Sledding

Yesterday was the first year resident retreat. That's when all the first year residents take a little break from work to talk, unwind, and have a little fun. They ended up retreating to a cabin on a lake in Michigan. At lunchtime, the families were invited to come and join the group for lunch and afternoon snow fun!

The boys had been really looking forward to 'retreating'. They had no idea what it was but it meant a half day of school for Clayton and a mysterious adventure so they were super excited. When we got there, they played in the cabin while we waited for lunch. They had foosball, ping pong, toys, board games, and snacks! For lunch the interns (a.k.a. - first year residents) made us pizza! It was actually really good. Some of those guys may have missed their callings...

After lunch, we had s'mores and then it was time for the main event...SLEDDING! The boys were really excited to sled. I knew that Noah would love it for sure, but I was worried about Clayton. He had a bad experience sledding about 3 years ago and that has kept him from sledding since. He'll watch, but never particiaptes. This year was different though! He got so into it! He and Noah crashed once and still they got back up and kept sledding. Clayton even tried the super fast purple sled and ended up going farther than the designated hill. Justin and several other people had to chase him down past the barrier to get him. I thought for sure that was going to be the end for him, but he just decided that he was done with the purple sled and kept sledding on the slower orange sleds. I was pretty proud of him!
Noah is such a daredevil. He would go down the hill backward, forward, and upsidedown.
I love that they would haul their own sleds back up the hill. They would bring their sleds back up to the top and immediately go back down. The weather was PERFECT for sledding - not too cold.
I had also worried about how Josie would like it. I shouldn't have worried. She loved it just as much as the rest of us did!
She loved going down the sled with Daddy. Every time she had to wait at the top of the hill, she would sneak into an empty sled and try to go down the hill. It was pretty cute. At one point, Justin did send her down alone. It made my heart stop for a minute, but she did great! She didn't fall out or cry or anything!
Having Daddy drag you back up the hill after your run is all part of the fun!
Let's not forget the brave (or, if you prefer, crazy) residents. They would 'snowboard' down the hill on the sleds, try to hit one another with snowballs as they were sledding or returning, pack as many people on one little sled as possible, etc. They were making me laugh for sure! It was very entertaining.
It was a pretty perfect afternoon. We could have done this all day! Clayton and Noah have both decided that 'retreating' is awesome. I couldn't agree more!