SSSSSSSSSSSSledding

After a couple of days of snow, Christmas Eve morning dawned bright and clear. Uncle Q had the stupendous idea of hunting out our neighborhood sledding hill. So we ditched our preparations for Christmas dinner (which is partly why it was a couple hours late the next day...) and went sledding! FFM received a new orange toboggan from Grammie Pen Pen for Christmas this year and a few weeks ago I borrowed one from our mountain house so we were well stocked with sleds. The sledding hill, just at the end of our street.

FFM would carefully choose who to ride down with each run. This one was a 'race' but Daddy cheated and had a false start. Karen tried to help Q and FFM catch up by giving them an extra big push. I'm pretty sure Oscar-dog is along for the ride in this one, too. He'd alternate between chasing the sleds down the hill and riding tucked into Q's red vest.

The snow was so fluffy that it never really packed down, it just puffed around. That actually made it hard to walk up the hill, even for adults. FFM figured out pretty fast how to snag a ride and that it was safer to stay flat. Q called this move the ski patrol body drag. I know it sounds gruesome but really the gales of giggles that went along with the whole ride up temper the name.

It's really a perfect sledding hill, steep up top with a nice long, flat run out at the bottom. With the puffy fluffy champagne powder this meant a lot of snow flying in the air at the end of each run. Not a big deal if you're a tall adult but an entire face full of snow if you're 2.5 years old. Did it bother FFM at all? NOOOOOO. Just made his cheeks a little more rosy than normal.

Now THAT'S a look of pure and utter joy.

Karen, Quentin and Oscar (peeking out), Maggie, Travis, and FFM