Crystaline.

Beginners. The other day, my friend Nataliya invited me to go cross country skiing with her. We don't see eachother very much, so I was happy to go. "Julia can babysit your two youngest, if you like, and we can leave at about ten o'clock." Julia is her eighteen year old daughter who often babysits my children. "It's okay, Nataliya," I said, "I think I'll take the kids with me." There was a pause on the phone, "Okay," she replied, "if you're sure, it's up to you." Nataliya also has a ten year old boy, so her plan was for the boys to play. Bringing all the kids changed the plans a bit. I packed our sled in the car, extra gloves, hats, and even slippers to warm up cold feet after the fun. The seven of us squeezed into the car and made our way to Leavenworth. The journey takes about half an hour, and before we knew it, we were at the cross country and skate skiing area. We got out of the car and looked around. The place was empty. It was cold, crisp, and sunny, the perfect conditions to ski a little, and to pull the kids on the sled. There was just one problem, Nataliya had brought the wrong skis, so we could only use my rentals. Oops. "No problem," I said, "we can take turns, and the kids can pull eachother on the sled." So that is exactly what we did. Everyone had a good workout, and a good slippery time. Grammar notes.  Related vocabulary: to pack, to take turns, slippery, crisp. Exs: To pack: You need to pack plenty of clothes for the journey.               We were packed into the car like sardines. To take turns: We took turns throwing the ball. Slippery: The icy pavement was too slippery to walk on. Crisp: The autumn mornings are lovely and crisp.           The apple was perfect: juicy, firm, and crisp. Advanced. After we had walked a short way through the forest, along the ski tracks, Nataliya took her turn with the skis and disappeared further into the forest. I stayed behind with the children who found a large snow hill to play on. They marched to the top of it, and threw snow balls down at whoever was unlucky enough to be at the bottom. They played and played until they were tired. I had to supervise a little so they wouldn't do anything dangerous, but they couldn't get up to much trouble, so I relaxed and wandered around the area, enjoying the scenery. It was a clear day; the sun was quite intense, and because there hadn't been any fresh snow for a few days, there were ice crystals all over the place. Every step made a loud crunch, and every limb of tree or branch of bush reflected the light. Even though I only have a wimpy camera, I took it out to capture some of the beauty around me. I kept trying to zoom in closely to some of the ice covered plants, but the photos would always get blurry. "I need to get myself a decent camera for close-ups," I thought to myself while I snapped away. After a while, Nataliya came back, and it was my turn to cross country ski. I'm just a beginner, so I slipped and slid all over the place. Back at the car, we had hot chocolate and something to eat. We warmed up as we drove home; the children were quiet while my friend and I chatted. After reviewing the photos at home, I realised that some of them had turned out well, showing the ice crystals of that wintry forest. Grammar notes.  Multiple meaning verbs: to snap, lucky/unlucky enough, to wander/wonder, to capture. Exs: To snap: Snap the celery in half and share it with your brother.              The photographer snapped away while the models posed. Lucky/unlucky enough: I was lucky enough to get the job immediately.                                   He was unlucky enough to lose his wallet and his keys in the same day. To wander/wonder: We wandered through the rose garden for an hour.                               I wonder why he didn't call me! To capture: The rare monkey was captured and taken to the zoo.                   The photographer really captured the mood of the demonstration.