Snow Mountain

**Update**
Snow Mtn. gave us a full refund!!


I should have known it was too good to be true.

Yes, my two youngest children are like most of the children living in the South, they have never experienced or played in snow. Actually, Audrey did, but she was only about 15 mo. old. So, upon learning about Stone Mountain's Snow Mountain, the mom guilt-o-meter started running and I suggested we ignore the expensive price tag (I mean can you put a price on happiness?) and take our deprived children to experience "winter".

At some point, I have to think, I will learn my lesson about such adventures.

When you purchase your tickets, you are given a two hour time slot in which you can actually tube down the hill. After arriving a half an hour into our alloted time due to shafty directions from Google, moving our car from the employee parking into the regular parking lot, finally finding and stuffing our bag full of a change of clothes (as suggested from Snow Mountain's website)into a locker, we headed to get in line for the "ride". The line was FOR-EV-ER long and I was told Aiden was too little to ride, even with me. So, off he and I went to find something else to do. Jeff, Ave, and Aud waited about an hour for a 6 second ride in a tube down the hill. Whoopee. In the meantime, Aiden and I went to the Little Angles hill where little guys could sled down a bunny hill. He, and Audrey later, did enjoy this. We also went to the area for snow play. It was jam packed full of people. Little kids, big kids, teenagers and adults acting like idiots throwing snowballs at each other with no regard for anyone else in the area. And the "snow"? More like ice. The stuff was so packed in and hard that you couldn't even shovel it. Aiden was into throwing snowballs and they were more like chunks of ice that stayed formed after it hit you in the back and nearly knocked the wind out of you.

Everyone but Audrey was ready to leave after 2 hours. Avery was cold. I just don't enjoy crowds and I grew up having snow to play in every winter. Aiden was hungry. And Jeff's nerves had had it.

If you still would like to experience Snow Mtn. for yourself, here are my suggestions:

Get there early in the day-like the first two hour slot.

Bring a change of shoes, socks, pants, and underwear for the kids and keep them in the car. There is no point in getting a locker.

Wear boots if at all possible. Tennis shoes can get quite slippery.

Eat before you go. There are snacks available, but you'll pay an arm and a leg.

Make sure everyone uses the bathroom before you get in. The restrooms are a bit of a walk.

There are two more things that I learned through this experience.

1. I have been eying these boots and I have decided, yes, I do need them. Even if they are completely impractical for where I live. (Some of you know where I saw them first.)

and

2. For the price of admission to Snow Mtn. for four, I could buy Audrey a round trip ticket to my parents' where she could spend as much time as she'd like playing in "real" snow!

As usual, I had my camera on hand and I was fortunate enough to get some good shots.