Three Musketeers: Zachary, Wyatt, & Yannick: Sledding Newbies!

Today we finally did it - we finally took the kids sledding. Last summer, a neighbor was moving away and had unloaded a bunch of their unwanted stuff into the alley, and we picked up two perfectly good sleds - or sledding disks really. Last year we didn't think the boys would be ready to brave the cold etc to try it (and we had no sleds), but this year we were all excited. Of course we pick a day that is in the low 20s with a crisp wind. They lasted much much longer out there than I ever expected - over an hour. Including a quick stop at the playground b/f heading back to the car. That ended fairly quickly b/c Zachary hurt his face when he tried to climb UP the slide. With snow all on the slide. Not super smart. I didn't see it happen, but he was out of commission after that.

Both boys did GREAT at sledding. We went to a little hill first, and I was SHOCKED that Wyatt was willing to try it on his own. He'd been talking it up for weeks, and when we got there, he kept saying "I don't want to sled", and complaining of the cold (I too felt like complaining - it was bitter). We had bundled us all up in snow pants, sweatshirts, snow jackets, hats, scarves, and mittens. Wyatt barely fit in the carseat.

Art and Zach went down the little hill first, each on their own sled.

The inaugural run - Zachary alone and Art alone on the small hill.

Wyatt's first time on a sled, going down the small hill, then surprised by Zach who zooms past

Zachary and Wyatt posing before a run on the little hill

Zach and Wy go down the little hill together...Wyatt a bit more tentative than Zach.

After several runs on the little hill, it was time to move over to bigger and better challenges...the big hill (but not the big big hill, which did not look like it had enough snow on it, though later we saw people sledding down it). What a workout this hill was. It was pretty steep and a bit slippery to get up. I had to carry Zach's disk up the hill, watch them sled down, then WALK (no sledding for pregnant ladies!) down to meet Zach and help him walk back up the hill, me carrying his sled. Art, even more of a workout, had to carry Wyatt up the hill each time. All three of my sledding boys loved loved loved it.

Art and Wyatt, sharing a sled, going down the big hill while Zachary starts walking up it.

This was a pretty big hill, I thought, and was impressed that Zach did it all by himself. The first few runs, he was pretty nervous, and kept dragging his arms on the ground to slow himself down. Then I finally got him to stop doing that and he just held on to the disk. He got a little nervous when he would turn around and end up going backwards for a bit, but after a few runs, he didn't even mind that. His sled just kept going and going and going. Art and Wyatt busted a few times, falling out of the sled, with Art on his back, holding Wyatt tightly to his belly. Art would then slide 10-20 ft on his back. Wyatt thought the whole thing was hilarious. He loved going down with Art and kept doing it even after Zach got tired and retreated to the playground.