Playing in the Snow

Wow. What a day! Blue skies, no wind, warm temps and a lot of powdery snow on the ground from yesterday's storm! Can't ask for better. Ryan decided last night to take part of the day off, which would make the logistics of getting the cars shoveled out and moved around easier and also mean he didn't have to battle into Portland if the roads were still bad. Plus, it would mean we could get out and play a bit in the snow as a family! Hurray :-)

The day started off with sledding with Annie, Phil and baby Thistle, followed up by some quiet craft time for the two girls, which was a lot of fun!

Happiness is sledding! (From yesterday but you get the idea :-) )

Then Ryan, Sam and I headed to Sea Dog for lunch - yum! - and home so Ryan could get a bit of work done while Sam and I had some quiet time. The quiet time didn't last long (no surprise there :-) ) so we were soon off to the xc ski trails over in the Mt. Ararat fields to enjoy the sunshine and the snow. It was really perfect. The loop around the field and up into the woods had been groomed, we had them all to ourselves, it was warm and sunny, and we all had a great time. Sam did an awesome job on her skis, and was really able to maneuver the skis herself. We had a great time meandering on the trails on a beautiful afternoon.

Headed up into the woods 

Blue skies and happy skiers

This is fun!

Skiing with Daddo 

Headed uphill

Oh hi there!

Skiing along

But of course, the thing she loved the most was the downhills! :-)

Sam did great the whole time we were out there, but she was pretty whooped by the time we headed home :-) It was so nice to all be out skiing together, even if it was at a 3-year old's pace :-)

Once we got home, I couldn't help but want to head out and enjoy the day a little more, so I had a quick snack, changed and headed out with snowshoes in hand to get in a short run across the street. I ran the 0.4 miles to the trailhead, got out on the snowmobile trails and then ran 3 loops partway up Mt. A. and then down through the woods and back around. The snow had transformed from the fluffy powder of this morning, and was pretty heavy, so breaking trail was a bit tough but I was happy to get in 3 miles, and take advantage of such a great winter day!