What To Do In The WInter, Chapter 3

If the trend for warmer Winters in Southwestern IL continues, the following will not always be an option, but the "warmer Winter" trend was put to a grinding halt this year, so who knows. We've had a l-o-n-g string of cold days (probably 2 weeks or so). Today is the first sign that there's life after Winter. The high today was a welcomed 60 degrees!

In any case, I went sledding with my kids on Saturday of this past weekend at a local park in Fariview Heights, Pleasant Ridge. It truly is "pleasant." It's fully 95 acres with space for roller-blading, picnic pavilions that may be rented, great hills for sledding, a wonderful playground that toddlers through 8 year olds will appreciate and hiking trails in the hilly woods. It's a great way to relax from the hustle and bustle of everyday activities. Here's what we saw when we were there this past weekend.

The sledding this past weekend was fantastic! Although the temps were in the mid-20's, combined with a brisk NW wind at about 20 mph, which made for a pretty chilly day, the slopes were absolutely perfect. You'll want to beware that the hills at Pleasant Ridge actually make up a valley. People sled on each side of the valley from opposite directions. What this means is that on some of the more popular places on the hill, there is the potential for collisions. I personally feel it adds exhileration to the experience . If you've got childern under the age of 6 or so, you may want to leave them at home!

Here's a picture of my daughter hitting the snow ramp just right. I'm not sure if she'll recover from the landing, but rumor has it that after she grinded to a halt, she was still smiling!

When all was said and done, my 8 year-old son got a bloody nose, but that would have happened no matter WHAT we did...he seems to be drawn to incidents that involve a great deal of drama. He simply viewed it as an opportunity to tell another story to Gramdma and Grandpa. Neither my 3rd nor 4th children reported any incident, except having lots of fun.

After sledding, we returned home, grabbed some hot chocolate and were happy to have yet another intimate family experience to store in our memories. Life is grand!

Tomorrow I'll share another sledding location we visited on Sunday. Yes, although most of the area is pretty flat, there are certianly places to find hills that can provide TONS of sledding enjoyment!

If you're thinking of relocating to Scott Air Force Base to join us for sledding some year, or for information on communities, schools or homes for sale in O'Fallon, Belleville, Shiolh, IL and other communities that surround Scott Air Force Base, please go to www.RelocateToScottAirForceBase.com ...and don't forget to bring your sled!