New Year's Eve - Skiing and Snowboarding

This year we decided to do something different for New Year's Eve. We decided to go skiing and snowboarding. We went to Alpine Valley Ski Area in White Lake, MI (http://www.skialpinevalley.com/). They had a special for New Year's Eve - half price off all lift tickets. The special went from 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM, which worked out well since Dad had to work until 5:00.

Mom made sure Syd got down for a nap so she'd be fresh for the evening of fun. She ended up taking a 3 1/2 hour nap that Mom and Dad had to wake her up from so we could leave. The resort is about 2 hours away, north of Detroit so we didn't get there until around 7:30. We ended up just getting lift tickets for the bunny trails because it was Syd's first time snowboarding, Dad's not a pro yet on his snowboard, and Mom's not a pro on skis. Also, because they didn't include a chair lift, Syd was free and Dad and Mom were only $13 each. It was quite a deal. And we didn't even have to use a tow rope (which would have been a challenge with Dad and Syd on snowboards and Mom on skis), because they have one of those magic carpets that you stand on and it takes you to the top.

We got on the slopes around 8:00 and closed the place at 11:00. By the time we left, we were three of only about 20 people left in the whole place. The ski patrol had to come over and let us know that they were closed. The best part was that because we were there so late, there was barely anyone there and we shared the one hill with only a handful of people the last hour. That was great.

Below is some video (we have more). The first one is of Syd at the beginning of the night. The second one is of Syd at the very end of the night (demonstrated by the fact that they have turned off the music)... showing a great deal of improvement. This one is a bit blurry because the camera couldn't figure out what I was focussing on, but Syd's the one in the turquoise coat.

It was a great time and we plan on going again soon. It's all Syd talks about.