Since our Disney Cruise 2 years ago, we wanted another Disney experience, and the intention was to visit the Aulani resort; unfortunately, it was entirely booked up for Christmastime by September so we decided to stick with Hawaii and try our luck with cruising again.
Shark Boy is a veteran traveller…
Arrival in Honolulu – Hilton Hawaiian Village
We flew into Honolulu with a pleasant, direct flight from Toronto and checked in to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It’s a huge resort, and our room in the Rainbow tower had a lovely ocean view. There are several swimming pools and access to the beach as well as a sheltered lagoon where stand up paddleboards can be rented. I’m going to try and hold back from complaining about how expensive everything was throughout these stories, as this seemed to apply to Hawaii in general. Let me just say that Starbucks was the most reasonable breakfast option, and it wasn’t that reasonable.
So many rainbows in Hawaii… this one had the most intense colours I’ve ever seen.
Scuba Dive
The day after arriving I went on a 2 tank dive with Aloha Scuba. This was quite possibly the best dive I have ever been on, and while I always regret not being able to get good photos of my dives, this was the day that made me vow to get a GoPro before my next dive. The first dive was the Nautilus reef off Waikiki beach. The reef is beautiful, and I seemed to have a talent for spotting Moray eels, in fact, it was the first time I saw one swimming in the open rather than poking out from a hole in a reef. We had discussed the common hand signals for wildlife found in the area, and the one for dolphins struck me as weird – you point to your ear. During the dive, I found out why; you hear dolphins squeak before you see them. They were beautiful black and blue and seemed to fly across our field of vision like a flock of birds. This dive was about 45 minutes at a depth of approximately 54 feet.
The next dive site was a wreck known as the YO 257, though we managed to look at another called San Pedro on the same dive. Our dive group managed to co-star in the cellphone videos of passengers aboard an Atlantis Submarine tour – if you were on that vessel, the dork doing an underwater floss dance was me. In addition to getting a great up-close view of the vessel, I was within 15 feet of a white tip reef shark and I saw a trio of beautiful eagle rays. Apparently a tiger shark has been seen nearby, but I’ll tell you I was fine missing out on that. We spent 24 minutes at a depth of approximately 95 feet. The divemaster was very generous with advice on controlling my buoyancy and being more efficient with my energy which leads to less air use and longer dive times, but I was still the first one low on air. We snacked on fresh pineapple between dives and on the way back, and I’d recommend Aloha Scuba to anyone who is diving the Waikiki Beach area.
Last Night In a Hotel…
Once I got back to the hotel, I took the boys swimming in one of the hotel pools. We found the water cold, but we didn’t care too much since we’re Canadians just happy to be able to swim outdoors! I took Shark Boy to one of the little tuck shops and sprung for a little ball that we could play catch with; it served us well on every subsequent beach we visited. We had a long wait for service at our dinner restaurant and the jet lag was kicking in. The Lightning Kid fell asleep at the table while I waited for dessert, and my wife and Shark Boy went back to the hotel room to watch a fireworks display. I was still waiting for dessert when the fireworks went off and nearly scared me to death – hearing fireworks without seeing them isn’t really fun in my books. I still managed to enjoy a night-time walk on the beach with Shark Boy though.
Knocked out.
That same Jet Lag had us up early and to the beach after breakfast, but not for too long because we were checking out and boarding by noon. We tried to game the ideal boarding time – the sooner we arrive, the sooner we can take advantage of food we’ve already paid for, but by coming later, I wonder if we could have avoided the longer line-ups to clear security etc.
The overall route/itinerary
The mood on board was very friendly and festive, and it wasn’t long before we were enjoying the feeling of the seas rolling beneath our feet. We managed to book almost every excursion we had wanted on board that evening in spite of being shut-out of them when trying to book online.
Port of Kahului on Maui – Day 1
Our first excursion was to board a catamaran and snorkel the famous Molokini Crater and a site known as Turtle Arches. The cruise was operated by the Pacific Whale Foundation (which is apparently non-profit) and it made considerable effort to be environmentally friendly including providing reef-safe sunscreen and controlling/reducing garbage. The guides were fun and friendly (especially with kids). They provided extra floatation gear including pool noodles or vests or whatever you were comfortable with. At Molokini, the Black Triggerfish were the most friendly fish; even though you are not permitted to feed them, they live long enough to remember when they would get fed and swim right up to snorkelers. I think we also saw Yellow Tang and Parrotfish.
Turtle Arches was the second stop on the catamaran cruise. We were enjoying the snorkelling but weren’t seeing any turtles, and we were about to return to the boat when Shark Boy said he had seen one; I was skeptical because the last near-sighting turned out to be a rock. Sure enough, not 50 feet from the boat’s exit for snorkelers was a giant sea turtle – it must have been at least 5 feet in diameter. I was able to dive down and get a side view of it (from a respectable distance, we are not to disturb them), and while I was telling another family about where to find it, I noticed it coming to the surface for air! They are really magical creatures – those black eyes seem to exude this calm wisdom.
When we got back to the ship we had some downtime and put the kids into the onboard kids’ club called Splash Academy. Shark Boy was a little underwhelmed by it at first; as the week went on he found it improved because they had more ‘active’ activities, though I suspect it was also because he started making friends. He also expects to be given free rein instead of being roped into structured activities (on the Disney cruise of 2 years ago, the kids club had video games and screens if he didn’t want to participate). My wife and I enjoyed a date night at the onboard Churrascaria, where you are served select meats (usually from a skewer) until you turn a little card over from its green to the red side to say ‘No More!’. The kids club called us just as dinner started to let us know the Lightning Kid was falling asleep (again). I had asked if he could just lie down on one of their mats but they apparently reserve that space for active play and couldn’t accommodate that. Still, I refused to leave our date just as it was getting started and asked them to manage him till we could finish – what else are we paying for except for them to keep our kids safe for a little while?
Port of Kahului, Maui – Day 2
Our second excursion was a Rainforest and Waterfall Hike. I’m very happy that our family has evolved into hikers over the last year or so – all we needed was for the Lightning Kid’s legs to get strong and long enough! A bus took us on part of the Hana highway till we reached the trailhead – apparently, the trail is on a private farm property, but the owners allow hiking tours because they are “hippies”. We hiked through the rainforest and learned about the local ecology – Hawaii seems to be dominated by invasive species (at least when you look at it from an evolutionary timeframe – a few thousand years ago even the wildest parts would have looked entirely different). We saw the Bird of Paradise flower, bananas, and other plants.
The most amazing botanical sight was the Mimosa Pudica or ‘shy’ Mimosa. This plant actually shrinks and ‘shies’ away when touched.
Of course, we are a family of action! So the best parts weren’t plantlife, they were the waterfalls where we got to cool off with a swim! We visited 3 distinct locations with waterfalls and pools to swim in. On some, you could climb the rocks and jump in.
Back on board, we took time out to find out how to navigate the ship’s internet plan. Internet access is limited by time and not usage (megabytes) and you have to formally log on and off to stay within your time limit. There didn’t seem to be very flexible options to increase or adjust the access so for the most part, we stayed offline. Our date night dinner was in the Italian Restaurant – I think this was the best food of the entire cruise but somehow I got too full to finish. I must have filled up at lunch – overall the food was excellent and varied on the Pride of America.
Stay tuned for Part 2 where we visit the Big Island of Hawaii and Kauai.
This trip occurred in late April 2018. I am posting the unfinished draft, with the knowledge that I’ll never finish it, and my memory of missing details isn’t good enough to fill them in. Stay tuned for a post about our 2019-2020 Cruise of the Hawaiian Islands.
In my head, my ideal vacation involves adventure of some kind, like trekking through a rain forest, or surfing, but in reality, what a vacation destination is something to keep the kids out of adult hair for a portion of the day, which is how we ended up in all-inclusive resorts like the ones we visited in Jamaica, Mexico and Turks & Caicos. If we can get the kids looked after and they don’t pull faces as a result, we generally call it a win. The evolution of this trend was to go on a Disney Cruise – especially while our kids are young enough to get more out of character experiences. So the decision was made.
Disney as a sub-culture is something that scares me frankly. We joined a Facebook group that was devoted not to Disney, Disney Cruises, or our specific cruise route, but our actual cruise dates, and it was one of the busiest FB groups I have ever been a member of, which means too many notifications (until you turn them off) and way too much hype. I’m not a big fan of overscheduling or “over-researching” vacations – I feel that it leads to second-guessing yourself and your decision and creates anxiety. I don’t want to knock those that want to squeeze every last drop out of their vacation experience, it’s just that it’s antithetical to the kick-back-and-relax vibe I want running through my own vacation experience. So I won’t break down all the craziness that seems to be part of this cult and I’ll stick to what we did, and what we experienced and what we learned.
