Posts from — January 2011

I’m typing this in a little early because I’m supposed to be hosting what I affectionately call my Snobby Book Club this evening. Except that my participants are dropping out all over the place. I’m trying not to take it personally. Whatever. I pre-made an entire pitcher of pomegranate martinis, and somebody’s got to drink it all. Yikes. Could get sloppy at my house. Which is sad, because I found the entire surface of my coffee table and everything. Anyway, here’s what I’ve found for this weekend:

All Weekend:

• Thursday through Saturday, Saratoga Children’s Theatre is presenting Into the Woods Jr. $10/adult, $5/child.

Friday, January 21st:

• It’s Art Night Schenectady.
• There’s a Homespun Barn Dance at 7:30 pm at Delmar Reformed Church.
• Inherit the Wind opens at Sand Lake Center for the Arts tonight at 8 pm. $16/adult, $10/under 18.
• The Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company is performing at The Egg at 8 pm. $24/adult, $12/child.

Saturday, January 22nd:

• From 10 am to noon, there’s a Preschool Fair at the Saratoga Public Library. Malta Mama‘s got the details.
• It’s the annual Winter Fest at Grafton Lakes State Park from 10 am to 4 pm. Actually it’s starting crazy-early with ice fishing.
• From 10:30 am to 3 pm, it’s the annual Frost Faire at Saratoga National Historic Park. Alas, because it’s so cold they’re actually not having all of the activities that they’d originally planned. Um, is anyone else completely demoralized by this news? I mean, it’s too cold for the freakin’ Frost Faire? That’s just depressing.
• At 11 am, it’s Furry Tales and Touchables for preschoolers, and from 1-3 pm, it’s Creative Art Day at the New York State Museum.
• From 11 am to 3 pm, there’s a Kids Ice Fishing Clinic at Moreau Lake.
• Take a Snowshoe Walk at Up Yonda Farm at 1 pm.
• At 1 pm, kids ages 6 and up can create their own toys at Inventors Corner at the Children’s Museum of Science & Technology. It’s $2/non-member.
• At 1:30 pm, there’s a Chinese New Year Celebration at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library. A dragon parade, performances, crafts, and food for all ages.
• At 2 pm, there’s a talk about the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Upstate New York at Thacher.
• From 2-5:30 pm, Logan Studios is doing a parent seminar & open house about music & the arts.
• At 8 pm, the Empire State Youth Orchestra is performing at SUNY. $10/adults, $6/kids.

Sunday, January 23rd:

• At 10 am, there’s a Snowshoe Walk at Thacher. Call ahead to register and reserve snowshoes.
• Downtown Schenectady Library is having another Beat the Snow Winter Concert at 2:30 pm. Today’s is silver and gold brass.

The snow sure is pretty though, isn’t it?

I spent quite a bit of time shoveling the driveway. Except for losing this time to other, more satisfying tasks, I don’t really mind clearing the driveway. Scraping away chunks of snow has that same sort of satisfaction one might get from more personal grooming endeavors. Plus I’m listening to music. And while not an actual workout, it’s a little fresh air and activity.

Now, I share a driveway with Mary, so she watches out the window and feels guilty. Which she shouldn’t. In fact, I was actually thinking to myself that clearing the driveway for our neighbors as well as ourselves makes it much more satisfying, because I feel like I’m doing a good deed. Plus I’m more careful and conscientious, because we don’t want anybody breaking a hip! Although, frankly, I’d have to be conscientious, anyway, because Cute W is a bit OCD about the driveway (and the house, and maintenance issues in general). If I do a less-than-stellar shoveling job, he’s been known to head outside after work and dinner, wearing a head flashlight and tidying up my messy edges. Which, in turn, makes me a little bit nutty, because if I’d known he was going to go out anyway, I could have skipped the whole thing and stayed inside nice & cozy.

So, today, Mary waved me down (between the music blasting and the snow blower, this was a job) to tell me that they didn’t need to go anywhere. Really, never. They were just fine. No need to clear anything at all. Spring would come eventually. And then I had to tell her that of course there’s always Cute W. And she had to laugh, because she’s noticed that he comes out and “fixes” my driveway clearing. We like to chuckle about our husbands. We ladies have to be patient, of course, but the men do, too!

