Toby has never seen the snow but it looks like that might be changing in the next few weeks as the winter weather is really showing itself today. I loved the snow when I was little, although growing up in Blackpool it only ever snowed (and stuck) properly twice in my whole childhood. Once when I was about three and my dad strapped some plastic skis to the bottom of the buggy. The second time was when I was at sixth form and it was closed for three days because they couldn’t clear the snow off the car park! I have a feeling that growing up in Scotland Toby might get to see a bit more snow than I ever did. He doesn’t seem to mind the cold though – as long as he’s wrapped up nice and warm!

Even though I’ve lived up here for ten years now I’ve never managed to make it as far as any of the Scottish ski resorts. Scotland is surprisingly big and getting to the Highlands can take longer than getting to London! So it’s been a long time since I’ve been skiing at all. I went on a school ski trip when I was 15 which I really enjoyed (although I think I enjoyed the sneaky beers with my friends as much as the skiing!) and then in the winter of 1999/2000 I was lucky enough to land a job as a Resort Representative in the lovely ski resort of La Tania, in between Courchevel and Meribel in the French Alps. Spending five months in the snow was fantastic but I didn’t get quite as much skiing done as I might have hoped. For one, when you are working in a ski resort there is much more work to be done than there is free time on the slopes. Secondly, after a Christmas Eve slip on a wet pub floor (although I told all my clients it was a skiing accident!) I spent my first ever Christmas Day away from home having x-rays in the doctors and a month in an ankle brace due to torn ligaments!

My husband has also done his fair share of skiing and snowboarding. He was lucky enough to go on family ski holidays most years when he was growing up. However, a ski holiday is something we have never done together, and we haven’t had a holiday at all since Toby was born. With me being a teacher it’s hard to fit in a ski holiday unless we go at Christmas. Up here in Scotland we don’t even get February half term so that’s out too. This year though, while I am on maternity leave, we have the time to fit in a ski break. Unfortunately though, while I am on maternity leave, we don’t have the money to fit in a ski break. And so this is where the lovely people at Mark Warner come in. They are looking for people to become part of their Blogger Family programme and we would love to be chosen.

I know of course, that Toby isn’t old enough to enjoy any skiing yet but lots of the Mark Warner Chalet Hotels have an onsite crèche with fully qualified nannies so we could happily leave Toby to have lots of fun while mummy and daddy went off to explore the slopes. They even provide evening childcare so we could enjoy our dinner (with complimentary wine!) knowing that Toby was being safely looked after. It sounds like bliss – we would get a proper holiday with time to enjoy ourselves and Toby would have fun playing with the other babies.

This year may be the only chance we have for a while to get away on a family ski holiday so we would all be absolutely delighted if Mark Warner chose us to be a part of their Blogger Family.

**This post is part of my entry into the #MarkWarnerMum competition