Getting to and on the ship was quite painless; in the Orlando airport, there are Disney signs everywhere, and as long as you know that you’re going on a cruise as opposed to Disney World amusement park, you’ll end up on the right bus. The staff are highly organized and friendly – this would become a theme throughout the trip. We had our essentials packed in a daypack, since we knew our luggage would not be accessible till later, and wanted to get changed into swim gear and start enjoying the facilities. Unfortunately, we took enough time getting oriented, including a tour of the kids’ club (known as the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab) that by the time we got to the pool deck, they had temporarily closed the pools. Cue tantrums from over-tired kids. We knew the first day and transition would be a taxing adjustment. I think we did get settled into the onboard routine fairly well.
We had a late dining rotation (8:15PM, when the kids’ nominal bedtime is 7:30), that concerned us, but ultimately we got through our meals well and the kids were good and ready for bed. Speaking of bed here was my first unexpected fact of cruise life:
1.) You sleep like a baby on a cruise ship. We had fairly rough seas but the rocking of the boat and the sound-proofing of the stateroom really enhanced the ‘getting-away-from-it-all’ isolation and peacefulness.
The assigned dining rotation kept us with the same server and same table-mates every night. Our server Jaithip (from Thailand) was wonderful – she learned the boys’ favourite drinks and had them ready by the time we sat down every night. One time I wanted to order a lobster pasta and she steered me away from it. I was a little irked because I figured I know what I like, but she brought me a small sample of the pasta alongside the alternate main course I ordered. She was right – the pasta was garbage. Now having said that, the food varied from good (the fast food on the pool deck) to very good (in the dining rooms) to excellent (in the paid restaurants).
The Lightning Kid with Mickey Waffles
Our table mates were a nice family that was celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary (as we will be in July) with blond boys aged 8 and 5 (to our 8 and 6), and enjoy running and triathlon. Thus was born our theory that Disney is spying on us at a level that would make Mark Zuckerberg blush. It can’t be a coincidence that Mickey Mouse’s sign-off is “See ya real soon!”…
On our second day, we got to access the pools. The kids really like just hanging around in the water, and they have movies playing on the big screen all the time so even when they aren’t splashing around, they can just hang out and watch the screen. I liked that the lifeguards would periodically clear everyone out of the pool for about 10 minutes at a time; it gave parents a chance to apply sunscreen to the kids or take them to the washrooms, or any other needed transition and we got to blame the staff/rules rather than be the bad guys ourselves. There were splash pads (which I confess I used to wash melted ice-cream off of faces and chests) and a small warm-water pool that was flush with a window overlooking the ocean (a surreal view), the “Mickey” slide was useable for 4 year-olds and up (but no adults), but the ‘Aquaduck’ was the biggest and boldest water slide. It actually hangs out over the edge of the ship and has some tunnels with lights, open-air sections, ups and downs, and generally traverses the entire perimeter of the ship. The Lightning Kid was too small to go on it, and Shark Boy needed some-one 16 or over to accompany him on one of the 2 seated dinghies – usually my wife or myself, but on at least one occasion he managed to rope the older sister of a friend he made into the job. The problem with the Aquaduck (beyond long line-ups) was it would be closed in high winds, which we had plenty of. Speaking of wind and weather, we did have some rough seas, and though I can’t say I got seasick really, it leads to unexpected fact #2:
2.) Seasickness is like being drunk. I’ve been seasick only once in my life (a tall-ship cruise on Lake Ontario – think pirate ship), and that was from continuous rocking. The rocks on this voyage came fairly unexpectedly – not a constant rhythm – and I’d sway this way or that as if I’d had too much to drink. At first, I thought it might make me throw up, but it was more like a flashback to having had that much to drink and expecting the next most obvious result than actual nausea. Once I realized that, I was pretty much out of the woods. I had some landsickness for a few days after returning.
Pool Deck with the Aquaduck water slide
The pools were a little disappointing from an adult perspective. The kids’ pools were too packed for an adult to swim, and in fact the only pool deeper than waist height was the ‘Donald’ pool right in front of the screen, and of course, that pool was the most full at any given time, which meant getting kicked and swum over by children. There is an adults-only area, but the pools there are also about waist height only – though there is a swim-up bar.
When we wanted to get away from the pool and not have to worry about what the kids were getting up to, we took them to the Oceaneer’s Club/Lab. This is two halves of their kids’ club; from what I could gather the lab had more autonomous time while the club had more structured activity – Shark Boy preferred the lab. There were various alcoves that had different kinds of activities and themes like crafts, or superheroes, and computer terminals and tablets and screens for movies. In some way I was hesitant about all the screen time, but between the pool deck and our excursions, the kids were probably getting enough activity and fresh air. There was even a floor of screens that could run games, straddling the line between screens and physical activity.
My kids seem to prefer free unstructured play to organized, scheduled activities, and this seemed to hold up in the time they spent in the kids’ club. Still, we tried to find special activities onboard that we could book in advance. One of these was the Royal Knight package which is like a Princess make-over for boys (traditional gender roles – whaddyagonnado?). While I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a photo of the Lightning Kid in an Elsa (from Frozen) gown and wig, I will say that I wouldn’t consider my sons to be good candidates for make-over type activities like you find in the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. Yet the ‘fairy godmothers’ did such a great job staying in character and selling the whole concept (the hair gel was ‘dragon snot’ that would keep dragons from being able to smell the princes), and of course, the sword and shield part of the costume was very well received by the boys.
Live shows are something that everyone raves about – I believe the Aladdin one was specifically recommended by everyone we spoke to. We only made it to one, and that one took place on the pool deck rather than the indoor theatres. Still, it was a fun spectacle with song and dance, Mickey, Goofy, Captain Hook and Smee as well as one stunt involving a rappel down the ship’s chimney stack! It was part of a whole pirate theme night that everyone dressed up for – our room was provided with bandanas, but I had packed some with eye-patches and ear-rings.
I should mention that I did go to the theatres to watch a couple of movies: I saw Black Panther once alone, then deemed it OK for Shark Boy to watch and saw it again with him. I also got to see Avengers Infinity War on its opening weekend without standing in line! It was too intense for younger kids, in my opinion.
We had 3 port stops, the first on the Dutch side of St. Maarten. We were booked into a catamaran cruise with snorkelling and a beach visit. We disembarked in Phillipsburg and with an hour or so before the Catamaran was leaving got a chance to get in the water a little bit, which I thought was a good opportunity to test out some full face mask snorkels that we had gotten at the Cottage Life show.
While they worked well initially, it seems like Shark Boy struggled with his when it came time to snorkel from the catamaran at a wreck site. I was dealing with the Lightning Kid and I hadn’t gotten a proper life vest for him; the normal vests that they hand out for snorkelling provide some floatation when inflated, but aren’t rated for non-swimmers. In the ensuing chaos, nobody could really enjoy themselves and from what I could tell there was poor visibility anyway. Luckily, the beach visit afterwards was a lot more pleasant and relaxed.
Our second port stop was in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. I went scuba diving at a wreck site that had a sordid history of drug smuggling, and the sunken ship being moved by human action and hurricanes. I got within 5 feet of a sea turtle, and saw stingrays that were at least 5 feet in diameter.
After getting priced out of a lot of ski resorts for March Break, we opted to put the kids in local camps for that week, and make our winter/spring family vacation take place over an extended Easter long weekend. We opted to stay in Canada this time and selected Mont Tremblant. We had skied there as newlyweds with my wife being pregnant with Shark Boy years ago.
It seemed like a good plan, especially once we had excellent accommodations locked down and saw how much money we were saving by going late in the season. Our first snag was that the convenient local airport didn’t have flights from Toronto past the very beginning of April. The second was that shuttle service from Pierre Trudeau Airport in Montreal was expensive and not ideal for our flight schedule. Renting a car (I upgraded all the way to a Dodge Durango to make sure we could fit our skis in) proved the smartest option.
By the time we landed, picked up the car and had dinner, it was dark, but still, driving through the mountains was enough to get me excited. Our condo was at the bottom of the ‘Village’ right across from the Westin, and had two bedrooms (including a king sized bed in the master bedroom) and a pull-out couch so the boys could sleep separately.
On Good Friday morning, we grabbed breakfast from the Au Grain de Cafe, and then got the kids dressed for their ski lessons. We opted to put the Lightning Kid in a ‘Mother Nature Camp’ where the morning would be dedicated to learning to ski, and the afternoon would be in a daycare-like environment. Downhill skis and boots are still pretty heavy for his legs, and it’s been slow going getting him to get the hang of it. Shark Boy was in a ski camp for both Christmas and March Break holidays and he’s gotten pretty good – to the point of being able to use poles, although we hadn’t been able to secure a pair of his own yet.
Once the kids were squared away, my wife and I stopped for an extra coffee and a treat (which became the daily ritual) before going back to our room to get our own ski gear on, and trudge back uphill through the village to the gondola and get our own skiing done.
