Side Note Saturday:  Unconventional Family Traditions

        

           It is Martin Luther King Weekend.  It is always great to have this long weekend after throwing ourselves back into reality when the holidays are over.  This weekend always stirs up memories of one of our family traditions from when our kids were young.  If there was snow in Flagstaff, AZ, we would always go up and play in it on MLK Day.  

This great photo is from Flagstaff, AZ's page. Good info there.

      We would often go to a park in the middle of town, just down from the Lowell Observatory, The kids would play in the snow, and behind the park was a steep hill that we could all slide down for a really long distance! Some people even skied down it!  I guess people were getting hurt there or something, because now that hill has barricades to keep you from sliding down it.  It was fun while it lasted.  We found other places to go sledding after that.  
        I know that some of you just need to open your front door to "go to the snow".  But, here in Phoenix, we have to drive a couple of hours to get to it.  This was a highly anticipated outing for our family.  We would pull out our tub of sundry snow clothes and  mittens  and see what fit whom that year and what we needed to find as far as  boots, scarves and  beanies.  We had some misfit outfits, but when you only go to the snow once a year, you don't invest in chic. Since we were going after Christmas, we could usually find some good clearance  items at the sporting good stores.
          After a couple of hours of playing, everyone would be cold and worn out. We would pile back into the car, change into dry socks and pants and whatever if necessary, and head home.  But, one of the things everyone looked forward to the most was stopping at a restaurant on the way out of town and getting a mug of hot chocolate, piled high with whipped cream.  

Thank you https://www.masco.org/news/eating-healthy-cold-winter-months for this delicious looking photo.

        This was the kind of tradition that has stories that we tell and retell and laugh about.  Sometimes other families went with us and added to the fun, but usually it was just us. 

          Many people have expressed surprise and curiosity when we have told them about our MLK Day tradition.  Some of them have adopted our tradition or created a similar one of their own.  I love that!
            My roommate from college, Debbie, told me that her family never had traditional Thanksgiving Dinner.  Her family always went skiing on Thanksgiving and ate turkey sandwiches!  What a great memory!
              Does your family have any a little bit off the wall traditions that are not the norm for everyone else?  I would love to hear about them!  
                 Now that our kids are grown and we don't do the MLK Day tradition anymore, I don't really miss going up to the cold and all of the prep work, I have gotten a little too old for the sledding.  ( The last time we went it took my husband and I a month to recover!)  But, I cherish the memories and I still love a good cup of hot cocoa!  Maybe that is what inspired us to come up with Hot Cocoa Bombs!  
               Have a great weekend!  Next Saturday, Alicia is introducing her monthly party/date series!  I can't wait!