Mary called later to say that she’d made dinner. No cooking for me, because I must be exhausted. But, she warned. It was nothing much. Shamefully simple. Not worthy of sharing, really. But we wouldn’t go hungry. Just a little something. Shameful. I ended up running over just as Gene was about to lug over this basket.

Mary is the queen of what we call in the customer service biz “managing expectations”. She had convinced me that I was getting nothing much. I told her that Cute W was out of town, anyway, so we weren’t being fancy. In fact, I’d pretty much planned to let the girls gnaw on crusts of stale bread while listlessly poking at unidentified containers in the freezer. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but not by much.

Anyway, here’s what we got:

Shameful!

Notice that the decent-sized pot of chowder is dwarfed by the basket of ginormous salad with homemade dressing and extra mandarin oranges (fought over by children), extra cheese for soup garnish, a loaf of bread, homemade brownies, and some fresh flowers for the table.

It almost makes me hope for more snow on Friday. Well, you know, almost.

I’ve made good on the tv threat/promise. My children are bewildered but grateful. After some outdoor play at the crack o’ dawn, this might be the most tv that they’ve watched ever. Their brains are going to be so mushy by the end of the day, they’ll be begging to go back to school tomorrow.

I spent much of the morning lounging in bed trying to rid myself of my most recent cold. Here’s what irritates me: I feel like, if I’m willing to just give in and take a nap or lounge for 2-4 hours, I should be cured. I woke up after a nap and felt really good. And then I realized that I felt really good because I was lying completely still on my bed. As soon as I got up I felt like crapola again. So I feel cheated. I did my part. I rested. But you can only do that for so long when you don’t have a great book to read.

So I took a Theraflu (love that stuff) and I added roughly a jillion new books to my PaperBack Swap account. Did some laundry. Honestly, does it ever feel like at the rate the piles grow, your kids must be secretly just putting clothes on and taking them off really fast for sport? Remember those relay races where you’d have to dress in some grown-up clothes, run a little way, and then peel them off for the next kid? I think my kids are doing that very, very quietly when I’m not paying attention. Also, why do they feel the need for pristine, fresh-from-the-dryer pajamas? I keep pulling pjs out of the hamper and telling them, “If they don’t smell, they’re still fine!”

I had a mild panic attack because I realized that J’s dance class is this afternoon. I called and was so pleased when the answering machine message told me it was canceled that instead of hanging up like instructed, I waited for the beep so that I could gush my gratefulness to the dance teacher.

I’m thawing some frozen soup for dinner, and there’s not a dang reason to leave this house.

For those of you who are way more motivated than I am, GeekMom has Nine Smarty Pants Ways to Enjoy the Snow.

Cute W and I were joking today that if there’s another snow day in the morning, I’m going to just pack some lunches, get the girls in their snow pants, and send them out the door, anyway. “Okay girls, have fun! Don’t come back until 2:30 pm!” But of course that’s just silly. Because I’ve already solemnly vowed that for the next snow day the kids are just going to watch tv All Day Long.

Seriously, how’s everybody doing? Especially if you’ve got little-little ones, I know that it’s a tough time of year. And I was thinking about this as I was compiling the weekly list, partly because I just saw my little sister who has her first teensy baby. As I typed in things like a 2-hour snowshoe walk, I visualized some desperate mother putting her head in her hands because she’s not going to take her 18-month-old outside for more than 20 minutes at a time for fear that the drool will just freeze on that child’s face. I was feeling less-than-helpful. So if you’ve got older kids, please bear with me for a minute. Because surely you remember that feeling housebound with the nonverbal was difficult. Right? It wasn’t just me, right?

When my kiddos were young, I felt considerably saner when I followed a specific schedule. I can’t remember it, exactly, but it went  something like:

• Monday: grocery store (woo, hoo!)
• Tuesday: nursing support group or neighborhood playgroup (with moms that were destined to never be close friends, but I needed to get out)
• Wednesday: moms group (and if you don’t have a moms group you really need to join one)
• Thursday: visit to library
• Friday: paid-for toddler class of some sort

None of these activities were huge, most of them were free, but it was enough to get me out of the house. On particularly bad days I might even take myself out to lunch. A lunch check, I reasoned, was less expensive than therapy and antidepressants. If you have a friend with a little one, try to set up a regular day to play. And then, when everyone gets used to each other, you can even trade off babysitting. Yes. Here’s a roundup of some of my previous suggestions that will help you fill up the cold, cold days:

• Don’t forget the regularly scheduled events in What About TODAY?
• Check out my Teensy Baby posts (some of the links might be old, but they can at least give you some ideas).
• Go to some Exciting Destinations that you’ll find in the Big Ol’ List of Links. Check out, for example, Toddler Play Activities, Indoor and/or Year-round Playtime Geared toward School-Age Kids (because many also have baby-toddler options) and Pregnancy/Brand-New baby Resources.
• Take ordinary errands spots and make them destinations, like I do.
• Visit your local library. And possibly your slightly-less local library.
• There’s always Hanging Around at Home.

