Sledding!

I have discovered something new. Sledding! I have always let Shawn take the girls and I have stayed home, where it's warm, and had the hot chocolate ready when they got back. Always. For years. I've heard the stories, I've seen the pictures and never felt like I was missing anything. I, after all, was the smart one. The warm one.

Well, things have changed.

Saturday Shawn had taken the girls earlier and as per tradition, I'd stayed here. He had a soccer game that afternoon and since I'd been in my jammies for two and a half days I felt like that was a good reason to shower, get dressed, and leave the house. But our neighbors called and said they were going sledding again. I couldn't send my three children with her and since she had her four. That's scary math. I decided to layer up and just go with them. After all, with my new camera and new telephoto lens (!!!) I could consider it a lesson time.

429 and the loss of 10 toes later? I had a blast!! I didn't sled. The camera plus the still sore tailbone 8 months later made that decision easy.

We went to a local college just half a mile away and hit 'Holy Hill'. It's a religious college. And to some it looked like it was a religious experience!

I will not bore you with 429 pictures. You're thanking God right now, aren't you? In my defense, the action setting means continuous shooting is enabled. So that could mean that on one run down the hill I got 15 pictures. For my personal folders, I love that. For my faithful blog readers, I'll hit the highlights.

I love you guys:c) And don't want you to leave me!

When you take beautiful girls and meet a bunch of friends, how can the day be bad?

A bump had been built up and my girls had no fear going over it. They successfully made it almost every time but it was the crashes that I just loved. Good parenting, don't you think?I'm not sure, but I think McKinley is having a good time.I loved the trains. Especially the trains that stayed together. This was very rare.Our friend Bob came and his daughter Paige never left McKinley's side. Blake on the other hand didn't want to leave his dad. Bob is 62 and went down that hill over and over again. Such an awesome dad! I of course just took pictures. Hey, we all have our callings.Another successful train. But since the first three girls were holding there hands out for stability McKinley was getting slammed in the face with snow. Her facial expressions cracked me up!Much like the train, the tower was quite popular. These never lasted. But the crashes were hilarious!I didn't always get their heads in the shot but this one speaks to me. I can just imagine McKinley's face.They held it together though. Who would have guessed after that last picture.They came to a stop and then were laughing so hard that they fell over on each other.Another one where I didn't get the full shot but the point is coming across.I don't know who this little boy is and I probably took too many pictures of him...but no one complained. Every time he came down he would land, lay there for about a minute, and then collect his sled, and head back up. If he landed face down, he took his minute and then went again. So entertaining!When we got to the hill Sherri Pat (Pitty Pat if you're special:c) was there. We were with her sister-in-law and nieces and nephew so I wasn't surprised. But then I found out she'd gone because she is just a big ol' kid. She is the most fun grown up I have ever known. Last time we were with her we were at her house doing this. See, she's a blast!And just because we're in Yoklahoma...a wheel less wheelbarrow. This goes back three years. Shawn took the girls sledding behind the car in the church parking lot. He found a family there with a dad on a riding lawnmower pulling his son in a broken wheelbarrow. Luckily Shawn videoed it because, of course, I was at home where it was warm! Our neighbors were there also and now they own their very own Redneck Sled. Yee-haw!The wheelbarrow usually won though. Much better on flat surfaces. But the results were hilarious!

So there you have it. The reason I lost feeling in my toes and tushie. If fat freezes first I'm really feeling sorry for my toes.