Wheaton gets in it's last licks but I'm still standing!

Yahoo!  here is the last payment envelope for Wheaton College forever!!!!!!.  What else would a 59 and one half year old guy do early Sunday morning but wake up and pay bills?  This one was a welcome bill to pay.  Sorry it is sideways but thats just the way it is and I don't want to fix it.

A Tobogganing We Go

The kids wait eagerly for their first ride on the toboggan

While it's getting warm enough to go to the park in warmer climes, we are celebrating no longer being in a deep freeze.  In fact, it was one of the first times this winter that snow, temperature, and daylight have made an evening outing to the sledding hill a reality.

The kids were intrigued to try out the toboggan we got from Grandpa Mike last year.  To be honest, I was looking forward to it just as much (maybe more).  I put a coat of wax on the bottom before we left just in case it decided to stick in the soft snow.

Not only was it our first time sledding this year (in March!), and our first time to use the toboggan, but it was also Philip's first time sledding ever.  We loaded everyone up and headed to our nearest hill in downtown Hancock - the front lawn of the old middle school.  The hill is great because it's big enough for sledding, but not too big for the kids - and it's got a bit of a jump halfway down.

Sitting at the bottom of the sledding hill.  From the top (next to the building) we made it to the snowbank shown here and almost over it with the toboggan.

We were pleased to find the toboggan fast and fun.  Peter and I went down together several times and I went down with various combinations of three or four of the others (including Philip).  Rachel and I even got to enjoy a ride by ourselves. I don't think I had ever ridden a toboggan and was surprised at how flexible it was, yet it tracked well and was much more comfortable than the plastic sleds.  We got air on the jump more than once and everyone decided it was the best of the sleds.

As we returned home Peter echoed the sentiment of all the kids when he asked "When can we ride the toboggan again?  Can we do it now?"

"Honey, do you want to go to the park?"

The temperature just climbed into the lower 50s today and the sun was out. Amber asked Honey if she wanted to go to the park. A visual recollection: