A "Big White" Mid-winter Break

When Bill suggested a ski vacation to a resort in Canada, let's just say I wasn't that thrilled. I have been a snow hater for a few years now. I don't know what started it. I hate being cold, having wet clothes, trying to get places in the snow. Or, it could be related to driving home from color guard competitions with 7 girls who weren't my own in my car during blizzard conditions. That happened a few times. Anyhow, you get the idea. 


 I am happy to report that our mid-winter break at Big White was a delightful weekend. We really had tons of fun. I do have to add that I didn't actually get on skis the whole weekend. Who goes to a ski resort and doesn't ski? Me, that's who. But between trying to keep Ethan happy and so many other activities, I never did it. There's always next time. 


 Here's a re-cap....... 


 The accommodations: We stayed in a little chalet, as I like to call it (cause I'm so European), that was really nice! It had a big family room with a big screen TV, a full kitchen (that we never used), two bedrooms, one for Bill and I and one with bunks for the kids, two and 1/2 baths, and a hot tub it on the balcony! It was the perfect little hideaway. 

Inside our little Chalet

 The Snow: Tons and tons of it. It would start snowing every day at about 5pm and would snow all night. We woke up every morning to about a foot of fresh snow. It was so fun to wake up, get all our snow gear on and go frolic in the huge snow banks right outside our door. I felt like a kid again rolling down the huge snow banks. Our little chalet had about 3 feet of snow on the roof. Very picturesque. 

That is the roof of our Chalet!

 The tubing: Here's the set-up: Grab a tube, get hooked on to one of the two rope pulls by a cute Big White employee, leisurely relax and look up at the snow falling gently on the huge pine trees as you are pulled to the top of the huge sledding hill. Then you scream at the top of your lungs as you get flung, by yet another cute Big White employee, down the huge snowy mountain. All kidding aside, it was probably the best family entertainment there! We would hook all 4 of our tubes together and make it a family ride. Great fun! 

 The ice skating: Some genius at Big White came up with this "granny walker" made just for the remedial skater. Seriously, it was a walker thing sort of like an old person would use that would slide across the ice. This little contraption made ice skating possible for our family. Bill, Ethan and Andy we're ok with giving skating a try as long as they had their "walkers". Bill eventually graduated to "big boy" skating and did a fabulous job, but the most surprising thing was that Ethan loved skating! He kept asking to go back. I, of course, was skating circles around everyone. (I get bragging rights here because skating is the only snow sport I'm really any good at) 

That's me thinking I'm all professional when really I just look like an old lady

 The skiing: as I mentioned. I didn't ski. But Bill and Andy did! They spent a whole day on the slopes. There is miles and miles of ski runs. They must have gone on at least 7 or 8 different lifts and even made it to the summit. They had to ski down the mountain in the fog on that one! They both came back exhausted and sore, but happy. 

SO cold at the summit their lashes are frozen!

 The snowmobiling: Fun, fun, fun!! I can't believe they let a person who has never even been on a snowmobile take one for an hour drive over the craziest, bumpiest, snowiest terrain imaginable and even let her child sit on the back. This was insanity. The instructor was in the lead, Bill behind with Andy on the back of his, then I brought up the rear with Ethan riding on mine. I was going like gangbusters trying to keep up with those two crazies. The trail was like slaloms for snowmobiles. Poor Ethan was on the back getting his teeth shaken out of his head over every bump. (I think I made him cry once). But, he said (at the end) that it was super fun despite barely being able to hold on. Glad he did, though. Craziness. One word of advise: Never! never! never! go snowmobiling when you need to pee. It is torture. Good thing I was able to stand up over most of the big bumps or my ski pants would have needed changing. Still, most crazy fun I've had in a long time! 

oh yeah! That's me driving that beast!

 The sleigh ride: Oh me, oh my...the sleigh ride. It looked good on paper! It really did. The description was something like..."go on a fifteen minute horse drawn sleigh to a secluded cabin in the woods where a delightful breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs awaits you. Then complete your hour long sleigh ride through the beautiful Canadian backwoods!". Sounds good, right? Not so much. The driver was this wierd old man who liked to make off-color jokes. Then it turns out that this cabin breakfast is in a dirty, stinky little cabin, and the driver is also our cook. The same driver who has just been harnessing horses, changing poo bags and driving a sleigh. He actually said," if you get any horse hairs in your eggs, they are free with the meal". Har har. Hilarious. The meal consisted of eggs (which may or may not contain horse hairs), super greasy bacon and the worst pancakes I have ever eaten. Bill could have made better pancakes with both hands tied behind his back. Then a fridged ride back to the lodge listening to this guy crack lame jokes as my feet turned to ice cubes. I think we'll skip the sleigh ride next time. 

Looks picturesque, doesn't it?

Ethan got to drive.  Doesn't he look thrilled.

 The snowshoeing: This was the most unexpected delightful adventure of the trip. The boys were really not too excited to participate in this activity at first, especially after just getting off the sleigh ride. We met our guide, put on our snowshoes and got underway. The snowshoes were easy to use and a quick adjustment for all of us. Our tour guide was GREAT! He was this awesome, rugged, adventurous, weathered old Canadian guy who knew everything there was to know about the flora and fauna, animal tracks, trees, etc. Andy said it was more like a botany class than anything and he loved it! He was following this guy around as close as he could get to catch all the words of wisdom pouring out of his mouth. We tracked through the back woods of the area and because of the fresh snowfall, we were blazing our own trails the whole time. It was stunningly beautiful with the fresh snow on the ground, the beautiful scenery, and a light snowfall coming down. None of us got too cold with all the moving around and hiking we were doing. It was a great workout, too! I think that was the most surprisingly memorable adventure of the trip.






The sore muscles:  We all woke up the last day to find that we couldn't move.  So sore!  Between the skiing, snowmobiling and snowshoeing we all hurt so good!  But totally worth it.

Bill said it might have been his favorite vacation ever, so I guess it was all worth it.  I love vacations that exceed expectation, and that was certainly one of them!