Huron Hills Golf Course
One of the best things about Ann Arbor for families is that there are many options for kids’ winter activities. Whether you like skating, skiing or activities of the indoor variety, like taking the kids to Jungle Java to run in circles while you read, there’s something out there. My son and I took advantage many times of activities when we lived in Ann Arbor proper. Every weekend we would go solo or meet up with our playdate couple—a girlfriend and her son—for fun outside, indoors or a special event we had looked up in Ann Arbor Family or Metro Parent magazine.
One of my favorite moments came when my son and I went sledding for the first time when he was three. Near Gallup Park, Ann Arbor Rec and Ed’s Huron Hills Golf Course offers numerous hills for sliding and rolling. This first time, it was a Saturday after a particularly harsh storm. The snow on the hills had barely melted, even though the temperature was mild. Perfect weather for sledding.
By the time we ate lunch, cleaned up, and got dressed in the many layers needed to protect us from the elements, it was starting to get dark. But we were determined to get some sledding in. When we arrived, we saw plenty of people had the same idea. Even some neighbors of ours had independently decided to come to the golf course. Everyone looked like marshmallow people in puffy snow pants and coats, hats and mittens, wobbling through the snow to get to the hills a distance from the road. By this time, it was dusk. That did not stop us. We got in our long purple sled and pushed ourselves down the hill. Whoosh! As we hit the flat ground and toppled out, we laughed, picked ourselves up and climbed back up many hills, big and small. This we kept up, over and over again, until the dark chased us away, leaving only a few brave teenagers to slide and fall. When we got home, we made hot chocolate.
Sometime later in the winter, when the snow was always too slushy for sledding, my son and his father were driving by the golf course when he excitedly pointed to the sign for the golf course. “That’s where me and mommy went sledding!” He replied, “Oh, really? How do you know that’s the place?” in the faux-surprised way parents have refined. “See?” my son said. “The sign says it. ‘Sled-ding’”.
Published in: Student Voices
Keywords: social life grad parents