Category — Sports

We spent Sunday, Monday, and today on our annual Jiminy Peak trip with friends. We returned a few hours ago, and I’ve literally been stumbling around due to exhaustion. As in, I tripped on our duffel bag handle and landed on my face, and moments later I fell down the stairs while carrying 3 pairs of ski boots. Lucky for me they were the carpeted stairs down to our basement instead of our steep, old, wooden stairs that strike fear into the hearts of visiting mothers with toddlers.

M, who is an unbelievably motivated maniac, managed to finish all the schoolwork that she missed in time to hustle off to soccer practice tonight. In fact, she was hoping to go to another soccer thing that she normally does–which would have been a whopping 2 1/2 hours of soccer after skiing for most of the day–but she had to finish her homework first, so she missed the first hour.  I don’t think that she’ll collapse on the gym floor, but I am a little worried that there will be sobbing before she finally passes out tonight. We usually walk the couple of blocks to the school gym, but Cute W’s driving her home. J, meanwhile, fell asleep in the car on the way home, continued the nap on the couch, and was only roused by the scent of take-out Italian food. She ate three helpings of pasta and settled in for yet another Harry Potter reading marathon (we’re now on #3 with her) before bed.

Our weekend was great, especially considering that there was serious rain last night. The girls spent most of the day on Monday in ski school, and they had a wonderful time. Prior to the drop-off, there was a bit of high drama because they have one girlfriend who also attends the daylong class, so each girl was hoping that she’d be placed with a friend and fearing that she’d be left out. They’re pretty close, ability-wise, but you just never know, and you want them to feel comfortable skiing at the right level. There was also speculation about the placement, because last year the two older girls had been told that they’d be in the Fox group. Jiminy used to place kids in groups named after various woodland creatures. If you’d done your time as an undignified Chipmunk or Raccoon, of course you’d be psyched to finally become a Fox. When I broke it to them that the ranking system was different now, both girls were in denial, so I just did the old motherly, “Well, we’ll see. . . .” Really, it makes sense. If some 11-year-old first time skier got called a Chipmunk they’d basically be opposed to the entire program immediately, I bet.

Ski School was a tremendous success. All three girls (and only our three girls) were with one teacher whom they liked very much. And they were thrilled because he took them on black diamonds, so they officially feel like The Most Awesome Skiers Ever.

There was a lot of that girl power thing going around. At one point J stopped next to me and laughed out loud, saying, “I can’t believe that I’m still alive.” I promise that we weren’t particularly defying death on that run. But seriously, how much happier would your life be if you took a moment any old time to laugh out loud with joy that you’re still alive? We should all try it, maybe. Another time, I was skiing with a bunch of girls (we just happened to have a girl-heavy group), and a middle-schooler who’d been a bit hesitant about skiing down a black diamond decided to try, anyway (not surprising, since the two 4th graders were game). When the hardest part was over, I told her to stop and look up. It appeared much scarier from below, probably because you could see a greater expanse of the whole slope. “Now, aren’t you impressed with yourself?” I prodded. “You know what?” she answered, “I really am. I really, really am impressed with myself.”

After so much rain last night, I expected today to be a washout, but conditions were surprisingly good. Nothing froze, trails were groomed, and the temperature hovered just around freezing, keeping us all warm and cozy without melting the slopes entirely.

Between all of that skiing the kids swam in the pool, I learned how to play one of Cute W’s new board games, and we all ate a ridiculous amount of food. Now it’s back to real life again. But you know what? Real life’s pretty good, too.

I’ve been so discombobulated by the holiday and related travels that I’ve lost track of time, and I forgot to remind you that Natalie at Trendy Tots in Schenectady is offering a special discount to all of you.  If you go from Tuesday December 27th to Saturday December 31st, you can get  20% off  your purchase if you tell them that Katie from Capital District Fun sent you. I visited Trendy Tots and told you more about it in a previous post.

Did you know that 4th graders can ski or snowboard for free at many New York State resorts with the $20 NY 4th Grade Ski & Ride Passport Program? Kids can get a free learn to ski passport or 3 free lift tickets (with an adult ticket purchase) to each of the participating mountains for $20 (or both of the deals for $39). I heard about this awesome program from Sandra at Albany Kid–thanks, Sandra! I’m finally getting around to putting our application for M in the mail tomorrow. Now all we need is some snow. Yeah, I said it. I’m ready.

Oh, and speaking of outdoor winter fun, did you already hear that the Empire State Plaza skating rink will reopen this year? They were aiming for January. I’m excited about this, and I couldn’t remember if I’d mentioned in here already. But hey, free! And thus worth another mention as a  super deal for you!

