Friday, March 7, 2008
So our trip to Manning Park was a success all around. The first afternoon of skiing was sunny and beautiful, and we practically had the area to ourselves. I say “we”—I mean my family and a few others. I didn’t ski, of course (that pesky ankle healing I’m still doing). 
But I did get to watch my kids ski, the first I’ve seen this season. On our first afternoon, I went to the ski hill with my family and parked myself at the bottom of the hill to watch them ski down. Apparently Ty decided it was a scary hill and they all took so long coming down that I finally asked a guy heading to the chair lift if he would keep his eye open for a family of three. But right after he got on the chair, they appeared over the rise. Ty elected to spend the rest of the afternoon on the bunny slope with his friend, A., who was just learning to downhill ski. Leah was completely comfortable on the steeper hills even though she’s only downhill skied a few times, and the challenge there was to convince her she needed to stay with the accompanying parent. A window into the near future.
In our two and half days, the kids skied, sledded, swam, and roamed the lodge in a pack. I say pack because Manning hosted quite a Bellingham crowd of us—some of us organized to go together, others met serendipitously at the lodge—and the kids had a ball. Manning is great for families because it’s a small resort—really small—and no one can get lost. But still there’s plenty of snow play to be had, and for younger kids (under 13), it’s pretty much a weekend in heaven. (Book early if you’re interested in checking it out!)