Okay, back to the regularly scheduled program. Here’s what I’ve found for this week:

Tuesday, January 18th:

• At 9:30 am at the Bethlehem Public Library there’s a Tiny Tots program for children under age 3 and their caregivers.
• At 1:30 pm at the Bethlehem Public Library there are Stories and More for kids up to age 6.

Wednesday, January 19th:

• Babysmartees is doing a Homemade Baby Food Making Class at Virgil’s House in Saratoga Springs at 9:30 am. $10 pays for the class and a starter kit.
• At 10 am at the Bethlehem Public Library there are Stories and Play for kids up to age 6.
• At 3:30 pm it’s Cooking Around the World at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga. It’s Caribbean food today; call ahead and pay $10/non-member chef.
• At 6 pm, there’s a Full Moon Walk at Moreau Lake.
• There’s a Full Moon Trek at Dyken Pond at 7 pm. Snowshoe or cross country ski. Free, but you can also call ahead about renting snowshoes.

Thursday, January 20th:

• Sling babies meeting–see comment below.
• At 10:30 am at the Bethlehem Public Library preschoolers are On My Own while adults stay away-but-nearby.
• From 1-3 pm, Moreau Lake has a Nature Trail Cross Country Ski Trip billed as “easy” and “great for all skill levels”.
• At 6:30 pm there’s a Chinese New Year Celebration at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library. A dragon parade, performances, crafts, and food for all ages.Whoops, actually, there’s an It’s a Small World program–see comment below.
• At 6:30 pm at the Bethlehem Public Library there is Children’s Circle Storytime, designed with kids with special needs in mind.
• At 7 pm, Clifton Park has organized a Family Moonlight Ski at Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve.

Friday, January 21st:

• It’s a Hudson River Eagle Watch at 10 am at Moreau Lake.
• At 11 am at the Bethlehem Public Library, preK kids are invited to a picnic. Bring lunch or a snack, watch movies, and do a craft.
• Saratoga Spa State Park has a Beginner Snowshoe Lesson appropriate for kids ages 6 to 12. $5 includes snowshoe rental.
• It’s Art Night Schenectady.
• Inherit the Wind opens at Sand Lake Center for the Arts tonight at 8 pm. $16/adult, $10/under 18.
• The Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company is performing at The Egg at 8 pm. $24/adult, $12/child.

I’ve accumulated another small pile of events and programs. Here are a few things that are going on around here:

Sewing Sisters in Albany has a Sewing Party on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. From 10 am to 3:30 pm, adults and older kids (say, 7 and up) can make sewing projects and have some lunch for $50.

Will Graham from the New York Red Bulls soccer team is running a preschool soccer program called First Kick at Sand Lake Elementary School in Averill Park on Wednesday & Thursday mornings. Details here say that registration is closed, but Will says that you can just show up and he can get you registered.

Ginny Martin does a 6-week session in Glenville for kids who are 4 and 5 years old during March & April. J is in her second year with Ginny Martin; some of you might remember that I gushed about the recital on the CBS 6 Blog.

Okay, it’s a bit of a drive, but a friend passed along that the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA does New Parent Gallery Talks on the first Friday of the month at 10:15 am. This is for the pre-toddler set, and it’s such a good idea. I wonder if any local museum folks read this blog and would like to try a test run of one of these programs? If you do, tell me, please, so that I can spread the word!

Taylor Mali is a slam poet who’ll be appearing at the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady as a benefit for Safe Passage in Guatemala, where the youth group occasionally travels to Guatemala to volunteer. The event is Saturday, January 29th at 8 pm. Cute W and I will be there!

I had a tremendously unproductive day and some girl-drama this afternoon, so I’m grouchy.