Both Friday and Saturday were nice, sunny days, and as skiers from Ontario, we’re not too fussy about snow quality – we were just happy to be there. All we are really looking to do on these trips is spend some time in the simple pleasure of sliding on snow without worrying about anything more than keeping our skis beneath us.
Shark Boy’s favourite runs were ‘La Crete’, ‘Tascherau’ and ‘Dynomite’. Mine were ‘La Traverse’, ‘Toboggan’ but of course, I have to give an honourable mention to my namesake…
It rained on the Sunday, and though Shark Boy lasted the whole day, we got pretty miserably wet. Luckily, we paid a visit to the water park known as AquaClub (which also had a fitness centre which I did not take advantage of). This place has various pools with a tarzan rope, a small slide and a little cliff to jump off of. Both boys did everything, though the Lightning Kid always simply jumped into the water by releasing the rope before his swing could start.
The one day we didn’t swim after skiing, we rode a little open gondola called ‘Cabrio’ from the bottom parking lot to the top of the village and back. And up again, and down again. And up again…
We were very satisfied with the ski school overall. Lunches were provided, and Shark Boy really liked his instructor, who had tall (though true) tales from all over the world. I personally would have liked to see the Lightning Kid get more runs in on the bunny hill (served by a magic carpet), though I understand that when the kids get tired, forcing them into it is not going to yield good results or a positive attitude toward snow sports. He had 3 different instructors, and they were all warm, friendly and great at teaching the skills.
On the Monday, I got an opportunity to ski with each of my sons individually. I took Shark Boy for a run from the top of the mountain to the bottom before his lesson. I should point out that though I claimed we’re not fussy about snow quality, the warm weather generated some heavy slush that really wore on your legs after a while and didn’t always yield optimal technique. Still, I had a lot of fun skiing with Shark Boy and was so impressed that he stuck with me (not skiing too far ahead or afield) without me having to yell and shout.
At the end of the day, I took the Lightning Kid out, and promised him a ride on the chairlift. I had scoped out a route of green runs from the top of the one chairlift that is accessible from the bottom and was trying to be optimistic that my back would hold out for the entirety while I held him between my legs. Sadly, his tickets didn’t include lift access, and though it was the last day and last runs of the year, rules are rules, I guess. I took him back to the magic carpet to see what he had learned and what he was capable of.
He’s getting the hang of putting his skis into the snowplow/’pizza’ position, and according to the instructor reports he can do some stops and control his speed a little. He’s also fully independent on the magic carpet, so we’ll call the endeavour a success overall.
FOOD
I figure I’ll call out some of our favourite meal experiences separately rather than try and enumerate them all chronologically in the main story.
Pizzateria
The first night’s dinner was going to be a kid-friendly one. There were two pizza joints within reach, one small and at the bottom of the village, the other larger around the midpoint of the climb to the top. The kids chose the latter. Pizzateria is decorated like a log cabin, and the pizza has a homemade, authentic style I really liked.
La Savoie
I grew up with both fondue and a home Raclette appliance, and we’ve also gotten one as a wedding present that we’ve never used. Raclette is a kind of Swiss cheese that you melt over potatoes or just about anything else you can think of, and it’s delicious. We haven’t dared to try eating something like these two Swiss delights for fear of the kids’ pickiness (and how their unruly behaviour poses a safety risk)… until now. Shark Boy was lured in by La Savoie’s menu because it offered Salami as one of the options for dipping or melting cheese over. We were really surprised at how well the boys took to the experience, and the restaurant service made the kids feel more the kids feel more than welcome.
There’s an element that melts the cheese onto a plate below
Shark Boy and I fondu-ing it!
Creperie Catherine
Sweet crepes for breakfast! Shark Boy and I had their ‘Grand Maman’ which was loaded with ice cream… a bit much for breakfast. The Lightning Kid had a Nutella and banana crepe and the results speak for themselves….
Le Q.C.
I picked this place for lunch date, just the grown-ups. They had an interesting selection of tartares; my wife’s tuna was delicious. Great cocktails too, I had a Dark and Stormy which was like a Moscow Mule only with coke, and my wife had a maple syrup based cocktail.
Samurai Pub
Great sushi, well presented, funky vibe. Another great lunch date. I didn’t partake of the Sake Bomb… maybe next time.
While ski vacations seem to be a lot of work in terms of planning, logistics, packing and lugging gear, when they’re done, we’ve always enjoyed them and grown closer as a family while living the life of adventure that we’ve always dreamed of.
If you’re here as a previous reader of this blog, you’ll have noticed my new digs on WordPress and the new look of the place. If this is your first visit, welcome!
2016 was a rough year for me and my family – I don’t want to go into gory details, but there was job loss, terminal illness, death, hospital visits, emergency home renovation… you know what, I’m getting bummed out just listing them all, even vaguely and generically. The point is, both blogging and the kind of adventures that I love to write about took a back seat all year long, in spite of my efforts to “dig myself out of a hole.”
There were a few positives in 2016 and while they really deserve their own individual posts, I’m going to start 2017 with looking forward, but I’ll just list a few honourable mentions…
which we used as an opportunity to take our first family camping trip.
We managed to make a shorter, later version of our annual trip to Germany.
We capped off the year by spending New Year’s at the cottage, which is the first time we did that as a family. We tried some downhill skiing, some cross-country skiing, and lots of snow-frolicking.
What does 2017 hold for this space? Lots of the same outdoor, active family living, with a focus on multi-sport/triathlon. Some things in our life have changed; the kids are older and pursue their own extra-curricular activity with less parental involvement (except driving them to and from the venue), and I’m less fit than when I was writing this blog regularly, so some of the fitness subjects will be more on the rehabilitative side (though I’m not going to turn this into a weight loss blog). I will probably incorporate more mental health and productivity content, and I’d really like to step up the amount of gear and technology review. Also, this might not be the final look of the blog, but I have to shout out and thank Janice from Salads4Lunch for getting me this far!
“No, no… Dig Up, stupid!” – Chief Wiggum, The Simpsons – Homer the Vigilante
I think this is becoming an annual tradition. Every year around Christmas time, the chaos of the holidays eats up my ability to get any blogging done. So that when other bloggers are writing up end of year round-ups, Iron Rogue is in radio silence. After that, come the new year resolution/goal/plans posts, and this space is still in hibernation.
I almost don’t mind. While I don’t have a problem with the end-of-year and new year stuff, I certainly don’t need to do what everyone else is doing. The start of 2016, though has dealt us some extra turmoil that has kept me from getting started again. The nature of that turmoil, I’m going to choose to keep private, but it’s comprised of more than one unexpected event, and dealing with it has eaten up not only time to blog, but also time to exercise and take good care of my health and fitness, which dries up the well of subject matter for this space.
That means, among other things, that I’ve put on holiday weight and then some, and I’m not in good shape physically – or at least not the shape I’ve come to expect of myself. I think of myself as being in a hole, and climbing out of a hole is always challenging even if I’ve done it before.
I’m going to start, and this post is a declaration of that beginning. Does that mean I have goals and plans? No, not yet. I guess I have… Ideas. If I discuss those ideas here, that won’t make a plan, but it’s a good start to not only creating a plan, but starting to write again. Also, many of these ideas will make for future posts, which I will label in an effort to pique your interest in reading this blog going forward.
To start getting my house in order physically and creatively, I started following BexLife more seriously. I signed up to do a 21 day mantra challenge, where she provides a mantra every day (the above image is from Day 6) that you meditate on for 4 minutes. I’m generally lousy at this kind of thing, and I did struggle with some of my meditation sessions, but for others, I had an epiphany or two. You can see some of my experiences on my Instagram account. As Bex says “Look How Dope My Life Is” (#lookhowdopemylifeis). I have to be honest and report that I didn’t get it done every day of the challenge, but I did learn about myself and I think I can make meditation a more regular part of my life – daily would be ideal. I also didn’t manage to make every day of a core challenge called #thegetthatcorechallenge organized by Heather Rose Scott of Fit Strong Fierce. How did I drop the ball on two daily challenges that didn’t have much of a time commitment beyond a few minutes each? WE WENT TO JAMAICA! [future post alert!]
So I guess I traded guided meditation for feet-in-the-sand and core exercises for swimming with the kids, but it didn’t do much for getting back in physical shape. It wasn’t the most active of our family vacations (plus unlimited Jerk and Red Stripe), but I will do a write-up to talk about it soon.
Before I even started the 21 Day Mantra Challenge, I did an exercise recommended by Bex to build Do-It-Yourself Mantras. You can find the video to explain it on the page linked above. Briefly, you take a list of 10 things you want…
I WANT…
…freedom to go outside
…a super hero body [future post alert!]
…[PRIVATE]
...harmony in my family
…robots [future post alert!]
