Snow Tubing, take 2

We went Snow Tubing 2 years ago. After 2 runs down the hill, Sam and Ian were both done.  DONE!  The marvelous grandma Marcia (Jeff's mom) came to our rescue and hung out with the kids so Jeff and I could get more runs in.

Fast forward to this Winter.  I was eager to try again. Call me glutton for punishment, but I wanted to go back.  I had put on the calendar the words "Snow Tubing ?" for Saturday, March 6th. I was keeping the day free of any other plans unless something really great came along.  I put the "?" on there so we all could get used to the idea but know it could also just be a fleeting thought.

Going to Ski Liberty (3.5 hour drive roundtrip) would either be an Epic Fail (!!!) or a Huge Victory (!!!) complete with a great lesson in not giving up and trying again.  I always have the highest of expectations that everything will be amazing...I envision the skies blue, the birds singing, the kids getting along, and no lines or waiting whatsoever.  Basically, I have a Norman Rockwell type of landscape in my head at all times.  This is the downside of being as optimistic and the positive person I am.

We had plans to leave the house at 8:00am.  We actually had a relaxed morning and didn't get in the car until 8:40am.  No one was stressing out that we were 40 minutes beyond our suggested time to leave.  We were not meeting up with any friends and had no plans the rest of the day, so it was actually ok that we were not following a schedule.  We arrived, parked and purchased our tickets for the 11:00am to 1:00pm tubing session.  Team Toppall was off to a great start.

As we get up to the top of the hill Ian starts saying he is scared.  Oh no!!  His look of fear gets more pronounced as we are in position to fly down the hill.  Ian refuses to go.  He won't do it.  We give it 5 minutes and then Sam and I go down the hill for our first run.   We leave Jeff and Ian up at the top of the mountain.  Fortunately, Sam instantly loved it and wanted to go again and again and again.  Whew!  So we are down to just one child having issues.

Sam and I make our way back up the hill.  Jeff and Ian are still there working thru Ian's nervousness and fear.  He says he will give it a try.  We find out that we are allowed to tie our tubes together and I can go down with Ian.  This makes Ian a bit happier and ready to give it a go.

It took Ian 40 minutes to be ok going down, but when he did, he loved it!  I am now breathing a big sigh of relief.  The next hour and 20 minutes will be ok.  Team Toppall can go snow tubing as a family.   Ian's first words out of his mouth were, "Can we do this every year?"  Why yes we can!

We managed to go down the hill 5 more times as a family.  The kids loved getting tethered to either me or Jeff.  Sam said next year we need to bring a selfie stick.  I totally agree!  After tubing, we ate lunch at the main lodge.  I was pleasantly surprised to see they had Gluten Free bread for their sandwiches.  What a nice treat!    The price of lunch wasn't a nice treat, however.  For a cafeteria type place where you pick up sandwiches, burgers, salads, etc, lunch for the 4 of us came to $60. (Only food, no tip, no waitress). And Sam ordered a kids meal and didn't need a drink.  Yowzer!   

It was a gamble trying tubing again.  Fortunately it was one that paid off.  Let it be known that Saturday, March 6th was a gorgeous day; the sun was shining, the birds were singing and even the kids were getting along until we got back in the car for the drive home.   My Norman Rockwell vision almost fully realized.  I'll take it!

I absolutely this picture of us!

Picture of Ian as he is flying down the hill. Love that smile!

Awesome day!