Monday, January 17, 2011

Winter Fun

Today is MLK day. The base is pretty much closed down.  Jared and Arielle went skiing with the PYOC (Protestant Youth of the Chapel).  We decided  this would be a great opportunity to take the little ones out cross country skiing. I've only attempted it once.....but I was game.  I did much better this time.....

May I say it's BEAUTIFUL to go skiing on snow covered sand dunes, in the midst of pine forests and in big fields of unbroken snow...... We skied for a couple of hours. I didn't ski during this time - I ran beside Stacia and Zander. We had lunch in the van. Mike watched Stacia who decided not to ski and I skied with the boys. What a hoot! At one point the wind was so strong I fell over....and realized I didn't know quite how to get back up.....I kept trying various things until the boys caught up to me with some helpful tips.....Mike and Stacia were in the tower and enjoyed the hilarity. For a bit of time I simply turned flat on my back, stuck my skis into the snow, laughed until I cried, and enjoyed the incredible view. I love Japan.

We tried to rent skis from the base's Outdoor Rec. NO Children's skis....and the smallest boot was ladies 7.5. I wear 6 - so it was a bit uncomfortable out there.... We borrowed two sets of children's skis for Zander and Stacia from Mary, a friend.  Turns out that Zanders boys size 5 fit me perfectly and he would have preferred my women's 7.5. All that to say that I need to go online and try to find some used skis...we live in the snow covered boonies...the farm roads would be great for cross country skiing...the kids loved it. The beach is also wonderful for skiing. LOL


It took a good 30 min to get everyone situated on skis. 


Michael gave some quick instructions....

Oops....falling is still fun early in the day.
 More instructions 

 I NEVER would have guessed I'd ski on the beach...what fun. 
 Oops - spectacular falls from Zander.
 A girl must have her priorities. 
 Running along side for the first bit of skiing meant I could take lots of photos. 


 Zander took off his skis. Michael decided to teach Nolan how to do some bunny hills. 
 Zander really wanted to give it a try too. We talked. I told him  he WOULD fall, but he'd have fun. I'd let him  put his skis back on if he promised no more melt downs when he fell. He's High - He's Low....that's our boy. I think he was simply overwhelmed each time he fell and couldn't quite remember how to get up.....panic....no matter how many times we told him what to do...and he had lots of practice getting back up. ::grin:: We made sure the day ended on a high note. 




When we were tired, wet and getting cold....we loaded up and drove down to check out another beach. It was incredibly windy there and COLD....but we snapped this photo  for Mom and Dad G - we match Crescent City.

 Always fun to see the van out alone on adventures.....We are enjoying the 4WD.

For the life of us we can't figure out what happened to Mike's Snow wear. He went looking yesterday and this a.m. for suitable warm clothing on the economy. Through trial and error we discovered Nolan can wear a Japanese man's Large...and Michael is L5. 

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Fun Sign


Construction sign at the beach today....I'm guessing it says "Pier is being built - stay out" or something.  The Pier most certainly is NOT built at this point. 


Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...