Born for the Snow

He was ready.

First thing in the morning, when we asked him if he knew where we were going yesterday, Kai said, "Go to the mountain. Play in the snow."

His face beamed with anticipation and excitement as we tried on the snow pants over his already multi-layered outfit. He was thrilled to know that he'd get to wear his shark boots and a scarf. We packed more clothes and extra socks into our bags, stuffed with snacks and fruit, and off we went.

It took less than an hour to go from where we live to the parking lot of Grouse Mountain. As we were driving through the Lions Gate Bridge, Bill noticed how quiet Kai was in his car seat. "What are you thinking about back there, Kai?" The little guy hesitated a second then answered, "Uh.... Maggie." Bill and I really had to resist the urge to tease him about her. Maggie is this little blond girl at Kai's daycare, and he talks about her every single day. He always wants to say good night to her first when we sing the good-night song right before going to sleep every night. It was just funny that a 27-month-old would be "thinking about" his little crush from school while being in the car with his parents. What exactly did he think about? :)

The trip to the mountains was an adventure right from the beginning. After we helped him get all bundled up, Kai and I walked along the edge of the parking lot while waiting for Bill to pay for parking. Kai told me he wanted to climb up this hill. I looked up and saw a big white wolf staring at us from the other side of a wired fence that clearly labelled "Wolf Habitat. No Dogs Allowed". It was my first time seeing a wild wolf, let along a white one. I think I was more excited than my son, who was playfully shouting to the animal, "Wolf says woof woof woof."

Once we each got our very own season pass, we got on the Grouse Skyride, a cable car that takes us all the way up to the top (Kai called it "a boat"). There are two towers along the way. At each tower, the car goes through a loop which makes the car sway back and forth. Everybody in the car let out this nervous/excited "Oooooooo....." (as we learnt later on, the ride up was nothing in comparison to the ride down the mountain). It was foggy at the top. As Bill and I tried to get our bearings and decide what to do first, all Kai wanted was to "go outside" and play in the SnnnnNOW!!!

It was a kiddy paradise. Every little hill was a natural (and most of the time very bumpy) slide. There's an ice rink and Santa's Workshop, sleigh ride, and quite a few Santas around Even the 2 reindeer outside of the Workshop seem so friendly that they actually enjoy having their pictures taken with the kids. A side note: When I pointed one of the Santas out and asked Kai what Santa does, Kai said, "Santa stuck in the chimney." (guess he learnt that from one of the stories at school) Then he quickly corrected himself, "Santa there! Santa no stuck in the chimney more! Hi Santa!"

The highlight of Kai's day was going ice-skating with Daddy. He was probably the youngest kid on the ice yesterday (they didn't even have skates his size), but he didn't take him long to build up his confidence on the slippery ice. Bill very quickly found out what a back-breaking job it was to take a toddler on the ice. As soon as Kai was done skating, Bill went for a couple of laps by himself. As Kai and I watched on, Kai asked, "What Daddy doing?" "Skating," I answered. The little guy smiled and said, "Just like Kaikai."

Well, the season has just begun and we have our passes. Kai's gonna be seeing a lot more snow this year than he did last year. A part of me wishes I weren't pregnant now...