Wesley discovered my snowboarding helmet and goggles and you thought he had found buried treasure.

We joined friends at a camp outside of Leavenworth for a weekend of  snow and fellowship. Since we stayed overnight, we shared a small cabin with the kids and just about sold Wesley again about 2 in the morning.  Horrible night aside, we loved our time out in the fluffy snow. 

 

The Old Gravel Pit makes a great sled run for those willing to hike out a mile (while pulling children in sleds).  So fun! The following photos tell the story.

 

 

Kyla will try it again!

 

Ironically, we came back to snow in our own backyard.  Dwayne left me a message,  slightly mixed since it was on our garbage can….

Love ya, Babe!

True story.

I had been talking (okay, whining) to some mom friends from school about my wild children.  Yes, yes, I like to blame Dwayne’s genetic contribution, but I am the primary caretaker, so I’m not without blood on my hands.  Usually Wesley’s blood. 

Anyway, I was describing how all three of the kids are just tree-climbing adventurers.  “That’s great!  They are so athletic!” the other moms chimed in.  No, no, I disagreed. I mean that they tree-climb on the bookshelves, the TV, the refrigerator….

[Susanne came up with the perfect word to describe my children in beast-mode: Feral.  I love it.]

I brought Piper and Wesley home after this play date, and they beat me inside while I gathered up all my stuff.  As I came upstairs, I swear to you, Piper was shimmying up this pole:

She saw me, jumped off, rubbed her hands together and calmly asked if she could fix herself a snack. I think I actually sputtered.  But she did fix her own snack, so it’s not all bad.

 

And here is Piper using sticker-tape to make herself into a vampire.  Don’t suck Wesley’s blood—he probably doesn’t have enough to spare.  Try Kyla—just clean her off first.  She was playing outside down by the stream and she’s wet and filthy.

Sigh of happiness.  I took Wesley and Piper to the Children’s Museum this afternoon.  It was empty.  (And I adore the new camping exhibit they have!  I would have played if I hadn’t brought 3 articles to read for my homework.)

 

Piper’s hair is an easy way for me to find her, no matter the disguise.

 

The ride home at 5—the roads have never been so untraveled.  Thanks, Seahawks, for a wonderful, quiet afternoon!

Super Bowl inconveniently interrupted Groundhog day this year, but Seattle persevered, first by exchanging the hog with a more local frog, and celebrating on Saturday. 

Brian and Sandi were in town for a wedding, so the kids got to some “uncle-ing” in while Sandi was doing bridesmaid duties.

 

You can tell by the Victorian house in the background that downtown Snohomish was our Groundfrog Destination.

 

I’m having a little fun with the settings on my new camera.  Mostly, I’m just ecstatic to have one again!

 

We’ll have to meet you in Snohomish in exactly a year.  It was just a tiny street fair with the “Macarena” playing on the loud speakers near the gazebo, but loads of energy, smiles, and green.  It may have been the happiest place on earth at the moment. (Though not for Wes.)  The local booster club had hula hoops out and were offering free frog face painting.  Buckets of sidewalk chalk were being used by kids of all ages (yes, even age 39!)

 

The Frog Princess (also the name of one of Kyla’s favorite books) wandered around meeting all her subjects.

 

Giant Frog probably has a name, but I never learned it.

 

Putting the princess and the frog together.  I believe the frog is quite bejeweled for the occasion!

 

Wesley was a stick-in-the-mud about a frogs.  And fun.  But at least he got a balloon.

 

He warmed up a little towards the end.

 

Bubbles helped.

 

Brian tried to get a few family shots for us. I figure if we start in February, we might have a good photo by next Christmas.  Sigh.

 

And I think that winter is going to last 6 more weeks, followed by a spring that often looks suspiciously like winter.