…a working side hustle (i.e. monetizing this space, as mentioned in last year’s Vision Board Post)
…to keep learning
…to be a good Scouter [future post alert!]
…to travel as much as possible
…respect for my contributions
You also need a list of 10 things you can offer…
I CAN OFFER
…my integrity
…my knowledge of active family life
…my knowledge of mobile communications and wireless networks
…my empathy
…my strength
…my experience with scouting
…my willingness to learn
…my words
…my love
…my flexibility
Anytime you want a mantra, pick one from each list (with some correlation between the two, hopefully) and your meditation session is good to go.
So, I’ve slipped in my meditation, my core challenge exercises, and many other ways as I try to put my life back into the shape I want; climbing out of a hole means slipping back down sometimes. If you watch this space (and also my Instagram, especially with the #ClimbingOutOfTheHole hashtag), you’ll see how that shapes up.
I’m hoping to build a community around this site, too. That means active families, and hopefully some novice triathletes too [future post alert!]. Besides BexLife, I’m also getting plugged into Nerd Fitness; I think this year’s adventures will be guided by the kinds of connections I start making.
“This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out.
“A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey you. Can you help me out?’ The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on.
“Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, ‘Father, I’m down in this hole can you help me out?’ The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on
“Then a friend walks by, ‘Hey, Joe, it’s me can you help me out?’ And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, ‘Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here.’ The friend says, ‘Yeah, but I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.'”
I used to break down these trips into multiple parts, thanks to extensive journals I kept, but I think I’d just prefer to do a single round-up and not just because I didn’t keep a journal this time. I think I’m just going to do a summary by category.
Family Adventures
Climb UP! Climbing Forest.
This was one of the cooler adventures we got up to. For adults, there are various challenges to climb up into the treetops, and of course, some zip lines. We didn’t do the adult challenges in favour of accompanying the kids. They each wore safety harnesses with 2 carabiners that got hooked into safety lines that ran alongside each climbing challenge. The challenges were strung together to form an entire course to traverse. At the end of one challenge, you’d unhook a carabiner from the completed challenge’s safety line and hook it into the new, then you’d repeat for the second carabiner, so that in principle, you were always tethered. The kids never got any higher than around 5 feet off the ground, but I guess it’s the principle that’s important. Shark Boy loved it and managed his own safety harness, and while the Lightning Kid seems to be a born climber, he got a little tired about halfway through the course so I let him bail.
Germendorf Zoo/Theme Park
We’ve visited this place annually for at least 3 years now. When we got in, Shark Boy found a dead snake beneath a statue of an elephant, and by the time we were done, he still considered it a highlight. This year I had us navigate toward the ‘Dinosaur’ section before we got too close to the carnival rides and playgrounds that always seem to high-jack the kids’ interest in the animals there. I think I only saw one dinosaur (statue) but we got to see some animals we haven’t seen in prior visits. For me the highlight was a puma, which is not only one of my favourite animals, but this one actually got up and walked around, which is kind of rare for big cats in captivity (in my experience). He did seem to take an unhealthy interest in Shark Boy; at least, unhealthy for the boy – his ears pricked up, he stared, licked his chops, you name it.
We got to see monkeys playing, meerkats, parrots and even pet and feed a deer.
Then it was time for lunch and rides. We shelled out for them to ride these electrically powered motorcycles (they move fairly slowly), which not only gave us a sweet moment of the two brothers riding together, but we actually got the Lightning Kid to ride his own. He did a great job of steering until he’d get distracted by what his brother was up to, and then he’d crash – which didn’t hurt him but resulted in tears from the sudden shock. There was an indoor play area which used to house a ball pit and a few bouncy castles, but they’ve expanded it into a much more extensive play area with all kinds of climbing structures.
I don’t like to make fun of personal appearances, but I have to tell this story. My wife and I were sitting near the ball pit which was intended (according to the signs) for kids aged 0-5. There were kids much older in there, and they were throwing the balls out of the pit and generally making a nuisance of themselves. The supervisor turned up and told them off – and they got off light, because the supervisor was a witch from a storybook, I kid you not. Hook nose, wild and wiry hair, crazy eyes… all that was missing was a wart. I know we weren’t all created to have movie star good looks, but maybe using a brush once in a while… on the other hand, maybe it helps with her job. My wife and I have read a lot of German children’s literature (as children ourselves, we don’t like it too much for our kids) where there is often some kind of boogeyman who comes and gets you when you don’t follow the rules (see here for an example) – so we couldn’t help but laugh to see one of these scenarios brought to life.
River Cruise
Another annual mandatory outing. We had lovely weather, but this year they stopped making a stop near where we were staying, so we had to make a round trip. The food menu seemed reduced too, but at least it’s getting easier to keep the kids safe while they roam the decks.
Bike Ride
We rode our bikes through the local forest into the town of Tegel to find a playground. This day was particularly hot, so the shade provided by the trees was very welcome. Shark Boy had been getting over a flu, and I think we overestimated his recovery, because he simply quit well before we could get home, in spite of covering a much bigger distance last year. Still, taken as a whole, I have to call it a successful outing, and hopefully a precursor to future family bike trips.
Food
There’s a Simpsons episode where Germany is referred to as the land of chocolate, so we had plenty of that. I honestly don’t quite understand how Germans stay thin (my observations of people make me think that they’re thinner on average, though I found this on Wikipedia – Canadian men are 2 kg lighter than Germans [who are 6 kg lighter than Americans] on average). They have some good habits like more walking and biking as transportation, not to mention that the evening meal is generally quite light, with lunch being the big hot meal, but still! The bread is made with white flour, the meat is often red; I have a hard enough time eating fruit at home, but with fresh cold cuts and cheeses bought on a daily basis, they really get pushed to the side.
And then there’s my fetish for ice cream made in the image of pasta… I try to eat Spaghetti Ice Cream as often as I can get my hands on it while I’m in Germany since I can’t get it back home. The ice cream is pushed through a press to make noodles, the tomato sauce is actually strawberry sauce, and the grated cheese is either grated coconut, or grated white chocolate. I didn’t get to try any new places this year, but I got enough samples to keep me happy.
My wife and I had two date nights: once at our favourite little Italian place, where they always treat us like royalty and once at Alten Fritz (which has been open, in some capacity or another, since 1410!). We actually went to this restaurant twice: once with a larger group, and once with just the two of us. The first time I had a Goulash made with Wild Boar, and the second time a platter with 3 kinds of dumpling; it was really an eye-opener to how fine traditional German cuisine can be. There’s outdoor seating and even a little forested area with pond that really adds to the ambience.
Training
Swim
I used our proximity to the Havel River to my full advantage and I’d packed my wetsuit. I got in 3 open water swims, and since I’ve been doing a lot more than usual pool training, the difference that the open water makes was a bit of a surprise to me. I’m not sure of my technique in open water, but I’ve got the rest of the summer to figure it out. I got 3 different swims in, and one was 1800m, close to a half-iron distance swim. I think I’ll be putting together a post about swimming in an unfamiliar river.
Bike
In addition to the family bike ride mentioned above, I got in 3 rides. I knew my cycling training would suffer the most for not having access to a road or tri bike, but two of my rides were with the Lightning Kid, including one that had us out for about 3 hours (2 hours of actual riding) – it was great bonding time for us, and he liked seeing the sights and sounds including visiting a pens where boars and deer are kept. My third ride got cut short by a flat tire.
Run
Running is the easiest form of training to accomplish on vacation. Running with my brother on the day we arrived with jet lag (after an overnight flight) was pretty challenging; I expected to feel tired, but I had this dead feeling in my legs that I wasn’t prepared for. For the first few days in Berlin we had a lot of cold weather and rain so my first solo run was not enjoyable, but I also had nice runs in sunnier weather, alternating between going along the Havel River (and trying, unsuccessfully, to race one of the Steamboat cruises) and through the forest.
Beer
In addition to the usual suspects I also got to try the original Budweiser. This Czech lager is nothing like the American brew and I really enjoyed it. There was also Altenmuenster, which I gave 3.25 stars out of 5 and my wife and I both had a Kronbacher Radler. If you haven’t heard of a Radler (Moosehead is making one, for example), it’s a little like a shandy or other beer based beverage. A mix of sparkling lemonade and beer, the story goes that a bar owner was getting cleaned out of stock by thirsty cyclists stopping in, so he found a way to stretch his inventory while still quenching his customers’ thirst – Radler translates to ‘Cyclist’ as it turns out. So of course we had one while on the family bike ride mentioned above.
“You know what I like about Vermont? It has better sticks.” – Shark Boy
While I have my doubts that the sticks of Vermont are of higher quality than the sticks of Ontario, Shark Boy does have a point that we were able to spend our vacation in a beautiful (fairly) natural setting at Smuggler’s Notch Ski Resort. We try to alternate our spring break between hot places and ski vacations, so after last year’s trip to Mexico, it was going to be skiing, even if this was another brutally cold winter. Having been to Quebec twice, we wanted to switch it up this year. My wife did some research at the Toronto Snow Show, and while there was heavy competition, we decided on Smuggler’s Notch due to its reputation for families and the 20% discount deal that they offered us through the show.
