I've got tons of pictures from our trip home to Illinois, but by far, the funniest ones are the ones I caught of the kids sledding. I'm not exactly an outdoorsy type person, which is ironic considering that I'm now a resident of Colorado. Everyone out here is outdoorsy, I swear. So, yes, I'm trying to change that.
(But I just heard on the news we can expect temps tonight to fall to 30 below. Yeah, you won't catch me anywhere near the outdoors.)
Anyway, we were big babies and had the kids sled at my parents' house rather than taking them to Kitty Corral, the big sledding hill in the big city. We're no dummies. We stayed close to the restrooms.
Everyone was decked out in their snow gear. Well, except me. I was pretty much wearing yoga pants, a pajama top, my boots and coat. I think I had a $1 pair of gloves from Wal-mart.
Ethan insisted on snapping the strap to his hat underneath his chin. It kinda reminded me of Joan Cusack in Sixteen Candles with that headgear on.
The Hobbit pretty much plopped himself down and started eating snow. He sat there the entire time.
Sledding is fun, don't get me wrong, but we also saw a lot of this face:
...as the kids trudged back up the hill. Especially if they weren't able to hit "the ramp" that my brother-in-law made for them at the bottom. I was surprised how many of them couldn't hit the ramp, but it added to the humor. I probably shouldn't admit that I spent most of the time laughing at them, but it is what it is.
As for their individual sled-styles...
...well, Ethan had his own unique form. I'd say we had a candidate for the U.S. Olympic Sledding Team.
Don't ya think?
Sophia's form was precise...especially on the run where she literally aimed right for me. With my camera to my face, I didn't realize she was about to plow right into me until a split second before. Collision averted, but I think my heart is still racing a little.
My nephew, Cooper, on the other hand, is a die-hard athlete and he mastered the sled-to-ramp path on the first or second run. Note the seriousness in his face.
I show you that to higlight the difference between Cooper and Ethan. I think this is what made the next part so funny to me (and Matt, my brother-in-law.)
It happened like this...Ethan was plodding down the hill and veered off to the right. We all thought he was done for, including Cooper, who sat poised at the top of the hill for his next run.
Imagine our surprise when Ethan slowly inched his way back onto the main path. And when I say slowly, I mean, he moved like a snail in a trail of molasses.
But, by golly, he made it right back into the center of the path...just as Cooper took off on his run. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...
I think Matt and I laughed for ten straight minutes. The funniest thing was that the entire time, Ethan had no idea Cooper was behind him, he was just happy he was finally heading for the ramp!
Thankfully, there were no hard feelings and they lived to sled again...
One of my favorite highlights of our trip home.
Happy Monday!
