One Last Day Trip

On Saturday we took a trip to the snow. A trip that will be the last trip we take for a long while. In hindsight, I am so, so glad we took it. But, I was hesitant to go. I didn't want any exposure for us. We didn't stop anywhere, not even for gas. And we packed our own food. We went to the same spot we went with some friends a couple months ago. It's an elementary school, with plenty of room to roam.

When we got there, it was snowing. I always feel like things are just so much more fun and exciting when it is snowing. Connor and Isla weren't super into it, really only staying out in the snow a few minutes. Callum though, that kid was in his element. After he was done just playing in the snow, he went and played on the play equipment for a good while. Then he came back to the car for some food.

Just as we were all eating lunch, another car of people showed up to play. So we left...but we left without a chance to pee. And, well, I didn't want exposure, plus everything is closed inside, so a side of the road pee break was in order.

The trip was a good way to break up the monotony of our day to day for the past couple weeks. And it happened just in time. They closed all the state parks the next day. And then five days later, they are now enforcing a stay at home order using the police and you can't even drive somewhere without just cause. So it looks like our time of fun happened just in time.

Now to get cozy and used to being home all the time for a good long while!

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That Time We Cut Down a Christmas Tree

A couple days before Thanksgiving, a mom at the kids school mentioned to me that the 4th grade national parks pass also comes with a Christmas tree tag. And, not only that, she had already done all the research on where to go to get the tag and get the tree. She forwarded me the information, I mentioned it to Ian and we decided to go for it. Up until this point, we have either always had a fake tree or had no tree at all...because living in small quarters means no tree. 

We stuffed the kids in the truck and headed out the Friday after Thanksgiving. There was a bit of whining along the way until we saw snow. Then everyone was excited. And it started dumping snow, which obviously was SUPER EXCITING. When we stopped at the ranger's station for our tree tag, he told Ian a couple good places to find trees. The first place was covered in cars, so we continued on. We stopped in the second location, which had three other cars besides us. While we were getting Willa and Callum sorted, Connor and Isla went running into the snow...which at this point was a few feet deep. Before I knew it, Isla was waist deep in snow. Of course, after a few minutes, she was complaining she was cold and wanted in the truck. But, the rest of us were going to look for a tree nearby. Then, Callum kept getting his boots stuck in the snow and just walking around in his socks, so Ian asked me to take him back to the truck. At which point, Connor asked to go back too. So there I sat, in the truck with all the kids, while Ian went in search of a tree. He came back with one (pictured above) much quicker than I expected. 

Once home, we had to cut down our tree a bit to fit it inside. It's still much wider than our fake tree, but I like it. It reminds me of an oversized Charlie Brown Christmas tree because it only has needles at the ends. But, it's ours and comes with a fun story and for that, I totally love it. Also, there have been no bugs coming from the tree, which I feared because of the internet, and literally no pine needles have fallen. So it's definitely been a win and I would totally get a real tree again.

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Snow Day

We headed up to the snow on Sunday to take Callum skiing for the first time. It was a reward for him hitting a potty training goal. He's been wanting to go "skating" (as he calls it) for a while now. The plan was for Callum to have a two hour lesson, then all of us to go play in the snow. Well, the lesson didn't go exactly as planned. Callum was so excited to go skating, the whole way up the hill. But, then things went downhill. He didn't want his boots on. They finally got the boots on, then he refused to put the skis on. And he never put the skis on. The instructor tried playing with the skis with Callum to warm him up to them, but he just wouldn't do it. So, after about 45 minutes, we put the poor instructor out of his misery and went to play in the snow as a family down the road. 

It was a beautiful day for snow play. Hot out, actually. The kids had fun. Callum lost a boot and refused to put it back on, just playing in his sock...for well over an hour. It was that hot out! Isla was mad that the hills weren't larger for sledding. Apparently she is a bit of a dare devil, or at least thinks she is one! Connor played and dug in the snow. And baby Willa, she just slept. She even slept when I pulled her out of her carrier to take her picture. She only woke when Ian set her in the snow. Girl was out. And she was by far the easiest child on snow day...haha! But she slept the whole way to the snow, nursed, then slept the whole time at the snow. Then nursed again and slept the whole way home again. She obviously found her first time to the snow quite impressive ;)

Even if Callum's ski lesson didn't go anywhere near as planned, I am glad he got to do it. Now he at least knows what it involves...tight boots that he does not like. And we can try again next year. 

