Sick House Blues with Adventure In-Between

It's ba-a-a-a-a-ck! The cold that never leaves. My boy and my man got it at the beginning of November and kind of wrapped it up for Thanksgiving. Right after Thanksgiving, I got it and after three weeks (just in time for Christmas!), I got over it. The day after Christmas, I got it again and didn't leave the house until New Year's Day. The Man has had it off and on, and The Boy has had it off and on, but not enough to stay home. During one of his respites, The Boy went on a skiing trip with his youth leader and one other kid from the group. They drove over to Ponte Vedra and joined up with other youth groups all over the diocese and rode a chartered bus up to West Virginia. They do this every year, but this was The Boy's first time. A lot of firsts. First mountains. First snow. First skiing. And he fell in love with all of them!

It was a pretty good deal, actually. Transportation, lodging, rentals and food for four days for less than $400. These are The Boy's feet and his yellow skis!

I looked this place up (Winterplace, WV) and was comforted to see that they had a "carpet" lift for newbies. It's kind of like an escalator for you and your skis and runs alongside the bunny slope. Given that my child freaked and tried to jump off a rollercoaster once, I was relieved that he didn't have to go up in the air on a ski lift.

 

Of course, once he got over the idea, he was quite eager to try the up-in-the-air chair lift. He didn't jump out.

 

It wasn't too cold. Highs were in the low to mid-40s, but it was enough to pink his skin and chap his lips - despite the sunscreen and lip balm I sent along.

I sent along some extra money for lunch on the way up and dinner on the ride home, plus tubing and whatever else he might need. Since he left his ski boots on the bus and couldn't get to them, he missed tubing - but bought these awesome ski goggles instead. I have a feeling he's going to need them next year...

 

These are the folks from OUR church. The Boy, Hayden (youth leader), and William. They all had a wonderful time and I'm pretty sure they'll be back. I was kind of expecting The Boy to get sick again right after he returned, as he'd been cooped up with a bunch of people on the bus - but I was wrong. It was the return to school that did him in. I'm letting him stay home today. Gave him ibuprophen, a glass of water (and breakfast) and sent him back to bed. Oh well. At least he got to have an adventure in between!