Last week, our church youth (middle school and high school age kids) went snow tubing at Jonas Ridge Snow Tubing Park in North Carolina.
Judah, who is in 6th grade this year and technically in middle school, was our only kid old enough to go, but since Dean was heading this trip up, we decided to let Isaiah, who’s in 4th grade go along too. In fact, if a parent was planning to go and stay, then younger kids were welcome to come.
No matter, I was NOT planning on going. I was planning on staying home with the younger boys, doing something special with them (pizza and a movie anyone), and getting caught up on some reading or online work. Plus, it was supposed to be freezing that night, and I really didn’t want to drag two little guys out in that weather.
But then the day came, and my 7-year-old, Uriah, had been begging to go. And while a huge part of me wanted to stay home to get all that I needed to do done, the other part of me remembered that I had decided to get out of the house and do more with the boys this year as far as field trips and social outings with friends go. You know, connect with people more.
It’s not that I don’t want to connect with people because I certainly do. I’m mostly an extroverted person (although, I think I’m a borderline introvert), and I like going out and getting together with friends. It’s just that there are so many things I want to get done here at home, and I already feel like I don’t have enough time to do all I need to do, so I tend to stay home as much as I can. Maybe you can relate.
And while I know staying home can help me to be more productive and get more things checked off my to-do list (which makes me really happy), I recognize that it can also be a negative thing if I do it too much—for me and the boys.
This is one of the reasons why I chose the word “connection” for 2019. I want to make myself connect with more people online and off. We need connection in our life—I know I certainly do. And while I love connecting with others inside of the Internet, connecting with others outside of it is super important, so I’m going to do all I can to get myself and the boys off the mountain, even more, this year and spend time with others, developing friendships, and getting to know like-minded people.
So all that to say, I finally gave in and decided it would be best to go. And yes, Uriah was thrilled!
The drive from Tennessee into North Carolina was lovely. It was nice and sunny, and the snowy mountains were fun to see from a distance, especially since there was no snow where we were. I kept pointing to them and telling the boys, “That’s where we’re going!”
Jonas Ridge Snow Tubing gave us a great discount for our group (we were mostly homeschoolers so I think we got that rate!), and we were able to tube for two hours. Yes, two hours! We adults were joking that once we’d tried all the lanes a couple times and snapped some photos, we’d be done, but the teens were having a blast and stayed out for the full two hours even though it was super cold.
Yes, I spotted a Yeti. Do you capitalize Yeti? Is it a name or a common noun? I don’t even know. Nonetheless, I thought this was a pretty cool wood carving so I snapped a quick photo.
Mummm… look at this handsome guy right here? My mountain man. I’m so lucky! (Swoon!)
Shoe photos because, well, I kinda like shoe photos. I’m not quite sure why. I just do. I broke out the boots for this trip because it was so cold!
Just to give you an example of how cold it was outside—this is a bottle of water Isaiah took out for 15 minutes. When he came back in the top had started to freeze! Crazy!
Since we were anticipating the cold, the boys were bundled up with three layers of clothes so they stayed pretty warm except for their faces and ears.
Even though the weather was frigid, we still had a good turn out, and it was really nice getting to hang out with the women inside the lodge. Jonas Ridge Snow Tubing had a nice lodge area with tables, chairs, a fireplace, bathrooms, television, and a snack bar area. It even had a large viewing window so you could watch everyone tubing outside while hanging out and staying warm inside!!
We sat in front of the fire and tried to keep the littlest ones distracted for two hours. Thank goodness for hot chocolate and apps for kids!
I rarely let Ezrah just play mindless games on my phone, but tonight was the exception. At least he was playing an educational game. He kept wanting to go outside to go tubing, but he was supposed to have an adult go with him. Finally, towards the end of the night, they let him ride down once with his big bro, and he was so excited! He wouldn’t stop talking about it! It was really cute.
All in all, it was a good trip, and I’m so glad I went. The boys and their cousins had such a good time that Dean’s mom, Mum-mum, is taking everyone back after Valentine’s Day!