As you read this we have hopefully made it through a day of plane travel to Park City, Utah. Dave was a little worried about my announcing our trip in public but if you are a person with ill intentions, please be aware that we have trained watch-frogs in our home who will croak furiously at intruders.
We're staying at the Lodges at Deer Valley; the place looks so rustic-gorgeous in the photos. Max loves going to big hotels, and he made sure to pack his Cars 2 pillowcase and sheets. Sabrina is psyched for ski school and drinking an obscene amount of hot chocolate. I'm particularly psyched about the National Ability Center, which offers adapted sports to people with disabilities—water sports, sled hockey, archery, cycling, horseback riding, skiing, indoor wall climbing and snowboarding. Max is going to try adaptive skiing. He hasn't taken to it in years past; whenever I've announced "Max, you're going to go skiing!" in the past few weeks, he's shaken his head furiously and said "Nooooooo!" So, we'll see how it goes.
Some of you may recall that I partially tore my ACL two years ago (and how sexy my knee looks in x-rays). I borrowed a brace from a neighbor and I'm going to get out there again. Wish me luck! Otherwise, I will be more than happy to sit around the lodge on my butt. I have a real talent for that.
Next week, I am featuring a series called This Is How I Do It. Awesome bloggers who have kids with special needs are going to share how they juggle it all (and still stay sane). Not a bad thing to read when you have the kids home with you all week!
Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa and Merry Christmas to all of you. Hope you are doing fun stuff with your family.
Love,
Ellen
Ooo- the resort does look stunning. Enjoy every moment of your Utah adventure!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to you and Max with your return to the slopes. But with a fireplace and views like that - I'd be mighty tempted to spend a lot of time at the lodge myself. Hot chocolate? Sounds great to me!
Happy Holidays!
Ellen, do they have TUBING where you are at? It is the most fun you can have with your clothes on and kids just love it. You get in a giant tube and fly down the hill--Max will love that! You get in a little exercise hauling your tube to where you hook up to the rope tow, too! Also, you can sometimes fit yourself and a kid in the tube if your LO is a bit nervous about going down alone or you can hook the tubes together and go down in a group of tubes. If Max doesn't want to ski (I hate it myself so I don't blame him) he might want tubing or tobogganing instead--that's the sort of winter fun we go for, it's way more fun to sit down while you're going at insane speeds down a hill as far as I am concerned! Also, there's no "adaptive" involved--pretty much anyone with any ability level from 5 to a 100 can go tubing--if you can sit, you can tube!
ReplyDeleteI'd be all over the horseback riding if I were with you! Have fun on your holiday! You guys take the best vacations!
I love the card. The pictures are awesome. I love Park City. We went there the year before Emma was born. Great fun! Nice place! I cannot wait to see photos. I love your winter trips most especially, as I dream of taking one too. I love winter sports, but since Emma we have not attempted it. I am thinking she could love some tubing though or kick sledding. Eat some yummy stuff--cause I wanna hear about it.
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays to you all too!!
OK, this place really is stunning. And here's the most amazing thing: As soon as we got here, Max decided that he did want to go skiing. And we tried it this afternoon. And he absolutely, positively loved it. Had THE biggest grin on his face the entire time. Did a good job standing and balancing and is learning to maneuver his skis. The guy from the National Abilities Center, Kevin, was awesome.
ReplyDeleteFelicia: YES!!!! I signed us up for tubing! And snowmobiling! And sleigh-riding!!! Everything but bob-sledding!!!
Amy: You've gotta go on a ski vacation. There are so many places with adaptive sports!
Love the postcard.
ReplyDeleteMy Ashkey's starting adaptive horsebsck riding in the New Year. I wonder if there's somewhere similar to the NAC over here...........
Happy Holidays to you too, Ellen! Have a wonderful time! It sounds like so much fun and I'm thrilled to hear that Max loves the skiing. I'm so tempted to let Malayna have a try but I don't ski and I hate the cold so I keep putting it off!
ReplyDeleteSounds like an awesome time!! We're planning to go back to Bear Valley here in CA this winter - and I declared Jackson gets to come this year. He's never seen snow, and I think he'll like it. I'm trying to find a sled I can somehow adapt so he can sit in it so we can drag him around (since I think the wheelchair won't go so great on the snow!) Just gotta see how old the kiddos have to be to start adapted skiing - but I'm guessing 3 is too young! Enjoy yourselves!!!
ReplyDeletecan't wait to hear about the trip what a beautiful family
ReplyDeleteI follow your blog as my grandson has CP and I live in UT so I'm excited you're here and hope you're loving it. Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteHappy holidays and enjoy your trip :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Hannukah, Ellen! Wishing you and your family the best in 2012.
ReplyDeleteHope you and your family have a great time! We go skiing every year in February at a place in Nothern Lower Michigan called Challenge Mountain with our states Deaf/Blind Project. A great time with other families. As rare as CHARGE Syndrome is, there are usually 2 other families who have a child with it...a great "mini conference" for us.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! Happy holidays to all
ReplyDeleteWe did hippotherapy with the NAC and loved it, until they forced a schedule change on us that had different sidewalkers every week - you guys know how much our little ones love change (not) but we loved it while it lasted.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to come down the hill and see Salt Lake City, give us a shout-out! We'll show you the "real" Utah!
Jana and Kevin, those trips sound awesome! And 3 is NOT too young to try adapted skiing, check in with the place that does it. You will be amazed what they can do.
ReplyDeleteYes, Pam, we are loving Park City. It is just beautiful here, the air is so clean, people are so friendly!
Ginger: We have just a couple days left! But we shall return—I feel like we need a separate visit just for Salt Lake.
Hope you had fun and reading your Utah posts looks like you did :) Glad Max loved skiing :)
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