Extended Christmas

The kids got a dream come true last week when the snow forced the council to shut all its schools for 2 days. There was quite a bit of snow, and that of course meant sledging. There are lots of hill around here but getting to them by car was a problem so we stuck with the safer and more communal option of the 12th hole at Winterfield Golf Course. We went on Tuesday and a growing mob of sledgers were gathering. It was all very sociable with kids exchanging sledges and other vehicles for tearing down the hill, parents stood around chatting and eventually chattering, sharing hot chocolate and biscuits. We got there at 12.20pm and left at around 4pm. Midway through the afternoon, the text message from the school came through to parents telling them school would be closed. Great cheers echoed around Belhaven Bay as the kids knew another day on the slope lay ahead. And so for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the routine became fairly familiar of spending 4-5 hours in the bitter cold, going up and down a hill. Most remarkable was that it got isabelle out of bed before 12pm, and for the first time ever she was sat inthe car waiting for us. Each day the numbers grew, as did the confidence of people who tried out various stunts on ice. Andrew took his wheels off his skateboard and found he had good balance on his improvised snowboard. People were using rubber rings, a double airbed, and inflatable shark and most effective was a piece of laminate flooring. Of course one or two knob heads turned up and we were down by 2 sledges at the end of the week simply because some spotty faced fat teenagers nicked them off the kids. Still, I have my wheelie bin lid that I found washed up on the shore to use next time. I also had a go at making an igloo. I was curious to see if it could be done. Using a recycling box to make my bricks I got 3/4 of the way through constructing it before turning in for the night. We woke up on Sunday to see the rare sight of grass and a puddle where the igloo once stood. The snow had gone. No igloo, sledging no more and school on Monday.