Taxicab Selfie on the way to the airport
When I told people about the trip, most assumed we’d drive there from Toronto, but that would have taken longer than I generally like to spend time in a car, never mind with two bored kids in the back. Flying Porter from the Toronto Island is actually a reasonably comfortable experience with young ones; they get excited about all the various stages – taxi, ferry, air-plane. The line-ups aren’t as long as at Pearson International Airport and the waiting lounge has free coffee and cookies. Propeller planes are a little noisier and slower than jets, and they seem to have more turbulence (maybe due to a slower ascent into the more peaceful altitudes?) which is tough if you’re a nervous flyer like my wife. It was also a bit of a bumpy landing into Burlington, VT. Porter flights de-board in a weird satellite terminal which requires a shuttle ride to the main terminal. We’d been expecting a shuttle that we booked with Smuggler’s Notch; they were supposed to have a sign with our name on it, but we were unable to find them either at the first terminal or the main one. We did, however, get a lot of help and support from the driver of their regular inter-terminal shuttle buses, and we eventually found out that our driver had been told that our flight had been delayed when it actually hadn’t. The upshot was that I never felt genuinely worried that we wouldn’t get our ride to the resort, everyone we dealt with was courteous, knowledgeable and professional.
We got checked into the resort, and driven to our condo which was in the “Liftside” section, and as the name implies, very close to the lifts. If we hadn’t had a second story apartment we could have walked onto the hill from the back door of our room. It was also a very short walk to the main village which not only houses most of the resort’s restaurants, but the ski school, rental shop, and guest services so we were well off in terms of location.
We had our first dinner in the Pizzeria, Riga-Bello’s. Frankly, I found it a little confusing because it looked like the kind of joint where you walk up to the counter and order a slice, but when we were directed to take menus, it made me think it would be a sit-down-server-takes-your-order experience. My first instinct was correct, but we ended up having my wife run back and forth from the counter to our table to provide updates as to which pizzas were available by the slice versus whole pizzas – it just made dinner way more complicated than it had to be. The pizza was okay, but nothing special.
Our apartment was quite nice. We had our own kitchen, which we sometimes used to make breakfast (the rest of the time we fell prey to the lure of treating ourselves), and a living room area where the kids would watch TV while we prepared our (or more specifically their) equipment and outfits for the ski day. We were all in one bedroom which worked well, with Shark Boy on a higher bed (he’s a little more stable in his sleeping patterns) and the Lightning Kid on a low trundle bed which felt safe. One of the things we liked best, of course, was the en suite washer and dryer; which meant not only being able to have clean and dry clothes when we needed them, but kept our packing and luggage to a minimum (2 ski bags, 2 suitcases, a ski boot bag, one backpack, one laptop bag – the last 3 items were all carry-on).
Our first full day at Smuggler’s Notch started with a gorgeous breakfast at the Morse Mountain Grill. I had the stuffed waffles, which I can highly recommend. They have a great kids breakfast menu too.
Bringing the kids to the ski school involved some confusion for us. The package we had booked gave us ‘Discovery Camp’ tickets for both boys, and at the intake/registration, upon hearing that the Lightning Kid had been on skis before (albeit with our help) and was toilet-trained, said he’d be ahead of some of the other students in his class (named Discovery Dynamos while Shark Boy would be in Trail Blazers). This sounded promising, but we had envisioned him as being in more of a daycare situation with some one-on-one ski instruction. The instructor who was leading his proposed group had some directed questions about the Lightning Kid’s ability to follow instructions verbally, and in programs like his Little Kickers Soccer class, he’s done better by being able to follow the other kids. The instructor pushed the Adaptive Ski Program as an idea; Smuggler’s Notch is clearly very proud of their adaptive ski program for individuals of different abilities, as well they should be. It’s just that we’ve found that he does better when he’s surrounded by typical peers in an inclusive environment – ultimately we know what’s best for our son. We eventually opted for the Little Rascals on Snow program, which is run out of their Treasures daycare building.
The Treasures daycare is a short distance uphill, but once we had him registered (a process which was impressively thorough for the safety and security of the children), he seemed comfortable enough, and my wife and I were off for a day of skiing! The day before had brought some new snow so as we got higher and higher we were treated to some beautiful scenery; snow coated trees and branches. Smuggler’s Notch has 3 mountains: Morse, Madonna and Sterling. I guess we were still a little antsy about leaving the kids alone, and we weren’t too confident in our own legs: we had said that getting in even a few runs alone would have been good enough for us on this vacation! We stuck to Morse mountain (the closest to our home base) and only did Blue runs that day.
I found it a little strange that even with 3 mountains worth of ski runs, Smuggs only has old-fashioned (read: slow, not high speed), two person lifts over the entire resort. It seems quaint, and it didn’t bother me that much, but I think it’s something you’d want to know so you can manage your expectations.
The hillside cafeteria food was basically the kind of fare you might expect, but somehow it all tasted a little above average. There were a few novel treats too, like macaroni and cheese in a bread-bowl (carb city!).
Everyday at the Treasures daycare, they took the kids into their little backyard where they have what has to be the world’s smallest magic carpet and slope. Already on the first day, he had done a little skiing on his own. We’d pick him up in our ski boots, get him geared up, and I’d ski down the hill with him between my legs to the bottom, where we’d walk back into our condo and change for dinner. Skiing like that is a little tiring (it’s like holding a deep squat), but this was often my favourite part of the day.
Before dinner, we gave the kids a little bit of free play in the Fun Zone, which is an inflated dome full of play areas for kids of various ages and adults. There’s skee-ball like games, bouncy castles, inflated giant slides and obstacle courses as well as mini-golf. There’s a few rules for the larger structures that also keep little ones like the Lightning Kid off them, but there was enough smaller play structures to keep him happy. The Fun Zone was a daily highlight for both kids (even if there are no sticks in the Fun Zone).
We had dinner at the Morse Mountain Grille again. We were serenaded by Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate. Ron has some corny pirate humour, but the songs were fun to sing along with and the kids were frankly entranced by him. Vermont cuisine, in which as far as I can tell always involves Maple, Bacon or Green Apples, was always featured and always desirable. I had the Maple Whiskey BBQ Steak Tips, which were tasty if a little tough, but what I really enjoyed was the local craft beer sampler, especially the ‘Sunshine and Hoppiness’ Ale.
On the second day, we dropped the kids off a little more efficiently after a breakfast of toast and peanut butter (supplied by items I bought at the General Store the night before), and we sampled Mount Madonna and Mount Sterling. I had been warned that crossing between the mountains involved flat stretches that needed a lot of skating to get through, but having been warned, I gathered up plenty of momentum each time, and I don’t think it was really that bad. One of our first priorities at Mount Madonna was to try one of their on-hill Waffle snacks. I could smell them from several hundred meters away. They were very tasty, but I’d decline the Nutella if I were you because cleaning up one’s face on the hill isn’t easy.
We got some good runs in, and I found plenty of Blues that still gave me a little kick with their twisty narrow turns. One complaint I had was I found that branches would crowd the fringes of many runs; I nearly got taken out by a branch on two occasions, once because I was looking uphill at a run we were merging with – just like the caution sign suggested. The morning weather was pleasantly mild, but it turned nasty and we spent most of the midday being drizzled on. Getting wet like that made us get cold faster. We knocked off a little early to pick up Shark Boy from his lesson and ski with him. Being the older brother means getting less attention much of the time, so it’s nice to address that with some two-on-one time; plus we wanted to see what he’d learned! He showed us some great linked turns and much better stopping than we’d seen from him before we came to Vermont.
We also picked up the Lightning Kid early. My wife wanted us to have a date night, and she found out about a kids’ Fun Feast that would have the kids being looked after and fed, with games, movies and interacting with Mogul Mouse and Billy Bob Bear. She figured we’d have a dinner for two at one of the restaurants, but the reservations desk upped the ante… they were running a snowshoe adventure that evening where we’d take a lift Mount Sterling, do a little snowshoeing, enjoy a candlelit gourmet dinner (catered by their Hearth and Candle restaurant, but on the mountain the location is called Top of the Notch. Then we’d snowshoe down the mountain; and to boot, we’d be able to drop the kids off earlier than other parents who’d signed up for the Fun Feast (another trip to the Fun Zone for our boys).