If you’re considering getting your kids skiing this winter, now’s the time to look for seasonal rentals. We seized the day off from school last week to go to Goldstock’s to get ours. Update: I forgot to link before, but Sandra at Albany Kid wrote a review of Goldstock’s last year.

Last year we went, gosh, in late October or early November, and they were almost out of equipment. This year we were early, which meant we got skis that also happened to be pretty.

The girls were thrilled.

Most seasonal rentals run about $99 to $110, which is a far better deal than renting by the day, with tends to be about $30. Most places will provide bigger sizes for growing kids or make binding adjustments as kids improve. But most of all, having the equipment already just makes you so much more likely to ski more, because it’s less hassle and less money each and every time. Here are a few places in the area that sell skis, and most do rentals as well:

• Alpine Sport Shop in Saratoga Springs
• Goldstock’s in Scotia
• High Adventure in Latham
• Plaine and Son in Schenectady & Albany
• Steiner’s in Hudson, Valatie, & Glenmont

You can also always try for something used at Play it Again Sports in Latham, but that’s sort of like a treasure hunt.

And then, if you go for the seasonal ski rental and you’ve got beginning skiers, you should think about getting season passes at Maple Ski Ridge. They have regular season passes and special passes that let you choose a single day during midweek to visit.  I reviewed Maple Ski Ridge last year, and it’s a convenient spot with great trails for beginners. Halfway through last winter, Cute W and I both wished that we’d just bought season passes. The girls improved so much, though, that I think we’ll be exploring some new spots this year. In any case, most resorts have discounts for season passes if you purchase early, so if you want to look into it, here’s last year’s post on skiing day trips.

M had a busy day today: a soccer game in the morning, soccer tryouts in the afternoon, and a 1-mile fun run. For those of you with younger kids, this seems like a pretty common thing for many sports. There’s a recreation league through the city or town, and then there are local clubs for kids to do more of the same sport. A lot of times they’re not all that well-advertised, so if you’ve got a child between, say, 4 and 8 who’s loving a rec sport, it’s a good idea to ask around about what else is available. It’s really kind of irritating, actually, because you can look around and suddenly you’ve got a 7-year-old who’s getting their butt kicked because a bunch of other kids are doing the same sport year-round. It is crazy how intense some of the sports are. So far, M’s only done the town rec soccer, and this year she’s trying the Niskayuna Soccer Club. Anyone the right age can play, but they do tryouts to place them in either an A team or a B team. If you’re placed on an A team, you can still choose to do B instead. A is more time, commitment, and money. Several of M’s friends are trying out as well, so we don’t know where any of them will end up. I think that we’re all just hoping that however the kids get placed, they each have a friend.

Meanwhile, M was determined to run in our local fun run because her gym teacher had promised that anyone who participated could skip out on laps at the next gym class. Of course she’ll end up doing more running this way, but think of the glory, sitting down and watching her classmates huff and puff by.

We’d hoped that it would be a family fun run, but J’s got a cold. She’s alternating between perky frolicking and moaning on the sofa, so it didn’t seem like a wise choice. Still, J enjoyed herself. Shop Rite, eager to win friends and influence people prior to their store opening a week from tomorrow, had a table piled up with craft supplies.

Not to be outdone, Price Chopper provided the yummy post-race snackage.

And yes, I’d fully intended to take photos of Cute W and M actually running. But I was too busy clapping and yelling to remember the camera.

The fun run was more well-attended and festive than I’d expected, by far. And I’m glad that M’s gym teacher got her motivated, because I think we’ll all be in for the fun run or even the 5K next year.

J has become a biking superstar. The other day the girls and I biked 1.8 miles each way to a playground, and that night J  requested more biking as part of her date with Daddy. M, meanwhile, has been wonderfully patient with the slow riding pace.

Today we decided to bike to Central Park, and the ride there was great. After playing together at the playground, the girls requested that we bike over to the Rose Garden for a snack.

The Rose Garden earlier this summer

Just as we were almost there, J fell and skinned her knee. There was blood, although not too much. But she was beside herself with the pain, pain, pain. She sobbed loudly while I held onto her and M, in her own world, inspected roses.

She happened to fall right next to the old-tennis-court-turned-dog-run-area, and it was dramatic enough that the one dog and his human lady came over to check us out. The lady was solicitous, and J loves dogs, so I seized the opportunity for a distraction and asked if she could approach the dog and say hi. “Oh, sure,” the lady says. Then she watches as J extends her fingers through the chain-link fence for the dog to sniff and as the two of them are making contact, the lady says, “Be good now! No biting! NO BITING!!!”  At this my clever child retracted her fingers while I clutched her just in case she weren’t so clever.

