Tubing at Soldier Hollow

One of our favorite family outings is tubing at Soldier Hollow every winter. We went on Jessica's birthday this year (mostly because it was a day we could all go). We arrived at 4pm for the 4-6 tubing session. We suited up and hit the slides! You grab a tube, walk a short distance and hook on to the lifts. Then you ride up the hill on your tube. At the top, you jump off and head to the slide of your choice (one of 6 or 7). When we first arrived, the slides were rather slow and slushy because it had been snowing, but it wasn't long before they froze solid and were VERY fast!

All of the kids love tubing. Jessica even tried to go down by herself this year - no fear! Steve gave her the biggest push he could, but about 1/4 of the way down the hill, she stopped. Just too light. I was at the bottom and saw her sitting there in her tube, not moving at all. Then she stood up. I figured she was crying and scared. But nope, she was bugged! She grabbed her tube and pulled it a little way. She evidently was either tired of walking or thought she could slide if she sat back down, because she plopped back down on her tube and just sat there. One of the employees had to walk up from the bottom. He tried giving her a big push and that didn't work either. He pulled her for a little while until she was close to a steeper hill and then gave her a big push. She made it almost all the way down. She didn't go alone again! We also tried going together - all 5 of us. We put Alyssa in the front, holding on to both Jess and Tay's tubes. Then Steve and I ran and jumped into our tubes - pushing the entire group down the hill - and grabbed onto the the other side of Jess and Tay's tubes. The first time it actually went well. We flew SUPER fast and everyone loved it. The second time ... not so great! Alyssa was only holding on to Tay's tube so when we pushed she flung off to one side, pulling Taylor with her. I was holding on to Taylor still but Alyssa and Taylor jumped our track and went down the one beside us. When I looked up and realized there were kids ahead of Alyssa and Taylor and they weren't moving NEARLY as fast as we all were, I did everything I could to pull them back to our track, but couldn't so we had to drag our feet and try to stop before we collided with the other kids. We did bump the other kids but not too hard so all was well. I think my arm about ripped out of the socket though!
And here's a picture of me ... posed since there were no other ones taken. I had the camera. And then one of me with all the girls - just to prove it was all of us on the outing. :)

By the time we were done, Taylor and Jessica were frozen! We were all ready to head home! Another fun year at Soldier Hollow!