Today started out so lazily.. We’d talked about going up to Bolton for pond skimming .. Pond skimming is when you ski/board/sled down the hill into a 75 foot pool of water and try to skim over the top to stay dry..  At around 10 AM we were all sitting in the living room flopped on the couches thinking about how much we didn’t want to go outside and get wet… Gabe and I had tried several times to come up with an idea for a float or something like we did last year..   but we couldn’t come up with anything. Gabe and Jack decided that they were going up to Bolton for the second to last day… so I decided… what the heck.. I’d go check out the pond skimming and decided then if I wanted to do it.   I didn’t have a float… so I grabbed our old Little Tykes teeter-totter and drove the boys up the mountain. I walked in to the registration room and they only had 3 places left.. I grabbed one.

I walked out to check out the pond.. it looked… uh… cold…

Here’s my trusty skimming device…   all three kids played with this for years.

Zack H, the director of the night riders series.. and a good friend was going to take the first run.. they’d even made him his on ramp to get a flying start !

There goes Zack..  .. splash.. the first face plant !

Like always.. there were a ton of costumes… and a few sleds, floats and other conveyances.. Mine was the only teeter-totter. Here’s Hayden R. with his cool sled.

Here are a bunch of Gabe’s friends  freezin’ in their bathing suits.. (even though they were on the outside of their clothes )

Mr. Claus tunes up

As did the sun-burn duo

And lady Chiquita

I hung out of the wind by leaning against the Sam rail… Sam was all over today.. I felt him everywhere.

Vivian took her turn…

It was almost my turn.. I practiced the Captain Crunch pose.. All the kids used to say this teeter-totter thing looked like Captain Crunches hat.

Gabe was up hanging out with us..

As was Austin

The girls were shivering by this point.. I lent them an extra shirt I had..

Scout, Kirsten and Katy took a sled down..

Then it was my turn.. I used the standard riding position dictated by the United States Pond Skimming with Little Tikes Plastic Teeter-Totter Association (USPSWLTPTTA) guidelines… It was all I could do to balance.. Steering was a luxury I couldn’t afford.

Things went pretty well until about 10 feet from the pond.. I flew over the front of my trusty steed ..   I grabbed it and ran face first with it into the water.. Success !

I stood up out of the water and struck a Captain Crunch pose with my teeth chattering.> Man, that water was COLD !

I charged inside and changed into warm/dry clothes.. I went upstairs to wait for the judging.. Lots of friends were up here.. I hung out and talked to Hannah and Carolyn for a while.. and a whole lot of other folks..

Gabe came in shortly…

Brandon was there in his 2 dollar crabbing pants..

While I was waiting I wedged a SamStone into the rocks of the fireplace.

Fianlly, it was time for the judging. We all crowded into the pub… They gave away quite a few prizes.. a few of them serious… most of them not. I’m glad I stayed.. I won “2nd best face-plant” .. I can’t remember who won “1st best face plant” .. But next year.. they better watch out !

After the awards, I went and tossed a SamStone into the pond..

That’s just about it for Bolton.. just one more day. the kids are going to have trouble adjusting to this place being closed…   Gabe’s bummed. I know.

There really is so much Sam stuff up here… shirts, boards, stickers, helmets.

Wouldn’t you know.. the sun came out the moemnt the lift stopped for the day.

I took my wet clothes, got the car, went and got the car and drove Gabe and a bunch of his friends back home.    After a snack, we all got motivated to set up the trampoline.. There’s no better medicine for the the closing of the slopes.. First order of business was to untangle a few of the remaining springs from the safety net.. That was the hardest job !.. It was Spring Fever !

we got the pad, stretched it out and started hooking in all of those springs. We replaced about 2 dozen of the most stretched out ones with new ones..

Soon, it was time for the first bounce of spring.. The Legit crew strikes a pre-bounce pose..

Then they all layed hands on the tramp and performed a little ’big fun / no injuries’ ceremony .

And here it is folks.. the first back flip of spring…

OK.. gotta sleep now.. I’m too tired to keep my eyes open. Tomorrow I head to Florida for a conference. Lots of good talks.. and great friends. Should be fun..   Goodnight all, goodnight Sam !
-me

ps. here’s a picture of Sam all wet from Pnd Skimming in 2005