Winter...Sledding, Walking across the Lake, Sports

The weekends seem to be full of outdoor and indoor activities during the day.  December didn't bring too much snow and the Swedes seemed to be unhappy about the mild temps because it was a very wet dreary December and they were looking forward to the snow especially while they were off during Christmas...Well January brought lots of beautiful fluffy snow that made for some real fun outdoor activities...

First we tried sledding and it was a hit!  We discovered this giant hill a few blocks away that the kids have tons of fun on!

We even used Sox to pull us or run beside us and she loves it...

They use these sleds that are the most slippery ones that they call mattress slide, basically it's like a heavy plastic covered foam cushion big enough for two...

Of course it's great exercise to walk back up the hill...

The temperatures were averaging in the mid 20s during most days in January so the lake finally was "safe" enough to go out on...Many people here have a tool to drill the ice and measure it, but I was holding out until I was confident it was safe and last weekend I saw snowmobiles on it and I saw a woman pulling a sled with a baby in it, so those two things combined let me know it was safe enough for me to try, so Thomas and I brought the dog on a walk across the lake and it was fun.  There was a lot of snow on it, but also the ice underneath was slippery so it was really fun to watch Sox enjoy herself running and trying to stop on it.

You can actually walk to that island way out on the right edge of the picture but in the summer you would need a boat to get to it.

The kids were sledding that day while Thomas and I were on the walk, but later that evening, I brought them to the lake to take a little walk and even though it was "dark" out, it felt "light" with the street lights on and the snow reflecting.

It's a good thing I brought the kids on the lake that evening because ever since that day, it has gone above freezing and hovering in the mid 30s.  In fact I heard that the class the year older than Alex's had planned an outing to cross country ski on the lake that Monday and when they were on it, they kept hearing cracking so they decided (smartly), to end the excursion.

Also the kids have really been busy with sports.  Ben has been playing innebandy (floorball) and also been still practicing once a week for indoor soccer and they had an all day 4v4 (plus goalies) tournament the other weekend and they won all their games.  This tournament was supposedly the largest indoor soccer tournament in all of Sweden so there were teams from all over!

There is Ben sitting next to our neighbor...

Ben is number 13:) they played in a huge arena where they divided the floor into 4 courts.

Alex has also been doing great in basketball.  He is born in 2002 and he plays on a 2000-01 team and last weekend he was noticeably the shortest player out on the court.  He scored 16 points and did great!

Some of the unusual things I note as I drive around town in the days are the number of people that still ride their bikes even in the snow.  Even many school children are still riding daily to school, and I have not seen one person fall...

Tried to take action shot...you have to look carefully to see the man across the street on his bike...

Also, I noticed one day this one school that I drive by daily was spreading water on their court or soccer field area, and the next time I drove by a few days later after snow, it looked like they were sweeping it, then finally I saw kids ice skating on their makeshift ice rink during recess time...how cool!

Hard to tell, but beyond the fence the boy is skating on the ice.

It is light out now until about 4:30 which is so much better than a month ago when it was pitch black out by 3:00 so the days are really starting to get longer thankfully! I must admit, that darkness was hard!

Alex's 12th Birthday!!!

On January 31st, Alex celebrated his 12th birthday...He invited 2 friends to go night skiing and then sleep over.  He had a great time!

Here is Alex ready to go...

I loaded 6 pairs of skis, 6 pairs of boots, 6 helmets and they all were responsible to bring their outdoor wear...

Then they were ready to go...

Everyone thought of bringing everything, but only one thing was missing...a pair of gloves from one of Alex's friends.  Thank goodness that was the one thing I could loan because I stayed inside in the lodge keeping warm so I was happy to help loan my HOT PINK gloves:)

They came inside once to warm up...

When we got back to the house that night it was time for pizza...

Then we ate some homemade Angel Food Cake with 7 Minute Frosting: a classic birthday cake tradition in my family growing up...

Everyone had a great time!

First Ski Adventure!...and the "Family Circus" on SkiLifts!!!

A couple of weeks ago Thomas took the boys for their first ski adventure since they have been in Sweden.  I went along with them, but did not ski this time...I stayed warm inside.

They were all trying out their new skis and it was a beautiful day!!!

There is a ski slope about 25 minutes from town and it is big enough to keep the boys busy all day!


I'm not sure if you have ever heard stories of our "Family Circus" on the ski lifts, but this day was not to disappoint!