We took the shuttle from the village to the bottom of Mount Sterling. We were briefed on how we could pick up our snowshoes, board the lift, and disembark – which was going to be more challenging and tricky than it would have been on skis. Not being able to slide off the ramp meant having to turn away from the chair and letting it pass, then crossing the ramp without getting hit by the returning chair. We managed it on our first try. We moved inside to Top of the Notch, where the guides explained the course of the evening. We sat with two other couples who had kids in the same Fun Feast and ski school, and they were even from the West side of Toronto – unfortunately, we were too big dorks to get their contact info… Beth, Richard, Dave and Jenn, if you read this, you can contact me at one of the links on the right side of the page! The head guide/host explained that calls of nature would have to be answered… in nature with a secluded area for the ladies, and the men just about anywhere else. He also invited the whole group for what he called a ‘little hike’ – it ended up being a mostly uphill climb all the way to Stowe! Some of the scenery was lovely, but that was a tough hike, and I’m surprised everybody managed it. Apparently we were the first group that had been able to accomplish that trek this season! I later kicked myself for not wearing my Garmin to track it, especially because the Garmin was actually in the backpack I had brought along for the event – the dinner was BYOB with the exception of a hot chocolate with banana schnapps. We both had trouble with our snowshoes staying on, but the guides were really good and making fixes on the go.
A pond just off the peak of Mount Sterling
We made it! A view from the top of Stowe…
Obviously the way back down was easier, though the sun was getting low and the air got colder. For spring, it was pretty cold, especially with the wind cutting through you. We had a lovely dinner, my pork was a little dry, but the wild mushroom ravioli was heavenly. We heard good things about the Vermont chicken too. Suddenly, it was time to go if we wanted to be on time to pick up our children. The mountain hadn’t gotten any warmer in the dark, but it was a fun downhill hustle in snowshoes, and interesting to see some of the familiar runs of the daytime in the darkness, never mind going at a slower pace than on skis.
We picked up the kids and they were over excited, and over tired, never a good combination. It was St. Patrick’s Day and the Lightning Kid had his face painted green for the occasion. In the spirit of many other St. Patrick’s Day revellers, he also did a face plant in the village courtyard that left a nice little scrape on his nose.
Day 3 was our last full day at Smuggs; and I promised Shark Boy that we’d visit the pool after skiing. We’d been avoiding it since all winter long, every time we took the Lightning Kid skiing, he’d get a nasty cold – barking coughs, wheezy breathing, you name it. My wife booked a massage at the spa, and I wanted to get a few lengths in the pool; it was officially week 1 of my Half-Iron training program and besides the snowshoeing, skiing, lugging ski equipment and chasing the kids around the fun zone, I hadn’t had any real exercise. I found out to my delight that the pool used a salt water chlorination process, but it was only 20 yards long. Ah well, better than nothing.
After that my wife and I met up for more skiing, but the cold winds were blasting up the hill. We got too cold, too fast, and the wind had also cleaned the hills of snow to a large extent. We did the best we could to enjoy ourselves, but getting inside for lunch was a pleasure that I have to say we dragged out longer than we would have otherwise. We only did 2 runs on Mount Madonna before opting to make the ski trek back to Mount Morse and the Village to pick up the kids. While Shark Boy had been a little resistant to go to a “Ski School” – we shouldn’t have called it that because school means teachers which means rules and orders to follow – he didn’t want it to end and was sad when he found out it was his last day. The instructors were great, and they use a GPS tracking technology (called Flaik) which not only lets them track the kids in case of emergency, but summarizes their runs, you can even map it out from the Flaik website.
One of Shark Boy’s days on skis.
Swimming in the pool ended up being a lot of fun. I had Shark Boy do a swim test to prove he could handle the deep end, which I’m proud to say he passed with flying colours. The Lightning Kid has tubes in his ears, and we got custom earplugs to protect them; this was one of my first times working with them, and I lost them. Three times, but I found them every time, once in the drain filter, once floating nearby, and once in the middle of the pool where I did my best Hasselhoff impression with a daring aquatic rescue (Baywatch reference!).
We took the kids to the Fun Zone which was next to the indoor pool so their hair could dry a little before going the the Hearth and Candle. It’s a cozy restaurant which would have been nice for a romantic dinner in the basement where the fireplaces are, but the main floor accommodates families beautifully too. I got a chance to try the Vermont chicken which I had missed out on the night before and it was delicious. What I didn’t enjoy as much was the Maple Bacon Manhattan; I blame myself, because it didn’t taste any different than it should, I think I just expected to like it based on the fact that all the individual ingredients were things that I liked. On Day 4, we weren’t flying out till the afternoon, and Smuggs was nice enough to let us have a late checkout without any extra charges which meant being able to do a few runs as a family. And the Lightning Kid didn’t seem like swimming had caused him to catch a cold! Oddly enough, it was the first time we’d gotten a real look at the beginner’s runs and lifts. Apparently Shark Boy was able to ride the Mogul Mouse lift by himself, and he didn’t like me lifting him up to get on the Village lift; turns out it was a good idea though because those chairs are a little higher and it nearly knocked him down – I managed to snag him in the last second. He actually rode mostly with his mother, because it was my job to get the Lightning Kid on the chairlift. Both my wife and I were nervous at the prospect, but I resolved to simply keep a good hold on him. The lift staff didn’t bat an eyelash as I lined up for the lift.
I got a lift-selfie to mark the occasion
We moved over to make use of the magic carpet and were able to let Shark Boy ski independently while my wife and I got the Lightning Kid to ski unassisted. WHICH HE TOTALLY DID…. for about 6 feet, but still! I got him to put his hands on his knees which is something he’s learned in the soccer program I mentioned earlier. That made his stance perfect with a low centre of gravity. Any time he wasn’t being held up, he screamed, but he did ski independently which was a great moment for us. Another funny moment was when we convinced him to ski without being held, by distracting him and singing “LET IT GO!” (his all-time favourite song from the movie Frozen). We capped off our last day at Smuggler’s Notch as a family of four skiers, and we couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.
Our shuttle back to Burlington airport had all the info he needed to make sure we were there in a timely fashion and he even gave us a little scenic tour so we could see some of the mountains and learn about what some of the local villages have to offer; Underhill and Jericho Corners are great for hiking, for example.
We had a fairly uneventful flight back, and I think this trip stands out as a good example of how family vacations don’t have to be stressful; there were hair-pulling moments of course, but altogether, we got what we wanted out of the trip.
I was inspired to write this post after a crazy weekend in Collingwood full of skiing (downhill and cross-country), and swimming too. It took some time for me to crystalize the most important things I’ve learned into a list of 5 lessons, but here goes.
Leave it to the last minute.
This one sounds counter-intuitive, as planning and organization are the keys to stress-free living, right? And when it comes to races (and booking travel, etc.) earlier means cheaper. Still, nothing is more expensive than paying for an event you can’t attend at all. I once DNS’ed (did not start) the Bracebridge Triathlon because the Lightning Kid got sick. This year, we wanted to go to Collingwood for a weekend, and I wanted to do the Tubbs Romp 2 Stomp snowshoe race, but with it being a brutal winter (that might make the drive difficult, or be too cold for outdoor fun), with a brutal cold/flu season to go with it, we knew it might not happen, so we waited till a couple of days before where it seemed like it was going to be OK to leave home, then we booked the hotel and I registered at the race site (online registration was already closed) and hoped for the best (see #4).
Be Flexible (WYCWYC*)
Why are you out there? Fresh air, fun, and exercise. Those are the reasons, those are the goals, and the actual activity/sport you are trying to do are just the means to an end. When we put the Lightning Kid on skis, we only hope he’ll try to move his feet a little, or if we’re at the hill, one single run (him riding between my legs) is a victory. (WYCWYC=What You Can, When You Can)
My wife and I used to volunteer with the Ontario Track 3 Ski program for children with special needs (everything from cognitive/developmental delays like autism to physical impairments like cerebral palsy), and the motto was always “first safety, then fun, then learning.” While we ostensibly there to teach the kids to ski, sometimes you couldn’t really get that far with them, and if rolling down a snowbank was what they wanted to do, then that’s what would take place that day. You would be connecting with them, and they with physical activity in the outdoors, and sometimes that would lead to better chances at learning the actual sport later on. It’s not really different for any children, especially when they’re very young. You have to take what you can get today, and hope it pays off tomorrow, which brings me to point #3…
Consider the Long Game
I’ve taken the Lightning Kid out in the Kayak, and traversed a total distance of about 200m. It was still worth it, because he got exposed to boating, and I got a little, tiny bit of exercise.
When we went cross-country skiing last year, we had some outings where the time spent on skis was all of 30 minutes, and that’s with about 90 minutes of driving each way; I don’t even want to get into the time spent packing the car, unpacking at the trail-head, re-packing at the trail-head, and unpacking at home. This year, though, we’re lasting longer (especially Shark Boy who’s gotten faster and stronger, completing some 2 km trails himself).
At very young ages, it’s hard to know how much they remember, but somehow the routine of getting out of the regular routine pays dividends and sticks into their character makeup later on.
