Our Stay at Lakes of Wasaga Parkbridge Resort

We had a lovely time during our stay in a chalet at Lakes of Wasaga Parkbridge Resort. At the resort, we have the option of either staying in a cottage or chalet. We can either own these four season homes or rent and enjoy during anytime of the year. The scenic view of the man-made lakes surrounding each lot of chalets and cottages is beautiful and the perfect setting to sit and relax. Our days in the chalet were relaxing and fun, as we did lots of outdoor activities.

Explore: Saint Andrews By the Sea

We loved our stay at Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, which is a beautiful small coastal community. It is a wonderful place to relax and feel the slow pace of life that we are loosing in our fast paced city life. We enjoyed the atmosphere, as we strolled along the streets of Saint Andrews and checked out the stores, restaurants, and attractions.

Snowshoeing in the beautiful Copeland forest

When I was growing up in Toronto we used to have a lot more snow that made the air feel clean and fresh, unlike in the recent years where winter comes with flu and sickness because of the chilled windy air and the lack of snow. Walking through the beautiful scenic wilderness in Copeland forest at Horseshoe Resort with our snowshoes, I felt how much of this we miss living in the city.  

There was a sense of calmness and thankfulness being surrounded by the trees that were heavy with snow. Walking by water trickling ponds and listening to the winter birds felt very pleasant.

I was able to take some wonderful portraits of my family in the snow surrounded by the green wonders.  Horseshoe Resort also has cross country skiing in these trails, which would be another wonderful way to admire the nature, exercise and relax our minds.

If you haven't snowshoed before think of it has wearing a big pair of shoes attached to your boots that allows you to walk in deep snow.  We can rent snowshoes at Horseshoe resort, so we don't have to buy or take our own.  

This would be a fun winter activity to do with the little ones and to take the whole family during the Family day weekend, Valentines or March Break.

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Magic of winter: Snow tubing at the Horseshoe Resort

Snow tubing and Snowshoeing are fun activities to enjoy during winter.  The scenic hills at the Horseshoe Resort makes it a perfect place to enjoy these activities.  Horseshoe resort is located in the natural snow belt area and is surrounded by beautiful nature.

We are big fans of sliding down hill and enjoy activities such as tobogganing, so we had an awesome evening tubing.

We can purchase tubing tickets at the Tack Shop located within the Adventure Park.  During the winter season they have special perks such as on Wednesdays we can go tubing from 4pm to 8pm for Free.

Tubing is pretty simple... get the tickets, grab a tube per person, go up their long "magic carpet," and then stand in line for your turn to go down the hill.  We can go in the the tube by our self or with up to 7 tubes connected.  All four of us went together, and then we went two at a time.  
The staff at the Tubing hills will ask if we want to spin or not, I would recommend spinning at least once it is really fun :) 

We spent a couple of hours snow tubing before we called it a night and enjoyed the comfortable accommodation at the Horseshoe Resort.  The next morning we did some snowshoeing before heading home, more about that with pictures coming soon.

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Winter Waves: Scarf and Skiing adventure at the Horseshoe Resort

Our skiing adventure at the Horseshoe Valley Resort inspired me to make this striped check stitch scarf for my son.  This pattern reminds me of the beautiful snow filled mountains and hills that are like winter waves.  I picked this colour of 4 ply worsted weight yarn as these shades remind me of the ever-changing winter sky.  I chose to knit instead of crotchet because the knitting needles represent the skiing equipment. 

To make this scarf I put 21 stitches using a 4 1/2mm needle, but if you want something wider then cast on a multiple of 6 stitches plus 3 extra

Row 1 and all odd numbered rows K

Row 2 K

Rows 4 and 6 P3, *K3, P3 repeat

Rows 8 and 10 K

Rows 12 and 14 K3, *P3, K3 repeat

Row 16 K

Repeat rows 1 to 16 until desired length.

Learning to ski at the Horseshoe Valley Resort will remain as a wonderful memory to our family.  We had a satisfying experience that I would like to share with all of you.  If you want to learn skiing I hope this post will inspire you... or if you already know then take a trip to Horseshoe and enjoy the gorgeous slopes.  