I figured that I’d blow off posting today. But then, instead, I  decided to share my notes as I checked out lift ticket prices. We’re thinking about skiing this Sunday. This listing is pretty self-serving. It isn’t  particularly helpful for those of you who are interested in half days (we’re early birds) or who’ll need to rent skis (we’ve got them already), because I was just too lazy to take notes on those.

But it is a reminder that there are plenty of of places nearby to ski. I took this list from the one that’s on the list of links and the newer Embrace Winter page. Actually, that list includes information on places with tubing, adaptive skiing, and night skiing.

Alas, it’s also a reminder that this is a freakishly expensive sport. What were we thinking, getting the girls all gung-ho?

For the rates, I list full-day tickets, and when prices vary based on the calendar, the first number is the holiday price, and the second number is for mid-week, non-holiday price. The times listed after the location are the approximate drive-times from my place near Schenectady, according to Google Maps. Finally, the bold number is what it would cost for my family to go skiing for a day this weekend. So if your family happens to be composed of 2 adults, an 8-year-old, and a six-year-old, you’re in luck! Yay, you!

Belleayre Mountain Highmount, NY – 1¼ hours $184

• adult: $54/$45
• youth: 6-12 $38/$35
• $25 lift tickets on non-holiday Fridays.

Butternut Great Barrington, MA- 1¼ hours $195

• adult: $60/$25
• youth: 7-13 $50/$20
• 6 and under: $25/$15

Catamount Hillsdale, NY – 1¼ hours $191

• adult: $59/$27
• junior: 7-13 $48/$27
• child: $25/$10

Gore Mountain North Creek, northwest of Lake George – 1½ hours $198

• adult: $77/$66
• juniors: 7-12 $44/$37
• 6 and under: free

Jiminy Peak Hancock, MA – 1 hour $192 or if lower mountain means bunny slope only, $216

• adult: $65/$59
• junior 12 and under: $43/$40
• 6 and under, lower mountain only: $19/$19

Maple Ski Ridge Rotterdam – ¼ hour $120

• all: $30/$20 + one-time purchase of $5 “sweet pass”

Otis Ridge Otis, MA – 1½ hours $90

• adult or junior: $30/$20
• beginner area only: $10/$10
• 6 and under: free

Royal Mountain Ski Area Caroga Lake – 1¼ hours $120

• adult: $35 any day
• 6-12: $25 any day
• 5 and under: free

Sawkill Family Ski Center Kingston – 1¼ hours–seems like it’s only open weekends & holidays $146

• adult: $40
• 12 and under: $33

Ski Bousquet Pittsfield, MA – 1½ hours $148

• all: $37/$20

West Mountain Queensbury, near Glens Falls – 1 hour $120

• adult & teen: $52/$42
• youth 7-12: $41/$42
• 6 and under: not mentioned-free I hope?
• family plan for weekends/holidays: first 3 members $120, each additional $32
• lower mountain all ages for weekends/holidays: $32

Willard Mountain Greenwich, east of Saratoga – 1 hour $144

• adult: $38
• junior 12 and under: $34

Windham Mountain Windham, west of Hudson – 1½ hours $200

• adult: $68/$48
• youth 7-12: $54/$34
• 6 and under: $10/$10

I think that we’re going to try to go skiing again on Sunday. Here’s what I’ve found for this weekend.

All Weekend:

• The Last Dragon begins this weekend at Steamer 10 Theatre, with performances at a variety of times on all three days. You know I love Steamer 10, and if you’ve never taken the kids to a show before, here’s where I tell you not to be scared.
• It’s the Jam & Sing Thing all weekend. This is a celebration of traditional music.
• Tangled continues at Scotia Cinema.
• The Albany Devils have home games on Friday and Saturday nights at 7 pm.

Evening of Friday the 14th:

• Tumbling Tykes is having a Parents Night Out from 5:30-8:30 pm. It’s $25/first child, $15/additional kid. You’re supposed to RSVP by Monday the 10th.
• At 6 pm, RPI hosts Union for a Swimming and Diving Meet.

Saturday the 15th:

• Learn how to Follow a Fisher at Grafton Lakes.  This is basically a full-day class, so only for older nature enthusiasts.
• From 10:30-11:30 am, it’s Little Wonders of Science, a free program for preschoolers at Schenectady Museum.
• At 11 am & 1 pm, there are planetarium shows at the Albany Visitors Center.
• From noon to 4 pm, Goff Middle School in East Greenbush invites folks to Winterfest 2011. Pony rides, face paining, games, & animals.
• It’s Family Fun Day from 1-4 pm at the New York State Museum.
• At 1 pm, the Teen Yoga class begins at the Troy Public Library.
• The Hellions of Troy have a roller derby bout at Rollarama at 8 pm.

