FAMILY VACATION TIME
Although we have been too busy to go the past 2 years (last year we had a wedding), a summer trip to Whistler has been a family tradition for the Escotos. There is so much more to do there in the summer than winter. As Becca is leaving for college soon, this may be one of our last vacations with her, so we made the most of it. We frequently ATV, hike, swim, ride bikes, roller blade, eat out a lot and shop, shop, shop! I frequently do a lot of my Christmas shopping on the Whistler trip, but this year the terrible exchange rate put an end to that.
This year we tried a new activity- paintballing. Jared, Becca & Chuck loved it- me, not so much. You have to be fast and agile, darting from rock to stump and crouching low to avoid being hit. We had 11 people playing, Jared the youngest at 13, all the rest 15-20 year old boys. Then there were us old folks. You could practically hear the boys groan when I walked out on the field! They were thrilled with Becca however, and she proved to be pretty good, winning the game by capturing the flag for our team. chuck was able to keep up with those young'uns just fine. But I was a definite liability. I kept shooting my own team members because my face mask was so fogged up from all my huffing and puffing running up( well, walking really) and down the hills, I couldn't tell who was friend or foe. The most interesting part of the game was the fact that the local bear population loves the taste of the paint (it's non-toxic) and as soon as the game starts and the bears hear the sound of the guns they come for a snack. They just amble right onto the playing field and start licking the ground, stumps, tires and anything else that has been hit. They totally ignore the people, but they aren't shy around them either. They will come within a couple of yards. Whenever one of them wandered onto the field, we would have to stop play, while the referee would chase them off with sirens and firecrackers. Pretty soon they would be back- in fact one of them climbed a tree right in the middle of one of the playing fields, so we had to vacate it for another field.
This year for the first time Jared rented a high-tech mountain bike and took it on the gondola to the top of Whistler mountain and rode down! He loved it. Actually he did it 4 times . Chuck was so psyched!! He could never get any of us girls to go with him, so he has been riding the mountain solo for years. Now, he has a riding buddy.
We all have our favorite stores and restaurants, that we go back to year after year. This year Chuck made a point of recreating some pictures we had taken in years past of the kids when they were little in front of their favorite places. I wonder how long it will take me to get around to scrapbooking them all!
Although we have been too busy to go the past 2 years (last year we had a wedding), a summer trip to Whistler has been a family tradition for the Escotos. There is so much more to do there in the summer than winter. As Becca is leaving for college soon, this may be one of our last vacations with her, so we made the most of it. We frequently ATV, hike, swim, ride bikes, roller blade, eat out a lot and shop, shop, shop! I frequently do a lot of my Christmas shopping on the Whistler trip, but this year the terrible exchange rate put an end to that.
This year we tried a new activity- paintballing. Jared, Becca & Chuck loved it- me, not so much. You have to be fast and agile, darting from rock to stump and crouching low to avoid being hit. We had 11 people playing, Jared the youngest at 13, all the rest 15-20 year old boys. Then there were us old folks. You could practically hear the boys groan when I walked out on the field! They were thrilled with Becca however, and she proved to be pretty good, winning the game by capturing the flag for our team. chuck was able to keep up with those young'uns just fine. But I was a definite liability. I kept shooting my own team members because my face mask was so fogged up from all my huffing and puffing running up( well, walking really) and down the hills, I couldn't tell who was friend or foe. The most interesting part of the game was the fact that the local bear population loves the taste of the paint (it's non-toxic) and as soon as the game starts and the bears hear the sound of the guns they come for a snack. They just amble right onto the playing field and start licking the ground, stumps, tires and anything else that has been hit. They totally ignore the people, but they aren't shy around them either. They will come within a couple of yards. Whenever one of them wandered onto the field, we would have to stop play, while the referee would chase them off with sirens and firecrackers. Pretty soon they would be back- in fact one of them climbed a tree right in the middle of one of the playing fields, so we had to vacate it for another field.
This year for the first time Jared rented a high-tech mountain bike and took it on the gondola to the top of Whistler mountain and rode down! He loved it. Actually he did it 4 times . Chuck was so psyched!! He could never get any of us girls to go with him, so he has been riding the mountain solo for years. Now, he has a riding buddy.
We all have our favorite stores and restaurants, that we go back to year after year. This year Chuck made a point of recreating some pictures we had taken in years past of the kids when they were little in front of their favorite places. I wonder how long it will take me to get around to scrapbooking them all!
