Sledding in Flagstaff

We realized that the last time we played in the snow was when EVA was about 18 months old. That puts us about 3 years with no snow. The kids had been talking a lot about how much they wanted to play in the snow. So we decided to head to Flagstaff, AZ, about 3 hours North of Phoenix, where they get snow.

So yesterday morning we packed up and headed North. The car ride up the kids talked about all the fun things they were going to do, "We're gonna go sledding, have a snowball fight, make a snowman, go ice skating, ...." They had quite a list! While we didn't do everything on their list we did get a chance to go sledding and have a good snowball fight.

Because Dave and I are from Utah and Idaho, we were not braced for what sledding in AZ entails. There are two places in Flagstaff where you can go sledding. We went to Wing Mountain and had to PAY $10 to park. Luckily there were a ton of hills to sled on, but it was CROWDED! There were probably about 1000 people crammed on about 2 acres. I have never had to wait in line to sled before! It was weird! They hadn't had snow for a while so our $10 parking fee went to man-made snow. It was more like sledding on black ice than on snow. Needless to say, we went SUPER fast down the hills and SUPER far! It was awesome.

Ivy was less than thrilled with the whole experience. She had fun going down about 2 times, then complained the rest of the time. She refused to wear her gloves then cried about her cold fingers. She loved making and throwing snowballs, but could only get one good throw in before her fingers were too cold.

Porter had one of those sledding disks and could totally book it down the hills. Eva had a cute purple two-person sled that, after a few times down, she would take down on her own. One time, Porter and Eva decided to race and see who's sled was faster. Eva totally rocked it! She got to the bottom and hoped up to do her victory dance and rub it in, when she totally got run over by a sled. The sled went right over the top of her, and she cut up her lip a bit and hurt her arm. Luckily we were ready to head home anyway.

I was surprised how excited Dave and I were to go sledding. We were as giddy as the kids to go play in the snow. Now that we have sleds and our warm clothes, we're gonna wait till the next snowstorm, call in sick to school and work and go up to play in the powder.