We were happy to enrol our son in this year's new Kids Korral Ponies program at the Horseshoe Ski Resort.  It is a wonderful opportunity for potty-trained children age 3 and 4 to get lessons from qualified instructors, so they can learn this sport correctly at an early age and have fun.
The lessons were from 10 am to 12 pm, so we left him with other children the same age and went to do our family Discovery ski lessons.  
My son said his instructor Connor and other staff like Jessica taught him to make a triangle shape with his skis to stop the skiboards from going; I think this a good way for little children to remember. 

Since he was on his own for the couple of hours until we returned, I could see his eyes were tearing and he was glad that we had come to pick him up.  I think this program is a good opportunity for children to learn skiing without the parents around, so they don't depend on us too much or cry because it is cold.  I felt that my little one was in good hands with the kind instructors.  There were lots of staff members to care and supervise the children, and I liked that they were making safety a top priority by not letting any parents inside the Kids Korral area.
At the end of the lessons the instructors took him inside to change the skis and shoes, and to offer him hot chocolate.  My little guy passed on the hot chocolate so he can come back to us quickly.  After we came to the room, he told us how much fun he had and that his favourite was going up the "magic carpet" and zooming down the slopes.   

The quality of the picture is due to my husband who went down with my poor camera as he tried to take action pictures :) He didn't get to hold the camera after that Incident!

This Kids Korral Ponies program is for beginner skiers as they learn the fundamental skiing skills without any pressure.  For the half-day Kids Korral Ponies lessons and rental the cost is $50.  Once the children master the stop and turn skills they can go for Kinder Private lessons or the Kinder Kolts program.

The family or group Discovery ski lessons that we did are for anyone age 7 years and up.  This program is a wonderful opportunity to everyone who wants to learn skiing or snowboarding.  The discovery program allows us to learn the basics so we can enjoy the hills at the Horseshoe Resort at our own leisure.  The beginner lesson package is $73 per person and includes the 1 and 1/2 hours lesson, 4 hour equipment rental and beginner lift ticket.  We can learn all the basics such as putting on the skis, going up the slope, skiing, stopping and turning.  I totally think having a teacher helps and makes a big difference when we are learning.  
Horseshoe also has a variety of snow school lesson packages such as private lessons, mommy and me programs etc to accommodate different ages, abilities and skills.

At the beginning of the lessons I was nervous because I thought we were going to be late as it took some time to get the rentals and to put them on.  So next time, I plan to be early at least 1/2 to 1 hour to get the rental equipment.  There is a lot of learning involved especially if it is your first time skiing such as putting and handling the equipment.  Renting the equipment made it easy for us instead of lugging our own.  
We found all the staff at the Horseshoe resort friendly, hospitable and wanting to help.  It was easy to ask them when we needed help with the equipment and to find the correct size.  There are coin lockers within the Horseshoe activity center in the Main Chalet if you need.

Our instructor Kelsey was very encouraging throughout the lessons.  By the end of the lessons, I wanted to keep on skiing :)  I liked our instructor's approach and enthusiasm, which made us believe we could do it as well.  The instructor put on a stretchy cord in front of my daughter's skiboards that she called "a worm" so my daughter could stretch it as much as possible to make the skis stop.  

My daughter told me that she was scared and nervous in the beginning just like we were.  However, after knowing how to stop and use the skis she felt comfortable and happy to go down the hill.
My challenge was getting off the lifts without falling :) I guess I will need more practice on that.

Look for their wonderful deals such as on Mondays we can take up to three friends for Alpine or Nordic skiing for $20 each.  Horseshoe Facebook is updated on Tuesdays with special offers.
They have lots of savings if you are member of their free Sky Life Rewards program.
Both my children and we had a fabulous time discovering skiing at Horseshoe.  Since Horseshoe is a located at the natural snow belt, it is a wonderful place to learn downhill skiing as they have fresh snow all the time.  Just thinking back to our experience makes me happy :) and makes us want to put on a pair of skis and head up the hill.

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Scenic accommodation and dining at Horseshoe Valley Resort

At the first sight of snow my family and I get very excited to get outdoors and have fun.  During the December holidays when we had some snow in Toronto, we were too sick to go out and enjoy it :(  However, I am glad we had planned to go to Horseshoe Resort in Barrie, Ontario before the school holidays ended and miraculously got well a day before our trip.