highway, closing it for portions of the remaining hours that morning. Those in our group we were joining for the day were late, quite late to the slopes due to the chaos of the morning drive.

Maybe it was the time of day we were able to hit the road?

Maybe it was our guardian angels carrying us through the worst of it after we spontaneously broke out into reciting prayers together during our drive?

More details;

The first time on the slopes last Monday, we were gifted with perfect skiing/snowboarding weather, not too cold, but with the fresh sticky snowfall from the night before alleviating any icy surface slope conditions, even though roads weren't optimal by being slick and slippery during our drive there. Ski slopes ended up being fantastic and our entire entourage marveled at the sun overhead while enjoying the day outdoors. 

Two days later, on Wednesday, like I already mentioned above, we headed to the other mountain, through only approximately a two mile stretch at the most when very sudden, I almost turned around but had to remember how no one would see me and for sure, someone would hit me out there with zero visibility, and cars already in ditches everywhere! 

Praying became a no-brainer for safety as my knuckles turned from pink to white, and as I  continued the drive to our destination, as suddenly as they had first threatened to swallow us up, surprisingly we were blessed with very clear and smooth sailing the rest of the way. Even the sun cracked out to blast the skies with brilliant blues and perfect sunshine. 

In the photo below, the stormy skies eventually passed and this was the natural colored sky - I swear the photos were not doctored or edited one tiny bit!

 

Stripe testing always comes first, here was the ski test for colored stickers to enable chair lift selections, and below is the snowboarding lesson in progress. 

These two have become "Intermediate level" athletes on the slopes, though they always attend the included package lessons each time we hit the mountains.

 

Both occasions might have included beautiful sunny skies, but as usual, I can assure you it was cold, bitter cold (!), especially on Wednesday after the winds from the squall left ski run chairlifts closed for the morning, and only a few runs open for a time for all to enjoy.

Somehow beforehand, in the wisdom of the morning, we were prepared for the wind chill by grabbing scarfs to wrap around the children's faces, and new goggles purchased the night before in anticipation of that amazing sunshine. We've since had to invest in proper velcro tabbed face masks for wind factors on facial skin.

What a neat Bavarian looking themed ski resort, new to us. 

For those who know Canadian history well, this is the spot where one of the Jesuit Canadian Martyrs - St. Anthony Daniel was murdered by Iroquois shortly after saying mass here.We're walking on holy ground for sure...rather skiing and snowboarding on it that is...

All was good for these winter activities. 

The slopes turned out to both be great! 

Shaking it up a bit, another goal was to get out and get some snow tubing in, so we selected a later afternoon/evening when prices were halved. 

 

Again, the weather was fabulous, just perfect for the activity, sun shining and quite warm for our usual winter weather patterns of late. 

Another great winter activity was had by all! 

No stairs or escalator here, the tube rope is hooked 
and each person is hauled up riding their tube backwards.

(These photos don't do this hill justice. 

The steepest run is ten stories high!)

During our week of 10/52, I hope to continue sharing with you the remaining activities still up for action. 

I know it seems we've left most of these winter activities until now, we have, though mostly because the windchill was so incredibly bitter cold during January, and that contributes to unpleasant times when hitting the slopes with a -30C daytime outdoor ski/snowboarding temperature. 

We will hit the slopes one more time with the homeschooling group (great discounts!), and will take on a snowshoeing tour, and possible dog mushing trek. 

Maybe we won't be able to participate in these winter activities again, who knows? While we can though, and "when in Rome".... we are doing them.

"When in Rome"... is still our motto, so "when in Ontario" we continue to try, or return to, those types of activities not as readily available to us when we were living on the Westcoast. 

Taking opportunities to do them now, at the end of the winter season with better weather patterns hopefully in our midst, it's been a terrific "winter break" decision thus far for sure!

Please! Do feel free to come along with us, if only through the photos and movies I will place on this blog... 

Go ahead - click on the movie below...

Oh I know what you're thinking, it doesn't look very fast, or very high to slide down this hill.

 You'll be surprised on how fast two together can swiftly head down, speeds up to 70km if conditions are just right, crazy nutty fun sure to have all squealing their heads off! And they did! From almost ten stories high, right to the mesh to catch them at the bottom.

As I've noted here before

Look out Sarah Palin (we really enjoyed watching her Alaska series on her State's beautiful country and winter activities); 

THIS is Renee's Ontario!

STAY tuned for more... 

 

Head on over to Barbara's to check out the invitation to join the 52 week photography link-up party.