Today we all went for what I believe is our first family ski. Actually, we did not bring the dogs so it was not the complete family, but at least all the humans were present and accounted for. Nora did some skiing, Stuey walked about on the lake in his snowmobile suit, Zoya got to do a lap of the lake on her skate skiis, and Daddy chased Nora around on his XC skiis. Stuey reminded me of my grandfather who used to wear a snowmobile suit all winter in Maine. Gregg, Lisa and Karen also joined us - a good time was had by all.
Of course two different good Samaritans came down to tell us that the ice was not safe. At first this made me angry, but then I realized that they had our best interests at heart. Of course I had checked the ice and knew it was safe before I took my family out there.
I think it is important to teach kids about ice at an early age so that later in life they do not do something stupid on the ice when I am not around. Too often parents are terrified of ice and their kids never get to learn about it. The only way for children to learn about ice is to explore it with a parent. Hopefully, they will learn not to go near the outlets to lakes, avoid areas where streams come in, watch out for springs, and to be very careful near shore where the ice is often the thinnest. And never ever walk on ice covered rivers which are never safe and have currents that can sweep you under the ice. These are things kids need to learn (because I doubt I'll always be there when they do go out onto frozen lakes), and today Stuey and Nora started to learn about them.
Patrick
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