Pando!

Today was Martin Luther King's birthday, and for the past 4 or 5 years, it's been our tradition to go tubing at Pando with our friends Linda and Andrew and their kids. 

Some years, it's been SO COLD that we're there for an hour or so, and none of us can feel our toes. One year, it was warm and slushy enough that when we got there, we almost immediately turned around and left because people told us that it wasn't even worth trying. But THIS year! It was perfect tubing weather. The past couple of days were a touch warmer, which made the snow start to melt, but then today was 30 degrees, so it was all frozen over and icy but not cold enough to make us freeze. As we were leaving, Houston even complained, "I wish i were a little bit colder! I'm so hot!" 

The kids are also kind of the perfect age right now. All of them are old enough that we can say, "Okay! Have fun!" and then if we're all up at the top of the hill at the same time, they're eager to ride down in a group, but we don't have to keep careful track of where each one is at all times. The only time i had to say anything parental was to Zane. 

See, we were going up the hill - Juanito, Zane, and i. They have these wires that you hook your tube to, and they drag you up the hill. Somehow, Zane's tube ended up on top of the wire, which he thought was concerning, so he tried to dislodge it, but in the process he knocked his tube hook from the wire as well. Halfway up the hill. He panicked for maybe 5 seconds, and then ran to re-hook his tube on. Except then his tube started going up the hill without him, so he had to run to catch up to it and jump onto it. It was hilarious, and Juanito and i praised him for sorting it out himself. 

Except that running up the hill after his sled had apparently been really fun, because the next time i saw him on the lift, he jumped off of his tube 2-3 times and ran to leap back on. Not as much okay when it's on purpose.

Other than that, though, it was two and a half hours of fun. I only went down solo twice, and one of those times was when i was racing Linda. I went down in pairs with Katrina and Zane and Juanito, in groups with all of the adults and all of the kids and multiple variations thereof. Houston found one of his best friends there, so he went down with her a few times. We all left happy. (And starving.)