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A Little Snow Play

Since winter finally hit California this past week, we decided to seize the day and go visit the snow...because who knows how long it will stick around for! We went to an area we have never played in before. Since we went early, the road wasn't even freshly plowed. It was really fun to see all the fresh snow glistening in the sun, not yet trampled upon by people. Plus, there weren't cars on this road yet, so it was like we had the place to ourselves. We stopped to play at a road that hadn't been plowed at all, so was undriveable. It was a good stop. We actually had the place to ourselves for most the time we were there. 

I am pretty sure Ian and I had more fun sledding than the kids. They honestly weren't as into it as we were. But Isla was definitely into the snow. She literally became one with the snow the whole time we were there. She was constantly laying in it, digging in it, rolling around in it. She didn't take a break the whole time we were there. In fact, she spent the last good bit of our time there digging a cave for herself. 

Callum refused to wear his snowsuit. Like went hysterical when we put it on him. So, he played in his pajamas. And he really seemed like he could care less about that. He did quickly learn that he needed gloves on and after grabbing the snow without gloves, was pretty diligent about keeping his gloves on the rest of the time. His favorite thing to do in the snow was run from us and throw it. 

After being the most enthusiastic about the snow out the gate, Connor fizzled. But in the beginning, he was the one trying to make a sledding path and convincing Isla to go on it. About halfway through, he retreated to the car and read a book. 

We were pretty much ending our time of snow play, but a group of a few cars with a bunch of people arrived and cemented our plans to leave. It was a fun day. 

^^ I take myself very seriously 

^^ One of his moments of running away

On a side note, we used big rubber bands on Callum's boots to keep them on and that worked great. We also ended up putting small rubber bands on his gloves to keep those on too. Whatever works, right?

In case you care, some of our snow adventures from years past - 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012 and 2011. 

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Snow Day

While everyone else was gathered around tv sets watching the super bowl, we were up in the mountains enjoying some snow play. I actually joked to my brother the day before that we were going to spend several hours in the car for 20 minutes of snow play. Thankfully, it went better than that!

^^ Somehow, in a way only Isla can do, she ended up going down the hill backwards...when she started out going down the right way. 

When we got to the snow, the kids really did only manage about 20 or 30 minutes of play before starting to complain. I was thinking that I couldn't believe my joke was actually becoming a reality. But, we went back to the car and filled up their bellies with food and they were then ready for round two. On round two, I wore Callum on my back, which made things much easier for all of us. Also, we walked down to the frozen lake to play, which was super fun. Connor enjoyed riding all the little ice hills and the kids just had fun with how much more slippery the lake was. This time, we actually had to force them to leave.  It ended up being quite the good and fun day.

Speaking of the frozen lake, I've never been on one before. I was pretty paranoid about the whole thing. The ice was several inches thick, but I still felt paranoid. I actually jumped up and down on it a few times to make sure it was safe for the kids. And, I certainly didn't want to wonder all the way across it like some people were doing. You know, just in case. It felt a bit like a bucket list item. One I had never even thought of before, but was super cool doing.

And because this is my new obsession, here is a little video from our day.

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Learning to Ski

^^ Such excitement that they both wanted to wear all their gear on the way up. 

^^ Looking all cool walking out to the hill from his class

^^ Isla in her class…while it lasted (more on that later).  

^^ Proof that Callum was there 

^^ Ian, turned ski instructor, pulling Isla up the hill, then running down ahead of her to stop her.  

 

^^ Giving his teacher a look like, "You are going to stop me, right? Because I don't plan on stopping myself…" 

On Sunday we took the kids up to the snow and put them in a half day skiing lesson. We figured a half day lesson was a good place to start. And it was. Both kids were very excited. Isla's excitement wained and she ended up playing/practicing with Ian. Connor, on the other hand, was super into it and can't wait to go again. He didn't attempt to stop himself very well ever. The teacher would being yelling "Parachute! Parachute!" before Connor slamming into him…which, apparently they now call it parachute and not pizza anymore. I was entertained by it, even if the teacher (Mr. C) wasn't. Connor is ready to go skiing again, as soon as we will let him. Isla, on the other hand, said, "Maybe someday."

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