Christmas is truly one of my favourite times of year but I must admit this year just seemed a little too crazy and hectic for my likings. I always promise myself that I'm not going to go overboard...it's not about the big things right? It's about time with family, relaxing, unwinding and re-connecting with friends, family and of course yourself - new year, new you! Isn't that always the plan -ha! I could have sworn I was organized this year - but then when you least want it to, life gets in the way...I think it all started with Christmas Eve falling literally one day after school was out (there was no time for anything!), then there was one illness after the other (I was seriously sick on and off for 3 weeks, as were my kids and my hubby), leaving us no choice but to cancel plans, try to re-schedule things and still manage to find some enjoyment through it all. Don't get me wrong, there were some wonderful moments shared and memories made, but getting back to normal routines couldn't have come soon enough.
In order to get out of the house and spend some time together as a family, my hubby and I decided to take the kids on a little road trip up to Blue Mountain Resort, just days before the break ended. It was quite honestly a small miracle we managed to make it happen. Just short of 36 hours prior, 4 out of 5 of us were throwing up and living our days on the couch - my kids watched 8 movies in 2 days...that's ok right? -ha! Once the decision was made we were thankful and I had prepared and carefully put together an itinerary for the day. Earlier in the week I had spent a couple hours calling one ski hill after another trying to determine which resort was most appropriate for our family (consisting of 3 kids ages 5, 3 and 1).
Our ultimate goal was to take the kids tubing so that's where the research began. I quickly learned that most of the ski hills in Southern Ontario offering tubing also had height restrictions in place (42 inches seemed to be the standard height in order to ride). Although it was frustrating at first (only my 5 year old was tall enough), it also made sense in regards to safety...and so the search continued.
I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me earlier but I soon found myself scrolling through the website for Blue Mountain, and after speaking with a few resort representatives I felt a definite sense of accomplishment. Blue Mountain Resort it was! My hopes of planning the ultimate family day were about to become a reality.
Located along the shores of Georgian Bay in Southern Ontario it is truly one of our province's most incredible outdoor adventure resorts...offering year round lodging, outdoor sports and activities for the entire family, shopping, dining and a place for creating lasting memories. I seriously love this place and every time I return I'm reminded how much I love it!
Reasons why we chose Blue:
Our number one reason for planning the trip was tubing and their tubing hills are designed for children ages 3 to 12. They recently changed this in the past 3 years for those of you who have been there before. The cost was very reasonable (for 1 hour it was $15 for adults and $12 for youth 12 and under). Jack was actually allowed to go but he would have had to do it on his own (so crazy!), my hubby and I opted to take turns hanging out with him while the others went tubing. All in all we got about 6 runs in and that included a 25 minute snack/warm-up in the car break. If we had used our time to the fullest the cost would have been incredibly worth it! (although we feel we still got our money's worth).
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| With 4 Runs there was never a long wait! |
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| Break time! |
In addition to their tubing hills we were excited to try their Aquatic Centre which features indoor and outdoor swimming (even in the winter!), a splash pad for the little ones, water slides, rope swings and saunas! The ultimate swim experience. Unfortunately the one day we decided to go, it was closed down at the last minute due to pool heater problems. You can imagine, I was a little irritated to say the least...I even told my hubby to go and fix it -haha! His family owns a pool business. His response was no response...he looked at me and reminded me without saying a word how nuts I was to even consider that idea. Oh well, there's always next time and they even gave us some free vouchers to put towards our next visit.
One of the highlights of Blue Mountain Resort is their cozy and intimate Village at the base of the mountain which offers an assortment of unique boutiques, gift shops and dining experiences. In the Village we enjoyed hot chocolate from Starbucks and a few yummy treats handpicked from the local candy shop. Sitting by the outdoor fire pit (located in the centre of the Village) and taking in all the warmth we could get was one of mommy's fav stops along the way.
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| The Village. |
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| One of my favourite shops! It's Christmas year round...I bought the cutest skirt and Georgia chose a custom Christmas ornament for our tree. |
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| The ultimate candy shop. |
We also enjoyed the convenience of several restaurants all located in the heart of the village. Once dinnertime arrived it was quick and easy to choose a restaurant that was family friendly and not too busy (we had an early dinner).
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| One of their many restaurants. |
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| We settled for the Irish Pub. |
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For future visits...we loved the fact that Blue Mountain Resort is Dog friendly!
Finally, Blue Mountain Resort offers a number of activities year round that cater to the entire family. Considering we were only there for the day we had to be reasonable and sensible when it came to planning our trip. Be sure to check out their website for a complete list of activities and help planning your next getaway:
Overall, we had a wonderful day together! Did we plan a little too much? definitely (but it worked out because the pool was closed).
Was it busy? You bet...at one point our son Hudson announced that "this was the most boring day ever, all we were doing was driving around!". Actually, we were trying to find a parking for all of 10 minutes, but as we all know - kids have no patience.
Did the kids have fun? For sure!
Did we have to drive 1.5 hours to experience that fun? Probably not, but it was all part of the experience!
Will we return? Without a doubt...and hopefully in the near future!
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| En route! |
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| One of the many kids playrooms. |
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| Snacks packed in our trusty Yumboxes. |
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| The chalet where my hubby and his family used to stay...over 20 years ago! |
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| One of my favourites. |
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| The view was so beautiful and festive. |
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| They slept the entire way home... |
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| Even Hudson eventually fell asleep. Happy endings! |
Have a wonderful weekend!
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