The Annual Harris Snow Day
We tried to get to the mountains in January for a day of sledding, but the roads were closed due to bad weather and avalanches. We were actually on the train waiting for the departure to Casterino when Snow Train hostess came and told us that the trip was cancelled. The kids were devestated, and we ended up redeeming the day with a model for Justin, and a fake Barbie veterinarian set for Anna. We were desperate. It was an expensive day.
The Snow Train only runs until mid-March (actually a combination train/bus trip), so last weekend,we caught the bus at the train station, loaded our gear, and paid a euro each to go up to Isola 2000, a ski station built in the 70s . This is something I love about Nice, by the way. Where else can you pay a euro for a three hour bus ride? Before leaving Nice, the bus driver even kindly offered complementary vomit bags. Gross, but practical.
It was raining as we left, and rained as we got further up into the mountains. Eventually, we saw traces of dirty drifted snow as we climbed into the mountains, but it didn't look too promising. Then, we rounded a curve, and the rain morphed into huge, fluffy snowflakes. Lots of oohs and aahs on the bus. And it was winter. Just like that.
It was not only winter, but snowy, windy, and cold all day. Really snowy. We were cold, and at first a little shell shocked until we found the indoor commercial center. We ordered some sandwiches, and did some serious bundling up before attempting the outdoors. 
The kids had a blast. We all did some sledding. Justin and Scott sledded wayyyyyy down the hill and hopefully had excellent father/son bonding time as they trekked wayyyyyyyy back up the hill. Anna and I attempted a snowman, but it fell apart when we tried to accessorize, so we finally gave up and went inside for a snack.
The way back on the bus was mostly calm. The rest of the family slept while I tried to forget that I was on a bus careening down a mountain and wondering if I should have taken one of the bags at the beginning of the trip. Then it happened. I smelled the unmistakeable smell of vomit. A child two seats ahead of me. I thought about offering my supply of kleenexes but decided my wisest course of action would be to bury my face in my sweater. Which I did. After a few minutes, the cleaning up sounds stopped. I ventured out of my sweater. And I have to say, I will be forever grateful to these parents for bringing air freshener with them on the trip.
Once home, the kids had a quick dinner while we did a lot of stirring of the cheese fondue. I had experimented with my recipe by adding a third cheese, so it never did reach the perfect consistency, but it was still yummy.
Anna is a big fondue fan. It is cheese, after all.
Justin is actually only pretending to eat this. He eats a little more every time we make it, so I'm thinking in another three years, he'll be on board. He's convincing though, isn't he?