Tag: canada

Ski Holidays for the Family

Yes, this is a sponsored post but it’s a genuine question.  A group of our friends are going on a Ski Holiday in Austria in Feb and have invited us along.  This particular group of friends are a great laugh but the majority of them don’t have kids.  However, they’ve always been brilliant with our daughter.  In fact, she thinks one of them is her second dad but that’s a whole different story.  There is one couple going who have a daughter but they’ve managed to find care for her for the week, lucky so and so’s!  However, this isn’t an option for us.

The idea would be that our friends would stay in the main hotel partying till silly o’clock and we would get something self-catering nearby and possibly take turns joining them at night.  Originally, I discounted it straight away but after seeing how much Madame enjoyed her ski lesson a couple of weeks ago I’m now toying with the idea again.

I’ve never been skiing in Europe nor have I ever been skiing for more than a day at a time.  When I was growing up in Canada we’d just drive up to the ski hill in the morning which was only 45 minutes away and would return in the evening.  The thought of skiing for a whole week sounds like it could be hard work.

I’ve also spoken to another friend who has taken her 3 year old skiing and she raves about it.  She said ‘if you’re inclined, the crèches/ski schools are so good that you don’t even have to see your kids all day if you don’t want to!’  Not sure if I’d be up for that but the option is tempting.

The last thing we need to consider it the cost.  I haven’t quite worked it out yet but a week for the 3 of us isn’t going to be cheap (hotel, flights, food, drink, lift passes, equipment).  Would I be better off killing two birds with one stone and investigating Ski holidays in Canada so I could combine it with wwvisiting family?

So, my question to you is ‘have you ever been skiing with a 3 year old and if so, would you recommend it?’

When I was a kid……

I never appreciated how lucky I was growing up in Canada, until I had my daughter.   It now hits home whenever I roll up the rug in the front room, so she can ride her tricycle around the lounge and spend endless hours suffering germ infested soft play centres.

When I was a kid (god, I must be getting old) we lived in a small rural community with approximately 10,000 people.  We moved there when I was 2, there was a sawmill nearby and both my father and grandfather worked at it.  We lived in a secluded development set back from the highway and surrounded by forest.  In the morning, my sister and I’d head out the front door, with barely a goodbye to my mum and not return until dinner time.  We spent the whole day cycling, exploring and getting into healthy mischief.  If we got hungry during the day we all descended on the nearest house and helped ourselves to the fridge.  It was one big happy community.

This was my playground:

I’d give my right arm for that space and freedom again!  However, saying that, you make the most with what you have.  I’ve been in the UK for almost 12 years and I’m incredibly happy here and consider it home.  However, I still struggle with the lack of space.  I’m learning how to make up for it and have gotten over my urge of knocking down internal walls to make more space.

Nevertheless, in reality this is my garden:

It measures, approximately 5 x 9 metres.

However, thanks to ingenious toy manufacturers we have managed to create a scale model of my childhood playground.  We now have Outdoor toys, Little Tikes slide and a Little Tikes Playhouse.  It’s not Canada, but we’re enjoying the great outdoors!