We played hookey today and went skiing.

J has been having a bit of a rough time lately, feeling a little like he isn’t getting enough attention.  Add to that the fact that his teacher retired at Christmas and J didn’t get to say good-bye because he was sick and he now has a new teacher who doesn’t know him.  I wanted to do something just for him.

His best buddy at school’s Mom and I had been talking about taking the kids out of school one day so J could try out skiing when a Saturday full of people weren’t around to intimidate him.  Knowing that a huge Winter storm was heading out way and that today was going to be relatively warm and enjoyable we kept them home from school, packed up some lunches and away we went.

 J did awesome.  We tried to go up the baby hill using a tow rope, but J couldn’t grab hold of is so we headed straight for the chair lift.  A little difficulty getting off (they had to stop the lift so I could get off after throwing J off) we started down the hill.  My neck is feeling the fact that J wasn’t standing up and counting on me to hold him, but by the time we got to the bottom we were getting the hang of it.  Sorry, I should say that since it was his first time, I had to go down the hill without poles in the snowplow position (which they now call the pizza) standing directly behind J and holding him under his arms and guide him down the hill.  It was tough.  After that run, his helmet was bothering him, so he and his Buddy took a break and played on a little hill, without skiis, while I and his Mom took turns going down the hill a couple of times.

We went back up for another run and he did marvelous.  The lift guy saw my wave and slowed down the lift so we could get off easier.  And J was doing so well standing that I was able to let go of him for a minute so he could feel what it was like to glide on his own.  Then at the bottom, I straightened our skis and crouched down so we could bomb the end.  He loved it!  He even asked Hubby if we could go again tomorrow with him.  Which of course would be nice, but we can’t skip another day of school and it is going to be -30C  (-22F) tonight so there will be no skiing for a few days.  That and Hubby has to work.  At least we know he loved it though.  And since I haven’t been on my skis in nine years, I loved it too!

Thank you all for your comments on my up coming Blogiversary.  I will do the draw on Wednesday and post the Winner then.

I often think about how blessed I am to live in our Nation’s Capital and to live so close to nature and farms while still living in suburbia. The problem is.  I rarely get a chance to enjoy the nature I live so close to.  We are always whizzing by it in the car.  So many times I want to just get out and take pictures or walk along the paths that skirt the edge, but there never seems to be enough time in the day.

When Hubby started running a couple of years ago, I kept asking him why he didn’t take the route along the farm.  We drive by it almost every day, it is beautiful and you feel like you aren’t running through the community.  He figured it would be too boring.  So for a whole summer he ran on sidewalks, dodging garbage cans, going up and down curbs, waiting for cars to go through the stop signs.

Then one day he needed to go for a long run.  The ones that I wouldn’t be going along with the stroller and rollerblades.  He decided to pass by the farm.  And what joy he found in watching the beautiful horses and the calmness of the fields.  Part of the path goes through a forest and all sorts of animals come out to see you (including the wolves, only once so far).  And of course, I was jealous.  By that time I was pregnant with Apple and could barely walk, let alone rollerblade through nature.  And all winter long I longed to go and see the horses and on foggy mornings, I wish I could take photos of them, but so far all the foggy mornings have happened during the week.

Then Father’s Day happened.  And Hubby wanted us all to come along for his run.  I didn’t mind, it was only an hour and although running for an hour still scares me, rollerblading for an hour is nothing.  All I wanted was to bring my camera though.  Well, I got off a few shots before J was yelling to keep up with Daddy and Apple was getting antsy thinking we were done. J finally got out and ran for a while and I caught up to everyone after taking my shots.  I will have to go back though.  Alone.  But, it was finally wonderful to enjoy some of the nature that is so close to me.  And the best part?  We were home by 9:30am and swimming in the pool.

Along our little route this is what we passed (nature wise): two strawberry farms that are almost ready to open, the corn fields, the horseback riding farm (I have no idea the name of it or how to find them other than to knock on their door, but they have a riding school), a local veggie stand, a local nursery and the forest where we saw bunnies and chipmonks. There were other not so natural things we passed like the grocery store and the gas stations, but those are all but forgotten when you see such natural beauty.  Now how to get Hubby to run along the boardwalk by the river, which again, is only five minutes away.