Back and a little bruised

So I'm back from the mountains of Slovakia....if you want REAL mountains, of any kind, around here, you have to venture into Slovakia. There you will find yourself going from the rolling hills of the Czech Republic, slowly into the snow capped mountains of Slovakia. And while there was some snow, there was not much. Apparently the snow there is maybe a third of what it normally is. The hill the house we stayed in was on was covered the first day, and by the last, it was mostly brown. And snow doesn't melt quickly here.

Anyway, this little ski trip to Slovakia was during the spring break for my school. Basically it was my family, and two others. 6 other kids, ages 5,6,8,8,10,13. My time not spent outside in snow was divided between playing cards with kids, playing cards with adults, and making considerable progress into Atlas Shrugged, a book that continues to captivate me 800 pages in.

I decided during this week that I really don't like skiing, but snowboarding is awesome, even if you do end up spending a fair amount of time on your knees, butt, wrists, *insert body part here*, etc. I am quite bruised, with a pair of red and brown knees, among other bruises, but I rather enjoyed my self taught snowboarding. After venturing down places I thought I wouldn't, and watching people who know better than me what they are doing, I think I got down the basics after my first couple days with my two feet strapped to one board.

I may or may not be going on another skiing trip not this week, but the next, depending on whether there is enough snow in the czech "mountains". We'll see.