Day Off + Michigan = Tubing

Recently, the kids had a day off of school so what else was there to do but drive to Michigan and use the day to go snow tubing! We found a smaller ski resort called Cannonsburg just south of Grand Rapids that had a magic carpet and some really fun tubing hills.

They allowed you to link tubes so we went down all five of us together too. At first, Peyton and Hailey wouldn't go without one of us but after a few runs and seeing how it was hard to really tip out of the tubes, I decided it was time to push the girls to do this on their own. (Plus, you go faster when you're not tied to someone else's tube.)

So after agreeing to go down with Hailey and Tom, we put Hailey in her tube and I gave it a big kick so it soared down the hill without us. Did I hear terrified screams? Nope, what I heard was shrieks of laughter. (Austen not knowing I was going to do this was heading up the magic carpet with Peyton and was taping this. You can hear Peyton on the video say, "Was that Hailey who just went down by herself?!") This was exactly the push she herself needed to go down on her own so at the top of the hill she bravely put down her tube and inched herself over the edge for her first solo ride of the day. What they both discovered was how much they loved it!

It's tough sometimes being a parent. You have to push your kids. And you have to know when to push them and how much they can handle. But what I've discovered from having kids who are cautious is that they will never try new things by themselves if you don't sometimes give them a little nudge. And then they may never have the opportunity to discover something they really love. This is a daily struggle - especially with Peyton. Hence why her new grown up stencil over her bed reads:

"What If I Fall?"
"Oh My Darling, But What if You Fly?"

I want my kids to fall in love with flying. It's okay to be cautious but sometimes you have to push through that fear and try something you might love. Because you'll sure miss out on life if you play it safe all the time. #No Regrets.