In the fall we locked down two weekends for potential ski trips - one in Jan and the second in Feb. It felt possible...doable...likely that we'd actually get two ski trips in this year. That is until a Zach started clocking the weather two weeks out and the temps looked bad. We'd planned a ski trip up to Wausau - our first attempt with the kids at a new ski hill. The weekend fell on the same weekend of Jamie's neighbor's snowmobile race so we planned a weekend of outdoor winter activities (Ryan was so excited!).
We rented a house in Wausau for Thursday to Sunday and planned to pull the kids out of school Friday. We'd ski Friday, watch the snowmobile races on Saturday and head home Sunday. It was all set and we were all excited. I called the kids out of school earlier in the week and then the cold weather Zach had been predicting hit. The lows (not including wind chills) were predicted at -40! The schools canceled for Friday, the ski hill closed and we decided we'd make the most of it. The house we rented was right on the river so the girls and the dad's decided to try and make a spot to skate. I was worried it would be way too cold, but it sounds like the kids had a great time - that is until they put the skate on, found out they hurt their feet and that the ice wasn't smooth and that was the end of that! But, I bet they were outside clearing the snow to skate for over an hour. (Meanwhile, Jamie and I were inside knitting and watching Netflix).
My guess is that the dad's did most of the shoveling. Though Zach did comment on Hazel's method of shoveling being totally random and chaos shoveling. Tracks...very much tracks.
Too cold to ski meant we needed another activity - so indoor arcade and laser tag it was. Guys - we had the best time doing indoor laser tag. Who knew I would find so much joy in kicking the kids butts? They had a rule that there was no running - which, honestly was impossible to follow. I've never been so hot as I was run-walking around laser tag with my winter boots and hoodie on. We had such a fun time the kids have been talking about it ever since.
Saturday the snowmobile race was still on! Cold be darned, they were going to race. They started much later than planned because of the snow "fog" which now that we've seen a race we understand. Basically the machines kick up the snow and it creates a fog of snow that is nearly impossible to see through - and super dangerous for the racers as you can imagine.
It was still extremely cold and I'm really thankful we were able to sneak into the family section with Macy (Jamie's neighbor) because Hazel's face in the picture below is how I felt in my heart starting about 15 minutes after we arrived. I tried to have a good attitude, but it was cold and there wasn't really anywhere to sit and be warm. We didn't really understand the races and what was happening and we didn't have a horse in the race really.....I was ready to go 30 minutes in. But! We stuck it out for the entire race and I think overall the kids had fun. I'm sure it'll be a trip they remember for a long time. And, that's the goal - making memories!
Gunner (Jamie's neighbor) did end up winning the whole race, which made it fun for the kids. I'm not sure if we'll make this a yearly tradition, but I do have a feeling we'll try again next year - at least the skiing part! The kids loved the house we rented and the drive isn't bad. Wausau, we'll be back!
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