Sunday the 16th:

• Take a Snowshoe Walk at Thacher at 10 am.
• At noon, kids 8 and up can learn about Energy Science at the Schenectady Museum.
• It’s Family Discovery Day from 1-3 pm at the Hyde Collection. Learn about math in art.
• Take a Discovery Hike at the Albany Pine Bush at 2 pm.
• There’s Winter Lights, an Interfaith Story Circle, at 2 pm at St. Helen’s Church in Schenectady.
• From 2-3 pm, there’s a Live Animal Demonstration at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga.
• At 2:30 pm, there’s a Beat the Snow Concert at the downtown Schenectady Public Library. Free.
• The Schenectady Symphony Orchestra will be performing at Proctors at 3 pm. $10/adult, $6/kid.
• From 7-9:30 pm, there’s a Moonlight Ski and Snowshoe at Wilton Wildlife Preserve.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day/Monday the 17th:

• CMOST is open.
• From 9-11:30 am there’s the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Observance followed by a Beloved Community March.
• Kids 5 and up can experience Our Wonderful World from 10 am to noon at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga. This is free, but you need to pre-register. It sounds like a fun program.
• From 10 am to noon, spend a Day of Service in honor of MLK at the Albany Pine Bush.
• The Schenectady Museum has hands-on activities from noon to 3:30 pm, and it’s the last chance to check out the model trains.
• At 1 pm, there’s Fly Guy Celebration at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library. It’s for children in grades K to 2, and pre-registration is required.
• The Bethlehem Public Library is showing Beauty and the Beast at 2:30 pm.
• At 7 pm, there’s a Moonlight Ski at Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve in Clifton Park. Bring your own skis, but they’ll supply the cocoa.

How was everybody’s snow day?

Yeah, mine pretty much sucked. Part of the problem was that yesterday was a half day for M, which in my school district means she was home around 10:45 am. Before that I’d been helping with a program at school from 8:45-10 am, so my day yesterday was basically shot, too. I’ve become completely spoiled now that the kids are in school. Back when they were little, I’d spend whole days working hard and accomplishing nothing. I’d forgotten how frustrating that can feel. So, I was too ambitious.

M and I decided to clean and reorganize her room for yesterday’s half-day, and it was vastly satisfying. She was actually excited, too.  Alas, it only occurred to me to do before-and-after pictures halfway through, so you don’t get the full effect of the cleanliness. Her previously-trashed closet looks fabulous now.

Before

Just as M’s energy was waning I “let slip” that if we managed to finish in ten minutes we could rush over to Target to look for new baskets to replace the white wicker ones that were falling apart. She motivated and brought along her own cash to buy a little bathmat-sized rug to be part of her “living room” area (you can see a teensy bit of the rug below). We grabbed J from school on the way home.

After

Anyway, that was yesterday. We made the best of a little one-on-one time, we bonded, we completed a household task. All good.

And then there was today. When, after a lengthy session of snow-playing-and-clearing, J wanted to reorganize her room. Which was a freakin’ marathon.

Before

I just thought that it wouldn’t ever end. We never got to the closet. She kept losing interest. My one serious triumph is that I managed to remove all the crappy-looking sticker remnants from the mirrors of her vanity (note me, hunched over, trying to get out of the picture and failing).

After

J completely lost steam and M was impatient and meanwhile much of the upstairs was trashed. We finally finished (mostly) and managed a promised sledding trip. I was sure that our local hill by the girls’ school would be packed, but it was sadly quiet.Which meant that instead of sitting on the sidelines with a book, I was going up and down the hill.

Earlier in the day we buried each other in the snow completely. Here’s M. On the way home from sledding, her favorite turquoise hat mysteriously disappeared. So if you live near me and see this hat emerge at spring thaw, could you please grab it?

M buried

And of course we forgot entirely about the usual homework assignments until after I’d promised the sledding, so that was a bit of a fraught fiasco. Meanwhile, it was still snowing–wasn’t it supposed to quit by noon?–so I spent an entire This American Life podcast snow blowing. And then I screwed up the dinner I was cooking. Oh, and did I mention that in the course of playing outside, cleaning like mad, and sledding down the street, I never managed to get out of my pajama pants?