Speaking of not so clever, the woman continues, smiling, “You just never know what he’s going to do, he’s so bad, I brought him here to try to run off some energy. . . .” At which I smiled back and murmured, mostly to myself, “Oh, dear, that would have been good to know before we approached him. . . .” I was too startled to say more, especially because the lady was trying to be polite even as she subjected to my still-bleeding-and-tearful daughter to a possible dog attack. I just sent J (walking) over to the garden and dragged J’s bike over to park next to M’s, fuming all the way.

J overcame the fear and pain for the bike ride home, although she was moaning, “I want to be hooooooooommme” for the first several blocks. By the time we arrived at our house, she was once again jubilant and carefree. And so, of course, as she turned into the driveway, she wiped out again.

I carried her to our bench while good big sister/EMT  M rushed over with the first aid box and “cold kitty.” If you do not already own an adorable ice pack to keep in your freezer, I cannot possibly overstate the psychologically therapeutic value of this item. Seriously. There is nothing like a special ice pack to make a child feel like his or her injury is recognized as an Extremely Significant Occurrence.  In two out of three cases, merely touching the ice pack instantaneously cures most bumps and bruises.

J said she wasn’t going to bike again for a long time. Then she decided that she wasn’t going to bike again for the rest of the day. When I saw her on her bike an hour later, I didn’t say a thing.

We overindulged at our charitable auctions and ended up with a week of soccer camp scheduled for the same week as our Lake Placid trip. So I’m giving it away!

It’s SOCCERTECH. According to the director, “This is our 12th year running the camp. All staff members are certified teachers employed in N. Colonie, S. Colonie or Mohonasen. We have 5 high school varsity coaches and 4 ex-professional players on staff. We focus on learning the game through fun games and activities.”

For 6-13 year-olds, the camp runs July 5-8 from 9 am to 3 pm at Lisha Kill Middle School in Colonie.

For 14-16-year-olds, it runs July 11-15 from 5-8 pm at the Colonie Soccer Complex.

The giveaway is for one (not both) of these programs. To enter, just add a comment to this post with a favorite summer destination or summer camp before Monday at 5 pm.

Thanks to SOCCERTECH for donating the week of camp!

I spent an inordinately long amount of time folding laundry tonight, so now I’m blogging when I should be sleeping instead. So I’m going to make it snappy.

‘Tis the season to start thinking swimming lessons if you have small, non-swimming-yet children. If your kids are extra little, getting them used to the idea of the pool now will help ensure a fun summer. I mean, we all know that kids can be slow to warm up to an idea, right? I remember one beach vacation when my nephew refused to allow the ocean water to touch him until the afternoon of the last day. And then, of course, he loved it. And it was time to pack.

If your child is pro-pool but not a swimmer yet, why not get a jump start on it now? 8 or 12 weeks of swimming lessons will be perfect timing for the summer. I started to look for excellent links to swimming lessons, but most aren’t updated too well. Okay, a few are, like the super-thrifty Rotterdam Boys and Girls Club, or the special-needs-friendly College of St. Rose. But you can also check my Big Ol’ List of Links for the Pools and Swimming Section, or if you know about an indoor pool that’s close to you at any high school, college, or fitness center, give them a call and see what they’ve got. Did you know that you can also contact your local Y about organizing swimming lessons in a backyard pool? Start thinking of friends to recruit (including one with a pool) so that you can line something up early!

We’ve done swimming lessons at Union College, a Y-arranged backyard session, &  Rotterdam Boys and Girls Club, and I think that all of them were helpful. But there’s nothing like just spending a bunch of time in the water with other kids who are a little bit better at swimming than your own kid to cause exponential advances in the swimming department. For both of my girls, their hugest improvements in swimming happened during week-long vacations with their cousins at a house with a pool in the backyard. So even if you don’t want to do swimming lessons, you might think about inviting friends and doing open swim occasionally while you’re waiting for it to get warm enough outside.

What’s your favorite pool around here? Any that people should know about?

Okay, hopefully the snow won’t be here too much longer, but I realized that I never passed along our ski getaway report, so here it is.

We spent two nights at Jiminy Peak in Hancock, Massachusetts, and it was such a good time that I’ve been telling everyone I know that they should go, and not just because it’s so close, an hour door-to-door from our house near Schenectady.