Years ago when we were in Norway for vacation, I was perfectly happy staying with young Ben on the bunny slope while Alex and Thomas explored...it wasn't long until Ben wanted to explore the more challenging slopes too though, so Thomas asked me to help Alex off the chair lift while he assisted Ben...I was so busy "helping" Alex off and it was my first time in a while getting off a chair lift myself, that by the time I made sure Alex was off I had missed my opportunity to stand up and ski smoothly off so I had to hop off and the momentum was too much for me so I skied down with great speed and crashed right into a loud metal trash can at the bottom on the right side of the lift!  My family glided smoothly in the opposite direction and "couldn't" get back to help me up as my skis were stuck in the woven metal trash can (I wasn't hurt, but embarrassed)...a man came over and spoke to me in Norwegian and I said back in English that I couldn't speak Norwegian so he said, "Thank goodness, because I knew it couldn't have been a Norwegian that could have done that" (since they say all Norwegians are born on skis)...

Needless to say, I had reservations the very next year when I found myself back, yet again, for more skiing, but I was going along with the family when they again decided to take the chair lift...Again, it was my "responsibility" to "help" Alex off, but Thomas clearly informed me he could do it himself and that I was just there to be sure he got off...So somehow, Ben and Thomas ended up on the lift behind us and the moment came again where I needed to face getting off the chairlift while making sure Alex did as well...as we got near the end, I kept saying, "Ok Alex, we are going to need to jump off...ok...get ready to jump...get ready to jump...", well apparently I said jump one too many times prematurely, so Alex took me literally and jumped off...only it was before the ramp, so he fell and the chairlift continued to move over him so I had to push his head down because they didn't have time to stop it yet. Meanwhile, Thomas and Ben are watching the whole thing from the chair behind ours...Another "loud" moment from the Duffauts, just to be sure everyone knew that there were Americans there:)

So on our latest ski adventure this time, because I chose not to ski that day, I thought the curse of the chair lift would not have followed the rest of my family, but I was wrong...

I believe the first incident as they relayed it to me was just that Alex couldn't get his butt behind the T-bar lift where you ski up the mountain by a bar pushing behind you while you hold on...Apparently he ended up finding a way to "hug" the bar as it pulled him straight up the mountain...I'm sure that was a funny site especially for the lift operator, but he managed without too much attention, though I believe Thomas acted like he didn't know him:)

This is a picture from the web of a T-bar lift just so you can see how it's supposed to be done, either one or two people can ride it. (This is not anyone I know)

But then they headed over to the chairlift...

They all got in line to get on the chairlift together, but while Thomas and Alex were busy getting on, Ben didn't move quick enough to catch the lift, so he was left behind...that didn't scare him though, he missed getting on the next lift, but made it by himself onto the lift after that...As Thomas looked back he realized that Ben was forgetting to put the safety bar down to keep him secure on the lift so he signaled to Ben to lower the bar, I think Ben was so proud that he made it on by himself and when he saw his dad signaling, it looked to him like he was waving, so Ben proudly started waving back...then the lift stopped because the attendant noticed he hadn't put his bar down...Ben finally realized what Thomas was motioning for him to do, so he tried reaching but it was too heavy to pull over his head at first, then he finally got it down (what he didn't know was the attendant was behind him pushing the bar over his head)...anyway, all was well, until he went to lift the bar and get off at the top of the mountain...You see, when you pull the bar over your head, there is a lower bar that comes down by your feet to rest your skis on and so while Ben was lifting up the bar at his waist, he didn't realize it and just kept pulling harder, but his skis were on it keeping it down:)...All this was happening as the lift entered the place where you get off, and the attendant wasn't paying attention in the booth, so Ben started riding the lift around and almost didn't get off, until Thomas got the attendant's attention and they once again stopped the lift to let Ben off...

This is an example of the chair lift where you can see the person riding is resting his skis on two separate bars that are connected to the lap bar...(again I don't know this person)

I stayed in the lodge and walked around some to explore...I think I've mentioned before that many people pack their meals wherever they go and the slopes are no different...they had a whole building with picnic table inside to eat at and they even had microwaves in there to use...

Also, outside they had tables where I saw "true Vikings" sitting enjoying the 20 degree day and eating. 

At the lines for the lifts they had a warm beverage...it was like warm cider, free to keep you warm...

Most everybody wears helmets now which is different than even five years ago from what I remember, but also many are wearing spinal protectors...

I even saw a really neat practice lift for little ones just beginning. It looks like a Merry-go-round, and it moves slowly around in circles to teach beginners how to get on and off the button ski lift without actually riding up the mountain...

And finally, for the do-it-yourself-out-in-the-cold-because-we-can person, there are tools to fix your skis...

It was a great adventure!