Trip to Estes and "The Great Leg Explosion"

***Warning- Graphic pictures in this post*** 

Mike wasn't around when I bought our Estes Place, so we scheduled a few days the week before Christmas. Lots of cousins and family fun. We'd heard about sledding opportunities inside RMNP at Hidden Valley, so Ash and I packed up the kids and went sledding. It was cold! They have an area roped off for sledding, but I didn't see any hills. Through a little gate I could see a bigger hill with people sledding, which was obviously the hill. There were signs telling people NOT to sled, because it's an old ski slope and a bit steep. 

We weren't the only ones sledding. There were some nice people visiting from a warmer location and it was their first time sledding...ever. We tried to avoid them, but one of the bowled right into our group of kids. Sarah tried not to land on Audrey and in doing so hit her head. Again. The kids had fun sledding and then going down like penguins on their bellies. Here are some pictures. Pay attention to the large log I've pointed out. Ash was nervous of the hill and imposed limits on her kids, but I thought she was being "No Fun Ash" and let my kids keep sledding. 

Adam went off course on one of his trips down and slammed into the log sticking out. He "only" hit his leg, and we were grateful it wasn't his head. His pants didn't have any markings on them, so we assumed he was okay. He didn't want the fun to stop, so he sat on the side while everyone sled for a few more minutes. When it was time to leave, it hurt for Adam to put pressure on his leg. I talked him into letting us haul him out on a sled. He agreed, but got mad when I snapped pictures. 

When we got home Adam decided to look at what must be a cool bruise forming. I then hear lots of screaming. The impact of him hitting the log had completely split his leg open. Not a cut, no missing skin, just his leg burst open. It was gnarly. We took him to the ER and they numbed it and stitched it up. His pants had some guts on them, but barely any blood. The Dr said it could be because of the cold, or the way it split. He got 29 stitches! He had quite the tale to tell. He and Steven sent the pictures to all of their friends, as did Sarah. (as did Mike and I) 

We have said many prayers of thanks and protection that it was "only" his leg and not his head, back, or anything else. We also learned a valuable lesson about sledding out of bounds. ;)