April 08, 2008
It was a Saturday in March and though it was drizzling in the city, the snow was falling on the mountains, so we bundled up to leave our winter doldrums behind for adventure in a winter wonderland!This year, eight kids, along with our Children and Family workers, and a group of Trinity Western student volunteers attended UGM Camp Ministries’ annual Winter Blues event, during which we took to the slopes (well, the rather steep hill) for a great day of snow tubing at Cypress Mountain.
The children who attended have all been a part of various UGM children’s programs – Summer Camp, Treasures, Kidzone – and live on the DTES. Besides the odd snow day in Vancouver, most of them would not normally get the chance to enjoy a day up on the mountain. There were squeals of delight and screams of laughter as each child whooshed down the hill. One sometimes difficult-to-impress boy would look at me every time we got to the bottom of the hill and say, “Oh, this is so much fun! This is so much fun!”
One of the best moments of the day was when we made a huge 12-person circle with our tubes and all slid down together. As we picked up speed, there were joyful cries of “Oooohhhhh mmmmmy goodness!” “Eeeeek!” and finally, as we went over a particularly bumpy spot, “Ow, my bum!” None of us could stop laughing and as we gathered our tubes and went to climb the hill once more, one of the older boys looked at me and said, “Oh, we have to do THAT again!”
As we started up the hill again, I noticed one younger girl reach out and put her hand in one of the older girls’ hands. The fun and excitement of the day had been a great time for bonding, and this was evident in the smiles and camaraderie throughout the day. The children were able to experience adventure, with a caring group of young adults to lead them on.
We finished our day with a tailgate party of hot chocolate and snacks before loading our wet gear and our tired selves into the vans for the trip down the mountain.
I saw some of the kids later in the week during our after school program and they were still talking about what fun we had! It was a GREAT day!
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