Mother's Day camping!

A few weeks ago, the weather was gorgeous and promising, so I randomly decided I wanted to go backpacking for Mother's Day. As the day drew nearer, the lows dropped to freezing at night and thunderstorms were promised for the weekend and I started regretting my decision and questioning my sanity. But we got so lucky with the weather and the location and everything. 

We went to Afton State Park, just about 30 minutes east of here. There's a "backpacking" campground about 1 mile from the parking lot. So it wasn't exactly hardcore backpacking. But it was perfect for us. The sites are super far apart and quiet. There is all-you-can-saw firewood, and supposed to be a water pump. The water pump was broken, so it was a 3/4 mile hike down to the next available, and no nearby water to filter ourselves. And the 3/4 mile hike was steep on the way back up, especially carrying water. So that part was hardcore at least :)

We came up with a few wish list items for next time, and the desire to go again for longer than just one night, so definitely a success! The kids are so capable and really love being outdoors. They did the hike for water by themselves twice, put up tents, sawed us some firewood, cooked dinner and generally had a blast.

What a glorious Mother's Day!!!

Kid selfies

Parent selfies

Winter is...over

I'm gonna be brave and say it - Winter is over (take that Starks!). Maybe I'll regret that, but surely we must be close. Its been a weird one. No real snow until January, then it totally dumped on us for 2 straight months. But it never really got me down like some winters, maybe I'm getting tough.

The kids did some skiing this year! Laura had been with school one time last year and liked it. And Adam took a few lessons this year and liked it. 

I built a quinzhee! (With lots of help from the fam)

Its different from an igloo in the it is subtractive instead of additive. You make a giant mound of snow, then dig out the inside. I had to conquer a little bit of claustrophobia while digging, but I'm proud to say I did it!!

It was crazy big inside, We couldn't stand, but could comfortably sit with lots of room over our heads. 

sad, melty quinzhee 

13!!

Can you believe our kid is 13??? Sometimes it blows my mind, and then other times, I'm wondering "are you really only 13?" She's a wise soul and a young sprite all rolled into one awesome person. I am so grateful she's ours!

This little set up was her deepest desire for her birthday :)

Adam got her a bucket of cornstarch and water to play in - so fun!

Two 13 year old ninjas! God made us in all shapes and sizes :)

Matthew's about 11 months older than Laura and tall for his age. He's also our carpool buddy and a great kid!