Southern Style Sledding

Monday morning when we woke up to almost a foot of snow, it wasn't long before our friend Ryan texted Jon with the question, "When we goin' sleddin'?" Well, Jon and I started trying to think about what we could even use as sleds. Ryan said he had a kiddie pool. We had a small plastic storage tote. Those things might be worth a try, but we needed something better. Growing up, we had a full supply of sledding discs, toboggans, and other sorts of items perfect for going down a hill...but here, we had to resort to finding any sort of flat smooth slippery item that might go down a hill. Jon called a tire store to see about getting an innertube, but the manager said they were closed. We went out to play with the kids (see previous post for those pictures) and Jon told me that the manager called him back and said the store would be open in the afternoon if he wanted to come in!! He went up there and bought a semi-truck innertube and blew it up and 'Voila!' a sledding tube!

We went over to Madison Square Mall and sledded on the big hill between the upper level and lower level parking lots on the front side (by the old Belk store). The mall was closed except for Buffalo Wild Wings, and in the whole time we were there we only saw about 6 or 8 cars drive through. We had a lot of fun...the guys and Lawson sledded, Jordan played in the snow, and the girls took pictures...

Trying to get the thick snow packed down into a slippery sledding path...Playing in the snow...
Lawson went down in the pool first. It wasn't quite slippery enough at first, and flipped several times!
Next he tried the storage bin. Still not quite there...
Next, he went in the tube!
Wheeeeee!!!!
The guys had turns too! Here's Jon in the tube:
In the meantime Jordan built herself a little snowman...she was pretty proud!
How many guys does it take to make a jumping hill for the sledding path???
My sweet girl!
Some of the servers from Buffalo Wild Wings came over with a couple serving trays to sled on. They went down our path, then when they got cold (because they had regular clothes on) they left a tray for us to use. (The tray was pretty good because it was very slippery, but it was kinda small for the big guys to sit on!) Ryan trying out the tray...
Then they got innovative. They were tired of their bottoms dragging on the snow, so they turned the pool upside-down over the tube and went down sitting...then Jon went down laying. I love that he is laughing in this picture!
Lawson going down on the tray...
Whoaaa!! He got some air!!
Jordan only tried to go down once. Maybe this is why: :)
But everyone had a turn when it came to flipping...here's Ryan wiping out!
There came a point where all the guys were standing at the top of the hill talking, and Jon let Lawson go down on the tube 2 or 3 times in a row...I hollered up, "Why is he going over and over? Give someone else a turn!" And all the men said, "We're good!" And Jon revealed the secret: "We're tired!!!" That's the problem with sledding...it's fun to go down, but then you have to hike back up the hill!

Here's Lawson near the end of the sledding adventure. Getting that tube back up the hill is tough, especially for a 6 year old after over an hour of going up and down over and over!
Jordan busying herself by trying to fill up the kiddie pool...
Lawson pegging Jordan with a snowball...
Since we were actually with other people, we actually got a picture of our whole family! We hardly ever get a picture of our whole family!
The snow is fun for a while, but anyone ready for grass and flowers and sunshine yet???? :)