Skiing!!!!

 We got to start skiing again this weekend!!!! Yay!!! Stevens Pass has a bunch of safety precautions in place and we were able to enjoy our favorite winter activity again. Hooray! Saturday was bright and sunny and we tore up the groomers with my friend Ken and his kids: Lana and KJ. We also met up with Rebecca and her family in the afternoon, but sadly - no pictures.

We got to do a trial run of tailgating. We used a backpacking stove to boil water for hot soup and hot drinks and set up a little area to chill in next to the car. We made some notes and will fine tune for next time.

It was so nice to drop down the east side of the slopes to the cabin. We had a simple dinner, started a puzzle, built a fort, and cuddled by the wood stove. 

Sunday featured a snowy day and a bunch of skiing with the Birgfelds. It was great to zoom around with their crew and enjoy the slopes together. I love seeing how our kids push each other. Reed and Edison are speed demons while Charlotte likes to find all the jumps along the sides of the trails. We even did Seventh Heaven in the fog and found some excellent powder (mixed with ice) up there. So much fun - didn't know I had it in me, but I felt awesome during and after the run!

We were tired Sunday night from our adventures and so we cuddled up and watched High School Musical. So much fun!

Remote Learning Week .......?!

 I have lost count of Remote Learning - at some point it all just blends together. We try to have fun with it though and there are many things that add variety and spice to our days. Like playing on Zoom together.

Or putting together our Christmas cards - the kids did such a great job offering to help!

Reed is doing a great job of taking care of Loopie, his blue, furry stuffed animal. You can now find Loopie joining us on our morning walks in his backpack.

We are incredibly proud of Reed for earning Student of the Month in December! There was a great virtual assembly in which he was recognized by his teacher, Cally, for all his hard work and improvement in school over the past month.

We had Family Fun night on Friday, complete with a cozy fire. We made our own pizza, played a few games that the kids picked and relaxed to a movie at the end of the night.

Reed's teacher does an incredible job at putting art kits together for different projects. Reed had fun making his snowman.

Reed is also very much into building forts right now. Extra cozy.

Hiking Deception Pass with Karen

Karen and I are keeping up with our winter hiking - this sunny weekend had us out of the mountains and took us to Deception Pass. It was breathtakingly beautiful and the sunshine was so welcomed!

We even had ourselves a delicious picnic on the beach! You cannot beat this for a Saturday in December!

But we topped it off with a glass of wine at the Bertelsen Winery's fabulous outdoor patio on the way home. Wow! What a lovely end to a gorgeous day outside.

DECEMBER - Home Learning and Christmas Prep

The kids and I capped off a busy Thanksgiving weekend by decorating the Christmas tree and watching Home Alone 1 & 2. It was cozy and warm and everything we wanted it to be.

Charlotte gave her brothers a tutorial on the Ozobot robot coding project she's been mastering.

We still get to enjoy the pool!!!!

Charlotte is becoming an avid baker - blueberry muffins! Yum!

Charlotte's desk set up for remote learning. It is a command station!

Reed is practicing getting his desk ready for learning each day.

And we love our walks - especially when we get sunshine!

Game night! Munchkin style!

Nana joined us for an evening for dinner, reading, and piano.

Exploding Kittens game night!

I finished off the week by helping to host an 80s Game Night for the parent/staff community at Shorecrest. It was a total hoot!!! Ask me about the 80s Celebrity Kahoot I made ;-)

 

Hiking with Amy's Family

We started the morning with some exercise laps in LFP. Reed and Charlotte rollerbladed two miles, Edison walked and I ran three. Felt like a good way to start the day. 

Then we drove out to the cabin and met up with Amy, Mike and their kids for a beautiful hike on the railroad tracks at the end of our road. It doesn't get much better than this and every view was divine. The beauty of it all took my breath away more than once.