It goes for more than just the kids, it goes for you too. It takes a second to lose your patience; how long does it take to find your patience. Fairly long, I’ll bet. Being patient has never been a strong suit of mine, and when I found out one of my children was going to have special needs, it became a real fear that my lack of patience would keep me from being a good father to him. I honestly think I’m getting better at waiting for the kids to learn what I’m trying to teach (manners, reading, physical education). You just have to believe that it will pay off; you have to…
Use Your Optimism Muscle
This past weekend, I had to take care of both boys myself. Well, like any red-blooded adult who is in control of their life, I ran to my mother for help. We went to her place on Saturday afternoon and spent the night as well as all day Sunday there. There are two ways I can relate the events of the weekend.
Both boys were sick with nasty colds, and I had one too, feeling feverish and being nearly unable to swallow on Friday night, meaning…
I barely slept between taking care of their various discomforts and my own
We didn’t get outside much
The kids demonstrated that they still don’t listen no matter how many times they’re told, to the point that their doting grandmother even noticed that their behaviour was lousy
OR
I got the Lightning Kid to his soccer program and Shark Boy to his dance lesson on time.
The kids and their grandmother got to spend time together/I got to see my mother.
The kids and Shark Boy’s Godfather got to spend time together
We got to enjoy my mother’s wonderful cooking
I got to do a favour for my wife, who totally deserved the weekend away from the kids
I got more bonding time with the kids, especially cuddling up with the Lightning Kid during his nap (while I read a few chapters on my e-reader)
It honestly gave me a sense of achievement to have gotten through it all (parenting is the ultimate endurance sport)
While the weekend doesn’t typify one of our family outdoor adventures (we only got outside long enough to shovel her driveway), it’s a good demonstration of how your attitude re-frames the experience.
Sacrifice
There have been many times we’ve come back from an outing, tuckered out, and the day waning, and I’ve thought: “I guess I’m not going to clean the garage again”, or whatever random task I’ve equated with being a real adult who is in control of their life. On balance, though, those tasks are unlikely to cause me any deathbed regrets. Taking care of yourself, getting outside and spending time with your family are the things you’ll regret not doing. And again, this is a two way street – your kids might not make it to that classmate’s birthday party that they were invited to, because they were out with you. It might not have been their first choice to go out biking/skiing/spelunking with you, but as parents, we make healthier choices for their diets, activities (both mental and physical), and everything else; what are they going to remember more fondly on their deathbed (sorry to be morbid… let’s just say they live to be 999), fun times in the great outdoors, moving their young, healthy bodies with loved ones, or a bunch of cake and wrapping paper to spoil a classmate whose name they won’t remember anyway.
Between increases in youth obesity, and wanting to limit ‘screen time’, many families are looking to make fitness a family affair, as Victoria Freile writes. As I discussed the topic of this post with my wife, she pointed out how much more we have to learn; smart cookie. Forging an active family life is an on-going, iterative process. Some, like Katie Arnold of Outside Magazine’s column Raising Rippers are at the more extreme end of the spectrum, while some families would probably be happy to take regular family walks. When you start early with your children, they absorb it easily and fitness becomes part of their lifestyle; inactive adults need to learn this like a new skill. While how well my pants fit has fluctuated, I’m lucky in that I never had to figure out how to get active. I was raised in such a way that exercise was as natural a habit as washing. It’s a gift I hope to pass on to my kids, and hopefully the generations that come after I’m long gone.
Hopefully, some of you reading this will be able to use it to make your family life more active, and then I’ll have passed on the gift even further.
How does your family get active together today? Are you looking to do better?
Having completed our snowshoe races, it was time for the main event, as far as spending time together as a family is concerned. Cross-country skiing! We’d eaten our lunch in the chalet, and we were hoping our legs (that is, Shark Boy and I’s legs) were well rested. As I mentioned in the race recap, trails at Scenic Caves start with a climb, so it can be tough going. The nice part was that they had regroomed the parts of the ski trails that had been traversed by snowshoe racers, so we had a nice track to follow.
We started by following the ‘Easy Peasy’ 2km trail, which links up to the more extensive trail network where you can add mileage as you see fit. On some ski outings, the Lightning Kid has been a little fussy in the Chariot; he seems to want his mom around which doesn’t work well since I tend to speed ahead while she helps coach Shark Boy on his own skis. This time, it seemed I was in luck – the race meant getting a late start on skis, so that he was in the Chariot around his midday nap and quickly fell asleep. Somehow, the camera on my phone wasn’t working and I couldn’t get any pictures, but this blog already has plenty of family cross-country ski photos. I had made up my mind to tack at least an extra 1.1km on by myself, but I waited by the crucial fork for my wife and Shark Boy to arrive to make sure that they took the right branch to complete Easy Peasy and get back to the chalet. While there, I had to engage in the usual banter with passers-by who always ask if they can hitch a ride on the Chariot too. I think the conversation got too loud, or it’s possible that the Lightning Kid’s damp socks were a problem in the cold, but he woke up and started crying, so I took Easy Peasy back as quickly as I could. I would have liked more mileage that day, but what can you do? He did settle down once I got him inside.
Apparently Shark Boy really struggled to finish the trail with legs that must have been tired from the snowshoe race. We packed it in, and headed to the Day’s Inn where my wife had booked the last available room earlier in the week. It has a pool, but we were sorely tempted to check out a water park found in Blue Mountain Village that we’d heard good things about. It’s called Plunge! and we gave into temptation and took it. We were a little worried because it seems like the Lightning Kid gets sick every time he goes swimming. I hoped that he’d spend more time with the splash pads than immersed in deeper water and that it might make the difference.
The boys chilling before we went to the Aquatic Centre
We arrived a little after 4PM, and it turns out that’s a popular time to arrive since families that have since left the ski hills at Blue Mountain are looking for their next activity. The pool was filled to capacity, but they were expecting some exits soon. The cashier explained the situation to everyone standing in line and pointed to the expected cutoff, where the wait would be conceivably much longer. That cutoff point was right behind me. This was to be one of many examples of what some might call a guardian angel looking over us, or having horseshoes where the sun don’t shine, whatever your preference.
Once we were in, I found myself a little disappointed by the size of it, which I had assumed would be much bigger. Still there was a swimming pool with some splash features and toys like pool noodles, mats, life jackets in addition to a splash pad with a small water slide and some fountains which were loved by the Lightning Kid. Shark Boy and I went through the pool doorway to the outdoor pools which had additional (and larger) water slides; I didn’t want him getting out of the water in below freezing temperatures, so we headed back inside. We let them have fun till nearly 5:30 and then decided to get out, change and head to dinner.
Through the Days’ Inn we got a 10% discount at Boston Pizza, and that restaurant was on a short list of places we’d try with the kids; it has a good selection of food (and beer), and is quite kid friendly. I considered ordering a chicken pecan salad, to try and stay on track nutritionally, but I was simply too hungry so I ended up with a huge bowl of Butter Chicken Linguine (I substituted in their whole wheat linguine for the regular fettuccine at least). The real highlight of the dinner, though, was seeing a young man named Kevin as part of the staff. Kevin (like the Lightning Kid) happens to have Down syndrome, and according to his co-workers, is a great, friendly, professional and welcome recent addition to their team. Apparently this isn’t uncommon at Boston Pizza locations…if we liked Boston Pizza before, that sealed the deal for us!
With a King size bed and a pull-out couch, and two boys who roll all around their beds at night, we opted to put the Lightning Kid on couch cushions on the floor, while my wife slept next to him on the pull-out couch. Shark Boy and I shared the King size bed where I could plug in my CPAP machine. Around midnight, the Lightning Kid woke up with very wheezy breathing. Having dealt with bronchiolitis and pneumonia in the past, we opted to take him to the hospital to get his oxygen levels checked (N.B. I deal with plenty of armchair diagnosis in real life and on Facebook, so I don’t want to get into those kinds of discussions in this space). I stayed at the hotel with Shark Boy, though of course I couldn’t sleep (though I did whine about it on Facebook). We must have found more horseshoes, since the problems were limited to his upper respiratory tract; the doctor figured it might be from dust in the room – I blame the couch cushions. I switched to the pull-out (no more CPAP) and my wife had to share the King size with both boys – resulting in sleeping perched on the edge of the bed. Still, it did improve the Lightning Kid’s breathing and he was well enough to ski the next day.
