Mountain Adventures

With three adults and five children, my Mom's house is crowded. The congestion isn't too bad when the kiddos are playing outside, but when everybody is inside, it tends to feel overwhelming. In order to give the cousins time to run and expend some of their pent up energy and for me to soak up some sun in a different environment, yesterday afternoon we packed up and went to a local ski resort which touts various climbing and outdoor activities. It is a fantastic place for the friends to run around, climb, tumble and explore.

My niece and Robby immediately paired up and took off for the ski lift. My youngest nephew ran into some friends and quickly joined their group. While I was happy to see everybody playing and having fun, I was saddened when I realized that Jacob, my oldest nephew, was alone. While Mountain Adventures is a great place to explore when you're a kid, I knew that it probably wasn't a lot of fun when you were alone. I was forced to abandon my aspirations of relaxing on the lodge deck and accepted that I would assume the role of playmate for a precocious nine year old boy.

We began the afternoon with a ride down the "wet ball." The wet ball is essentially a giant inflatable with a hallowed out center that is partially filled with cold water.  Jacob and I climbed into the orb, which was no small feat considering the size of the opening compared to the size of my bum. Sitting in the pool of ice cold water inside the giant ball, I was dreading what I knew I was about to experience. In a flash the gate was opened and we were pushed down the hill.  The only good thing, other than the happiness that it brought Jacob, was the fact that everybody assumed my pants were wet from splashing in the ball and nobody suspected my lack of bladder control due to fear.  I have to admit that I also enjoyed the looks of shock from the spectators at the bottom of the hill when they saw a one-legged middle age woman crawl out of the ball.

After the tumbling down the hill, we switched gears and tackled the obstacle course. From there we went zip lining, swinging and got lost in the maze. I knew that he was having a blast which is what kept me going. Climbing on logs, up nets and rock walls and through rope tunnels on a prosthetic is not an easy task. My calf muscle in my stump was firing so much that towards the end of the day I was battling cramps as well as exhaustion.

With each obstacle and activity Jacob asked, "Aunt Peggy, can you do this with one leg?" I responded in my typical style. "Of course I can. Let me show you."  Yesterday, I was a great Aunt.  Not only did I help save his day, but I proved that a "disability" doesn't have to become an excuse.