What we love even more are the deals for staying at the Country Inn. Downhill skiing is expensive, so when you can find something reasonable, it’s cause for celebration. Check out their website, and you’ll see that a full day of skiing (8 hours) costs $59 for an adult and $44 for kids 12 and under. That’s a painful $206 for my family of four to ski all day. Except that the going rate for a midweek stay at the Country Inn is generally $199/night and lodging  includes two adult lift tickets plus free skiing midweek for kids under 12. Yippee!

Kitchenette

Each suite has a separate bedroom and a living room with a pull-out sofa and a kitchenette. I kept discovering helpful details, like when I unearthed some much-needed dish washing soap from the pantry, or when I opened up the sofa bed to discover that it was already made with sheets and a blanket, so my kids could collapse immediately.  With a little preparation, we’d packed everything we needed to skip buying food at the lodge and restaurant entirely. Excellent, because I’m cheap. Even better, if you book a few rooms with friends, you can have an ongoing potluck party. If your kids vary in their enthusiasm for skiing, a group makes life much easier. When J lost steam, there were always a few adults taking a break who could provide  snacks and turn the tv to cartoons as necessary.  Large groups, say ten suites or more, can negotiate for a lower group rate.

Our bedroom before we had a chance to trash it.

We checked in promptly at 4 pm on a Sunday, dropped our bags, and ran outside (okay, more like ka-thumped in our ski boots) to take advantage of the night skiing. After a few runs, J was tired of skiing for the night, but she and I loved taking a ride on the Mountain Coaster that’s available on the weekends. At $7 each, this was an extra cost, but it was absolutely worth it for us. We squealed with joy all the way down, and it was the perfect way to end our evening outside on a high note after she’d gotten discouraged on the slopes.

Not me and J. We coasted in the dark and I contrived to have J still in her ski helmet just in case we flew off the rails, which seemed quite possible.

Most of the kids in our group spent a full day (9:30 am to 3:30 pm) in ski school. The cost is $102 and includes lessons, lift tickets (if they weren’t already included in lodging), and lunch. Our only complaint was that the person who took our reservations didn’t ask for the girls’ lunch order and assigned them chicken nuggets. We realized the mistake at drop-off and attempted to correct it, but they ended up with the nuggets, anyway. This was particularly comic when my 8-year-old recounted that another child had received nuggets and also didn’t want them because “she’d seen the video, too.” I realized that the Jamie Oliver video that I’d shown them had made a bigger impression than I’d thought! Apparently the other little girl was wily enough to finagle a macaroni and cheese, but my kids were stuck. However, they enjoyed ski school so much that they were ready and willing to go back the next day (we skied together instead) and they both “graduated” to the next level, which means my big girl will be a pole-wielding Fox next time (levels are designated by woodland creatures from chipmunks to coyotes).

Meanwhile, we adults took advantage of the kid-free time to ski as quickly and as much as we could for the day. We liked the variety of trails and the conditions as well as the nonexistent lift lines that midweek offered. And with hours running from 9 am to 10 pm and the convenient access to our rooms (we could pretty much ski to the doorstep of the Country Inn), it was easy to take quick breaks for lunch and dinner and head back out again and again.

The inn has an inviting lobby that’s frequently stocked with free cocoa and cookies. Last year we happened to visit during a late-January rainstorm, and the kids enjoyed playing games in the balcony while the grown-ups  listened in from below and drank wine by the fire. We felt like we had the run of the place, so it was a bit disappointing that with great snow conditions, the lobby became a bit of a mob scene. Still, the staff were friendly and helpful. We didn’t participate, but on the weekends, they have late-afternoon activities for the kids. Perfect timing to keep them entertained between ski school and dinnertime.

Also entertaining? The hot tubs and pool. Along with an indoor hot tub, the 0utdoor hot tub and heated pool beckoned many of us to hightail it through the cold to enjoy the water. Soaking in the hot tub surrounded by snow was perfect after a long day of skiing. The pool was bearably warm, but not my cup of tepid tea. The kids, however, had a blast.  Any parent knows that a hotel pool is golden, and the novelty of frolicking in the steam outside in February was thrilling for all of them, even if many of the adults supervising them preferred to chitchat in their coats.

A photogenic Jiminy family enjoying the pool. A more realistic image would be ten kids swimming like crazy while the adults huddled in the hot tub with plastic cups.

We thought Jiminy Peak was an excellent and convenient getaway, and we’ll be going again next year.

What a beautiful day! We spent tons of time outside, most of it at Collins Park. In fact, M got a sunburn. Because I’m a bad mother who didn’t put sunscreen on her child.

