For several years now, the girls and I have had headed up to the mountains to play for a few days just after Christmas. We’ve gone to the Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat, just outside Leavenworth. We missed doing this last year, with everything else going on, but wanted to strike up this little tradition again.
There are many things we enjoy about this time. It’s good time together, it’s fun to play in the snow, and there are usually lots of other kids around for mine to make friends with.
This year was a bit different. KK is 12 now, and wanting to spend more time with friends. Another complicating factor is that she’s living with Celiac Disease, so needs to remain gluten-free. I’d spoken with the chef ahead of time and ascertained that the Sleeping Lady would offer a number of gluten-free options at each meal. What I didn’t nail down was whether my 12 year old would want to eat them or not. Generally speaking, the food is very good – but pre-teens might be more fond of mac and cheese with rice noodles than they would be of stuffed portabello mushrooms. Oh well.
There wasn’t very much snow this year. We opted not to cross-country ski on the icy layer that was there. R and I did go snowshoeing a bit, and had fun doing that. We also went into town and enjoyed the sledding hill for a while. Very icy, but fun. I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of the trains that the kids formed to slide down the icy lane on one side of the hill.
We met a nice family who lives near us – good company all around. R played Clue with their kids, while I got to visit with the parents and exchange stories.
Observing some of the changes this year tells me that I’m not sure how much longer we’ll do this. That makes me feel a bit sad – but the answer is to enjoy it while we can. Good advice in general, right ?
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