Snow Trip... how it actually went!

All in all, Monster Boy, Squishy Girl, The Man and I had a blast!


Sure... SG vomited all over herself. TM had to stop and take a walk before he had a "Been in the car with children for about an hour too long" moment, after we'd been in the car for about 5 hours that day off and on, maybe longer. I didn't get to use the spa that I'd so looked forward to... and MB had nothing bad happen at all haha.. but we all had so much fun!

We stayed in a hotel which was 3 hours from home. It was a good, chilly base, with a wicked bath/spa, and comfy bed. TM is pretty fussy when it comes to his neck and back, and he was fine. The kids even slept better! 








The next morning, we jumped up, got ready and headed to the snow.... sort of.
We still had to stop off and hire chains for the tires, and boots for TM. I needed gloves too. Oops.
Far too long later, and a 40 minute turn around to the last fuel place because the situation was becoming dire..... we finally reached the snow... Both MB and SG were in absolute awe of the snow outside increasing more and more as we drove on. As we entered the national park, it got noticeably heavier, and as the road got windier, SG started complaining more and more. What we didn't expect was that she now apparently gets car sick. SO terrible, and I panicked a little. I don't do so well with vomit, and it was everywhere. She was devastated, MB couldn't work out what was going on, and TM was a bit lost as to what he could do. He kept SG calm on the front seat, reassuring her that Mummy could fix it all and we could go to the snow properly soon. Best man ever.
After half a packet of baby wipes and a complete clothing change, and a toddler carrier in her seat, SG was strapped in again and we were set to go!
We drove for another 15 minutes, watching the snow get heavier, until we found a rest stop, which was just perfect. Small, pretty flat, lots of snow, not busy and free. Perfect!
The kids mostly just ran around and played in the snow, experimenting with the new texture. Monster loved going down the small hills on the snow sledge we borrowed from a fabulous mama I love dearly, and Squish... well, this sums up her experience really... 

She mostly just crawled around in the snow.
The next day, we went home. Both of my darling children cried when they realised we were going home and not going back to the snow. 

We will be back next year, without question.

 

Snow Trip!

Okay, so when I say snow trip I'm probably overstating things a little.

Monster-boy has said to me that he wants to go to the snow for a few months now, every time I asked him if he could do ANYTHING in the world, what would he do.

So with my man, we planned a weekend away, where MB (who is now 4y, 4m) can play in the snow and we can learn about the snow together.

Squishy girl is all too happy to come along, and is delighted to be going to see "snooooooooooooooooooow".

I've not been to the snow since I was 12, and the man hasn't since he was a little younger than that, so it's kind of a new thing for us too. He's very relaxed about it... me, well, not so much!

I've made lists, I've asked for opinions and tips, I've read blogs and I still feel a bit lost - and we leave tonight!

There's about 9 hours until we leave and I'm procrastinating by updating a blog I haven't added to in months ;)

Here are some of the great tips I've picked up along the way:

Kids love to eat snow, so consider taking some vanilla and sugar. We're going to take some ready-made vanilla sugar since I only heard this one yesterday, so no time to make vanilla sugar, though it's super easy.

Take some small dolls/little people style toys. Making a mini igloo is easy, cute and gets a lot of love from the kids too. Mine have a soft toy igloo, and we've looked at photos online to see what they 'really' look like, so MB & SG should be super excited to see a real (mini) igloo made.

Definitely buy or hire boots for little ones! Little toes get cold fast.

Ebay and op shops are perfect for snow gear, especially for little ones. They tend to be lightly used only, especially in Australia, and cheap. Love a cheap holiday!

Look online for activities (printables and at home activities) to do with the kids before you head off, or to do in the car on the way. I laminated ours and punched holes in them, popped them in a folder with some whiteboard markers, and some of the crayola whiteboard crayons (seriously, why did no one ever tell me these existed?!), and they loved them!

(ETA: This is now a belated post, snow update to come!)

New Experiences, New Outlook

It might not seem like a big deal to some, but in the last almost 2 weeks, I've logged into Facebook three times. 

I love it a little too much, and I chose to back off a little and experience life, instead of constantly updating everyone about the little things. 

I'm going to make a list of all of the wonderful things I get up to with Monster Boy and Squishy Girl, as well as The Man. 

My first, and it was before the BIG facebook ban...


Monster Boy wanted to go to the snow. He asked way back at the start of winter. I asked what he wanted to do, if he could do anything at all. If he could go anywhere and do anything. It was the *second* thing he said. The first was go in a rocket to the moon... still working on something for that one, I reckon we can find something close in a museum or go to the observatory ;)
 

So.... we went the SNOW! Stay tuned for a post (or possibly - probably - several!)