We hiked about 1/3 mile from Mr. Bretscher's house and found a steep hill with no trees around and went for it. About halfway down the hill was this drop off that pretty much became a ramp for the kids. Once they hit that spot they were in the air and most of them did pretty good about staying on their sleds after they landed. Poor Alina was the first one to take the jump and it definitely knocked the wind right out of her because she went too high in the air. When we went down together my weight managed to keep us from soaring too high and it was much less jarring on the way down. =)
I convinced three of my moms to ride down with me, although one challenged me to a race instead. I'll admit, I was really, really nervous to go alone because every other time I'd gone down with a kid or mom in front of me and I had something to hold on to. Like I said, I'd never sledded before. In the video you can hear me freaking out and eventually the kids just give me a shove and off I go. Screaming all the way down, of course. I'm all about the thrills.
Here are some pics and the video of Carla and me racing.