Well, really, who would’ve guessed that the girls would spend, like, 4 or 5 hours outdoors? After Collins I was sure that they’d collapse on the sofa, but Mary’s granddaughter was visiting and playing outside, so after some food they trooped out again.

Anyway, I’ve suggested Collins Park in Scotia as a sledding destination before, because the parking is right there, and there’s the nearby library and a Dunkin’ Donuts for thawing out/cocoa drinking. I remembered it as a small hill, but it seemed almost treacherously steep today. There’s been a ton of sledding, so it was a quite iced over. I hadn’t noticed, before, that there’s a convenient staircase as well.

The kids loved sledding, but while everyone was sledding, we noticed that the snow was being cleared off of part of Collins Lake.  All of that gleaming ice was calling to us. Pretty soon we were heading to the lake for some sledding and/or sliding.

Look at the huge amount of cleared ice! Do you see the truck-with-plow in the upper left and how teensy it looks? I know!

And of course, on the border there were nice piles of fresh snow to play in. M found it irresistible, even mid-skate. There were some huge piles for a little snow-mountain climbing, which all the kids enjoyed. With all the activity and our winter gear, it felt downright balmy, and one of our friends had brought along a picnic blanket, so we all plopped down and snacked right out on the ice.

It was a wonderful day. Of course, that playroom’s still a pigsty.

Oh, two quick things I’ve been meaning to pass along:  First,  I’ve seen people sledding on what looks like a huge and fun hill just off Hetcheltown Road in Glenville, a bit north of Indian Kill Preserve. Second, you might recall that I was blogging a bit at CBS 6 as katies. I’ve decided to stop because I’ve been busy with other things, but if you’re interested in dabbling in a bit of blogging, I think that they’d love a new volunteer or two. Email me if you’d like details.

Recently we went to our friends’ house to try out their new homemade ice rink.

So, first of all? Completely jealous. Seriously, it’s awesome. Unfortunately we have a small, sloping little yard, so no matter how much I pine (and whine), it’s just not meant to be for us.

Smiling, yes, but crying a little bit inside.

But maybe you could try it. You need some very level ground. In fact, if you believe that you already have level ground, you’re likely to learn that it’s not nearly as level as you thought it was. My friends built a wood frame and lined it with a light-colored tarp (you can see both in the photo above). Then they added water. Presto! Okay, not exactly presto, because there appears to be a bit of finesse involved. Like the corner that turned out to be higher than it appeared and the wind blowing the tarp. Not to mention the constant onslaught of new variations on the “wintry mix” with which a rinkmaster must contend.

But the maintenance and improvements of the rink appear to become a rather compulsive hobby. First there was a PVC-pipe water-distribution system. Then a couple of specially-designed PVC new-skater trainers:

The trainer is a revelation, or at least it was to me. If you’ve ever put a brand-new skater behind a bucket or a chair, you know that: a) they tip over sometimes, and b) they encourage pretty bad form, with the skater often hunched over and dragging their feet along behind them. This PVC-pipe contraption is stable and allows those feet to skate under the body as the Skating Gods intended. The picture above is my daughter using a younger child’s trainer, but the handy dad made trainers sized perfectly for his two kids. One of my girlfriends is waiting for the adult-sized version. He explains:

I made the base 30″ x 30″ and adjusted the height for each kid. The angled pieces are equal, so it makes it easy once you have one side figured out for the height.
Here is the list of materials:

(2) 10′ PVC pipes 1 1/4″Diameter
(6) 90 Deg Fittings
(2) 45 Deg Fittings
(4) “T” Fittings

I didn’t bother gluing for easy adjustment, plus the fittings are so tight they don’t come apart easily.

We had tons of fun skating in the backyard. What’s great is that you can go outside just for an hour (or send the kids out) without having to travel at all. A little exercise in the fresh air is sorely needed at this point in winter. And I have to admit that when we skate at ponds, I frequently have a paranoid fear that there will be a break in the ice and at any moment we’ll have to launch into a chain gang, George Bailey style, to fish somebody out.  So it’s nice to eliminate that anxiety and still enjoy the great outdoors.

Here are some of the links that our friends thought were the most helpful:

• BackyardRink.Net
• My Family Loves It
• Rink Rake: this includes a materials calculator and checklist
• Popular Mechanics: this has one set of instructions on the PVC trainer
• Skating Aids on Flicker: this is the image my friend used as a model for the PVC trainer

The rink was terrific, but we already have improvements in mind for next year. We’re thinking a canopy to protect the rink from the elements, twinkling white lights in the trees, and space for a bonfire at night. Guys, could you get working on it, please?

Does anyone make your own ice rink? Any words of advice or encouragement?