Sledding, Sculpting, Splashing, & Slicing

Our Vermont weekend was action-packed. We took full advantage of the Vermont snow and found every sledding hill in town. The level of difficulty varied greatly - from fun and steep to basically insane. My dad might have been a bit scared here....

And I think someone needs to tell my mom to open her eyes, it's safer that way...

And this photo was taken of my first solo sled ride, I was racing my cousin Bridget. My dad shoved me with all of his force, causing me to fling back and lay nearly flat on my back as I went 1000 miles per hour down the hill. Once I got going I realized one small detail, no one mentioned how to stop the sled. I decided to just enjoy the ride - the wind whipping by - while in the background I heard frantic screams coming from the top of the hill, "Bail! Bail out Bodie! Jump off Bodie! TREEEEEEEE!" And then WHAM! SPLAT! SMASH! My sled hit a tree at full force, flipped - with me still connected to it - and slammed into a SECOND tree. My mom ran down the hill like she was on fire with my dad close behind her. The first words out of my mouth were, "Did I win the race?" Followed by, "Was that awesome?" My mom said she lost a few years off her life and my dad proudly replied, "Yes, you won. And yes, that was awesome...but NEVER do it again." We then practiced bailing off the sled.

 

It was Bennington's Winterfest so we headed downtown to the ice sculpting competition. I think Gates and I were two of the youngest spectators so almost every sculptor let us help them which was pretty cool. I chipped and chiseled - it was awesome. We also watched crazy people splash into sub zero water for the Penguin Plunge- a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. We stayed dry for that one. 

Nana and Pop Pop are great hosts and let us play all over their fun house.

 

Lastly, my mom sliced her hair off - here are a few shots of the new "do." Fun change, huh!