Next snow day, I swear, I am planting those children in front of the television for the entire day.

I’ve got another dip for you!

Hello, super-healthy ingredients!

This one’s called Lime-Spiked Black Bean Dip, and it’s a Cooking Light recipe.  The first time I made this dip, I thought it was delicious. And then I forgot about it. Because, when I looked at the recipe, I’d think to myself, “That must have been something that was pretty good considering how ridiculously healthy it was, but I want something uber-yummy.” Then one day I picked health over uber-yumminess, and I remembered that this dip gives me both. Hooray!

Of course, I have to tinker with recipes, and with this one, I add probably 50% more lime juice, maybe even double. I also go easy on the green onions (not my favorite) and throw in extra cilantro (a favorite for sure, and every time I eat it I thank The Fates that I didn’t get the Cilantro-is-Soapy gene). Finally, I puree the whole dang thing. That way I can be lazy about the chopping. I do, however, still grate the carrots. That’s because I’m really not crazy about raw carrots. They’re just so–ewww–carroty. But if they are in teensy, teensy pieces, then I can handle them.

Anyway, I find this one super-tasty. It’s good for veggie dipping, but I also like it (and, come to think of it, the first detox dip) spread into half of a red pepper with a slice or two of avocado on top. Yum.

My kids are wearing their PJs inside out for a snow day, which I’d never heard about until tonight. And I am old.  So if we are shut in, what’s everybody doing to entertain themselves?

We finally made it to Maple Ski Ridge! Really, I feel silly that we hadn’t gone before. Everyone told us that it was a great easy trip and perfect for learning skiers. Somehow, I had a mental block that there couldn’t be anything worth a trip that wasn’t, you know, a trip.

But we had a wonderful time! We loaded up our car so that we could go directly from church and ate lunch en route so that we wouldn’t miss more time than necessary.  It was a quick trip to Rotterdam for us, but when we arrived I was concerned. First, the wind was positively whipping all over the place, and Cute W was parking while I ran (okay, stomped) inside to buy tickets. The line was long. There was definitely an early-afternoon rush. So I fretted about the children becoming demoralized little Popsicles. When the crowd parted I could get a glimpse of them through the windows, but the crowd parted infrequently. And of course I’d forgotten my cell in the car, so I couldn’t call Cute W to ensure that he’d joined the children and that no one was getting frostbite.

Luckily this wait won’t have to be repeated. This year they’ve started a new system, the Sweet Pass, which is a card that you can refill online. We paid $5 for the cards themselves, which each person keeps in a pocket instead of one of those hang tags. Then next time we go, we can “reload” the card so that we don’t even have to step into the lodge. Unless we want cocoa.

As it turns out, the kids were fine and Cute W had scored an unbelievable parking space. Which wasn’t too difficult, since the place is small. But honestly, Maple Ski Ridge was perfect for us. There are two rope tows and two lifts. We were novices with the tow rope, but everyone did relatively well.  By the end even J was reaching back to put the handle behind her so that she could sit back and relax her way uphill. M was overjoyed and did terrific with all the skiing–she barely paused in 3 1/2 hours. J would have preferred to snow plow straight down every hill. She’d fall and get frustrated on some of her turns, but generally she had a wonderful time. Our biggest problem was that she’d speed up and then we’d be going alongside her yelling “Pizza! Make a PIZZA!” But the best was that, for us at least, there was hardly ever any wait time at all to get back up the hill. And that was a Sunday afternoon after a snowstorm.

It was also a new experience for us to run into various acquaintances while skiing, so it felt almost like a neighborhood get-together. Some parents were clearly just hanging out in the lodge and checking for their kids through the windows. The food prices looked relatively reasonable (again, I’m cheap, so we’d packed snacks). It was, as I’d heard, pretty crazy-busy in the lodge, with people camping their stuff all over the tables.

J rides the lift with me. I would have taken more pictures, but we were too busy skiing.

All in all, it was a great place for the beginner & young skier. We’ll  visit other places, too, but we’ll absolutely ski there again.  It was an excellent family outing for us, and it’s nice for the kids to have a place where they can feel pretty comfortable just about anywhere. And it’s especially nice that it’s so close to home!