More winter fun before the snow melts!

A frozen fountain in Boyne City

When we arrived at Boyne Mountain Resort last Sunday, the temperatures were seasonably cold and the snow was plentiful, but warmer temperatures were predicted for later in the week.  We were determined to get in as much cold-weather recreation as we could before we lost all the snow!

Bryce decided to try out snowboarding with his friend, Rob, so we rented him some equipment and set him loose on the “Magic Carpet”.

Magic Carpet – tricky to get used to, but WAY better than the old tow rope!

Bryce’s first time on a “real” snowboard included a few falls, but it didn’t take long for him to get the hang of it!

He’s still smiling!

The boys spent some more time on the bunny hill, working on their technique,

Bryce is getting the hang of it!

Robbie already looks like a PRO!

and then decided they were ready to move up to the next hill – which involved a chairlift!  This is the only chairlift on the property that does not require a lift ticket, so the line was l – o – n – g!

Moving on to the Boyneland slope.

I personally hate chairlifts, and was incredibly nervous about the boys getting on one by themselves, but they were eager to go!

They made it – no need to worry, Mom!

The trip down the slope was uneventful, as well, and we were comfortable with leaving them on their own for awhile while Tom & I & Nick went inside to warm up and get a snack.

Nick wasn’t interested in trying snowboarding – he’d rather have a motor!

Snowboarding was fun, but we also had to try out “Avalanche Preserve” in Boyne City for some old-fashioned fun.  The Avalanche used to be a ski resort (decades ago), but now it’s owned by the city and has been converted to an awesome sledding hill.  In addition to sledding, they also have hiking trails, cross-country ski trails, and a skating rink.  In the warming hut,

they loan (yes, LOAN, for free!) skates and sleds for kids and adults.  The kids headed straight for the sledding hill,

You can’t tell from here, but it’s quite a hike to the top of the hill.

and Tom decided he was going to try out the skating rink.

Careful man – we don’t need any broken legs!

The kids only went about halfway up the hill, but they still picked up quite a bit of speed on the way down!

Having a blast on the way down!

Once they were tired of climbing the hill, they decided to try skating, too.  Nick and Bryce weren’t going to at first, but peer pressure finally got to them!

Can you tell which kids aren’t used to skates?

It was already warming up – Nick didn’t even need his coat!

It started raining last night, and by the time we checked out this morning most of the snow was gone, so it was a good thing we enjoyed the winter weather earlier in the week!

I’d rather go south in the winter, and as soon as the house sells we’ll spend our winters in warmer climates, but as long as we’re still here in the north, I’m glad we were able to spend this Christmas vacation enjoying all that Michigan has to offer!