We had a delicious breakfast at the Westside Diner, and returned to the hotel to pack up and check out. Then it was over to Blue Mountain to try and get the kids to find their ski legs. I generally find Blue Mountain over-priced and over-crowded, but I have to say, guest services hooked us up with the minimum price of tickets we needed to get the kids on the magic carpet (and down the bunny hill). A beginner ticket for me, a free pedestrian ticket for my wife (she didn’t put on equipment, just stayed on foot for coaching), and free kids tickets. Shark Boy seemed to remember enough from last year to ride the magic carpet up without a problem, and he needed very little intervention after the first couple of runs where he fell a few times. The Lightning Kid was eager to ride up, but a little fussy about riding down. A few times we got him to take a few steps independently, and I tried holding him between my knees with a ski pole acting as a kind of safety bar. Frankly, it was a bit of a struggle for me – he’s so small I found it awkward to bend down enough. I did get a couple of short bursts where he’d sort of stride and flap his feet like a walk or strut as we slid down the bunny hill. The problem was when he’d cross his skis I’d have to lift him up in the air long enough to uncross them. One time I pulled up on my ski pole and ended up giving him a fat lip. He screamed and cried, but somehow I talked him into one more run (if only for the chance to go up the magic carpet again). This time we both managed to get good bent knees with low centres of gravity and we zoomed down the hill… to the squeals of delight of my wife. Being able to ski as a family seemed doubtful when we first got his diagnosis, even though we’d skied with kids with special needs when we used to volunteer with the Ontario Track 3 Ski Program.
It was only few runs, but we called it a victory before my wife took him inside to warm up. Shark Boy and I continued a few runs where I gave him a turning exercise by planting a ski pole in front of him (ambush!). I find I’m never dressed warm enough for the outdoors when I’m with the kids; it’s a slower activity than I plan for so I get cold. We did 3 more runs and re-joined the rest of our family for lunch.
After lunch it was time to head home. Shark Boy wanted to know what else was on tap for the day! I guess, it’s just never enough. Or rather, it is, because the cranky attitude was reflective of the fatigue. He fell asleep in about 2 minutes of driving, which meant he missed another example of our horseshoe angels’ help. I must not have tightened the ski rack enough before leaving, and it opened on the country road heading from the ski hill into Collingwood proper. My wife and I’s cross-country skis and poles flew off the car and landed on the road behind us! The downhill skis were heavier and stayed put. What could have been a disaster ended up being a shining example of how generous people can be. Cars behind us stopped (without running our equipment over) and even helped me get everything off the road so we could all get moving again as quickly as possible. The skis didn’t take any significant damage (a few nicks and scuffs), and I tightened and locked the rack as best as I could.
The snow continued to fall, as it had all day, so I was extremely nervous about the drive home. Luckily, although it was slow going, visibility was good enough and everyone seemed to be driving sensibly, so we got home safe and sound, had dinner as a family, put the kids to bed, and unpacked. By the time we crawled into bed, my wife and I could do nothing but smile at each other, both awed by all the craziness we’d experienced in 48 hours, and proud of our accomplishments.
I typed the first part of this post on a Saturday night in a hotel business centre in Collingwood, Ontario. I was intending to finish writing about the entirety of the Saturday, but the slow net connection and my own exhaustion made it impossible. As I type this now with borderline frostbitten fingertips, I know I have to break the tale of our crazy Collingwood weekend up into more than one post. For now, you’ll have to settle for my contribution to the Lakeshore Runner Tri-ed It Tuesday linkup: a recap of our first snowshoe race.
I’ve wanted to take part in a snowshoe race for some time now. I’ve owned my own snowshoes for over a year, but I haven’t gotten many chances to get proficient with them. This year I missed two chances to take part in snowshoeing events run by Personal Best at Albion Hills. Not only was the venue close, but vendors were allowing you to try on snowshoes for demonstration purposes, and they had children’s sizes, so I ended up getting Shark Boy all psyched up to, only for us to miss our shot by a few minutes each time. As a family, we made cross-country skiing the top priority weekend outdoor activity, and snowshoeing kept getting punted.
Before we were married, my wife and I used to love coming up to Collingwood for both cross-country and downhill skiing, and even with two kids, we still try to make the effort. Knowing that we wanted to make such a weekend happen, and since I found the Romp To Stomp Snowshoe Race (benefitting the fight against Breast Cancer), I had a way to kill two birds with one stone. All I had to do was pack cross-country ski gear for four people, downhill gear for four people, the Chariot, my snowshoes, plus swimsuits and clothes for an overnight stay into my car…
We’ve had to deal with enough chaos in our life (e.g. the Lightning Kid getting sick in the last minute) that I was unwilling to pre-register; I just have to live with having every plan be tentative. I had packed the car the night before, but when I got outside on Saturday morning to pull the car out of the garage, I saw it was snowing. Heavily. This was going to impact the ideal schedule… not catastrophic, but chaotic as the norm. After a 2 hour drive, we were passing through Collingwood on the way to Scenic Caves, where the event was being held, and we saw that there was parking for the event in town with shuttles to Scenic Caves. This didn’t bode well, since we knew we wanted to park there so we’d have access to both the snowshoe event and cross-country ski trails afterwards. Luckily, the staff let us park in their lot, even though it was off-limits to race participants.
The building housing the registration desk was far from just about everything else, but luckily (again) Shark Boy and I made it in time. It was a bit of an ordeal filling out at least 3 different forms, and the network connection was too spotty to make a credit card authorization for my $42 (plus tax) registration fee. Somehow, we still got out with our race bibs pinned to our jackets and I got a demo pair of Tubbs (the main sponsor) snowshoes for Shark Boy, and I still had time to change into my Salomon trail runners and grab my own snowshoes.
The ‘Lil Rompers’ race took place first. It was a very short out and back of only a few hundred meters; a nice little sprint for the little ones to get their energy out and try out what it was like to run in snowshoes. Shark Boy did great, and took to snowshoes like a Shark to water (where do you think we get that nickname from?). He was actually last to cross the finish line, but he was one of the smallest/youngest kids, and there were several who gave up crying. He always puts on a brave face, but I found out later that he was actually a little upset at coming in ‘last’ and when I spoke to him about it on Sunday night, he also complained of getting snow kicked into his face (which I would also experience at the start of my own race). I explained about how his not giving up and crossing the finish line made him a hero to me, and it’s one of the things I love about him most. I hope that’s worth a gold medal to him…
Starting Line
Shark Boy is in the green jacket back there…
Look at the snow fly!
If you see a lot of pink in these pictures it’s because the Romp To Stomp Snowshoe series benefits the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. So in addition to being a lot of fun, they’re also helping out a great cause.
As I lined up for my own race, of course a few nerves kicked in. I asked some of my fellow participants if they knew what colour our trail (3 km race, there was also a 5 km race and 3 km walk available) was blazed. Someone pointed out to me that I was wearing a Walk bib as opposed to a race bib. I needn’t have worried, as there were pink and blue arrows spray painted into the snowbanks and marshals at every possible fork to keep anyone from getting lost. As we took off, I had only 3 people running in front of me, but their intensity was enough to kick up a good cloud of powder. As I settled into a pace I thought I could maintain, we got a little spaced out on the trail and I stayed firmly in fourth place. Scenic Caves is on the Niagara Escarpment, and as such the trails are made to start with a lot of climbing (which is better than ending with a lot of climbing). I’m familiar with the terrain from cross-country skiing here over the years, but I’m not as competent at pacing myself on snowshoes, and try as I might to climb slowly while still ‘running’ I found myself taking it back to a walk. I blame peer-pressure, as the other front runners were doing it too, so it only seemed sensible. The snowshoes have little teeth that make traction a non issue, so every step was efficient and meaningful.
What I noticed about the snowshoe trails (when they deviated from the ski trails) is that they can go into much denser vegetation since there’s less chance of quickly careening off trail into a tree.
Whoever was in first had left the rest behind, but I kept seeing racers 2 and 3 a little ahead, and some of the volunteers even egged me on to try and catch them. On uphills I felt like I was gaining ground, but on every descent they’d seem to disappear. I eventually learned that I can lean into a downhill on snowshoes much like when I run normally.
Another way I might have been losing ground was that I stopped to take pictures. When it came to crossing the big suspension bridge, I simply had to. It has a great view, and luckily I’m not afraid of heights…
The bridge is 25m above a stream below…
…and 300m above Georgian Bay.
On the final kilometre of the race, I finally began to gain ground on racers 2 and 3 who seemed to be sticking together, with one always a little ahead of the other. There was one last big climb that I managed to maintain enough intensity on to pass them both. I still needed to drop back into a walk before the top, but I figure my longer legs kept me ahead on a stride by stride basis. My only regret about this race was not wearing my heart rate monitor strap; I think it would have been interesting to know exactly how hard I was going.
Once I crossed the finish line, they let me know I came in second place! Not bad for someone racing in snowshoes for the first time! I think I heard them announcing some of the podium places for both 3km and 5km racers later on, but I was busy with the family at the time. We might have been chowing down on Maple Lodge Chicken Dogs which were available for nothing but a donation to Breast Cancer awareness. They were tasty! If it wasn’t the chicken dogs, then we were out continuing our adventures on the cross-country ski trails, which will be the first part of Chapter 2 of our Collingwood Adventure. So I’m leaving you with a bit of a cliff hanger… see you next time!
