little black journal

This is it – the last of winter’s snapshots, so that I can clear house before it’s all tulips and egg hunts on here…

I posted about our Suncadia weekend, where the snow conditions were only so-so, but we did get out for a couple of shorter day trips to play in some fresh powder.  Juliette, Shane and I spent a morning cross-country skiing at Cabin Creek and were dusted with an inch of snowfall as we zipped down the trails.

Juliette and I were both a bit rusty and approached the first couple of downhills with some serious trepidation, but we eventually found our footing.

That’s not fresh snowfall on my hat and in my hair, but the remnants of a downhill face plant.  Still smiling, though!

We made good time heading back toward the car and decided to detour for a quick snowball fight.

I love these three-of-us days.

That said, we know how much Buddy loves the snow and gladly brought him along a couple of weeks later on a morning visit to Hyak for sledding and fort-building.

This was as bluebird a day as I’ve ever seen.  Sun shining over two feet of fresh powder.  So good.

No fear of downhills for this boy!

His eyes have never looked bluer.

Once we’d had our fill of sledding, we walked over to a nearby clearing to attempt a snowball fight.  The snow was too fine to stick together, but Isaac loves a good powder-shower as well.

Shane called us across the road, where the snow was piled even higher.

The powder was so deep that Isaac couldn’t go more than two steps without sinking to his waist and collapsing.

My kids can really wreak some havoc on a patch of pristine, freshly fallen snow.

Burrow, Isaac, burrow!

Ahh…tuckered.

Winter held some good play days closer to home, too.  Lincoln Park is a Sunday favorite.

This particular outing was a couple of months ago, but I remember it well – we’d been cooped up and Isaac was driving his sister and me crazy in equal measure and then we got outside and…voila.

Same on this Saturday afternoon at Lowman Beach…I felt up to my ears in housework but after an hour of watching the fog lift over the Puget Sound, priorities came back into focus.  One of those I can’t believe we get to live here kind of days.

Roxhill Playground gets bonus points for its proximity to both Target and to Juliette’s and my favorite boba shop.  Also, I have to memorialize Isaac in this cute jacket before he soon outgrows it.

And sometimes a cruise to the school playground is all we really need…

We spent a lot of Saturdays on the soccer field over the past couple of months.  These twilight games are chilly, but the sky sure is pretty.

I love watching Juliette play, but it’s also fun to spectate with her.  We went to a Seattle Reign game last month, rain and all, and cheered between sips of our hot chocolate.  As we were walking back to the car after the game, Juliette said that was the coldest she’d ever been in her whole entire life.  And yet, still smiling.

My parents moved to Bonney Lake, just an hour south of us, in January.  We’re all loving the extra grandparent time.

The crux of it all: our winter cornerstones are our Suncadia snow-cation and our week in Maui (those photos coming up next…), but I’m increasingly thankful for the little joys closer to home.  The park days and the soccer games and the random weekday happy hours.  Shane had a work event one evening and I took the kids to Good Society for bites and a brew.  Isaac colored and Juliette gave me every little detail of her day at school and a band of 20 seniors gathered on the outdoor patio for ukulele practice.  Such a simple, perfect Tuesday evening.

Whew – winter!  We didn’t just make it through – we leaned in.  We’re tuckered.

Ack!  It’s Springtime!  And I have a cache of snow-covered pictures to share.  Here goes…

We stayed true to tradition and spent MLK weekend at Suncadia Lodge, sledding and snow-balling and cozying.  Someday we’ll spread our wings and embark on new adventures, but in this current season of life, it feels good to return to what we know.  This place just works for us.  We’ve got our favorite fireside table at the Inn…

And the complimentary s’mores kits are always a crowd-pleaser.

We quickly settled into our routine.  Saturday morning was spent sipping coffee by the lobby’s huge picture windows.

And then a round of pool, because the wee hours of the morning are the only time we get the game room to ourselves.

Coffee, pool, cinnamon rolls, SNOW!  The trick at Suncadia is to always stay one step ahead of the crowds, so as the lobby and restaurant started to fill with the folks who woke an hour or two after us, we headed out to the sledding hill.

The snow was hard and crusty and a bit patchy, but no matter.  My kids (and their dad) are so, so good at maximizing fun in mediocre conditions.

Every year Shane wonders aloud if this pond is frozen solid enough for him to walk across it, and every year Juliette begs him to PLEASE don’t try it.

We found a golf ball tucked under a tree branch near the pond (the sledding hill is a driving range in summertime), and then another, and then another.  Suddenly it was Easter in January as the kids gathered a treasure trove of balls and placed them in a neat little pile.

Back on the sled…

Ultimately, he just couldn’t help himself.

The ice held, but not without some cracking that had us all yelling for Shane to head back to shore.  Dare devil, that guy.

There’s nothing better than peeling off your snowpants and snuggling up back in bed.

Eventually we put real clothes on and headed into Roslyn for lunch.  Again, we stuck to our tried-and-trues.  Roslyn Cafe for burgers, then coffee and books at Basecamp.

After lunch, Juliette and I scoped out the pool.  Last year the water was too cold to enjoy a swim, but this year it was perfect.

I texted Shane the thumbs-up on the water temp and he brought down Isaac.  Buddy loves a good pool.

We ate dinner in our room that night, tuckered after a day of snow, swim, and sun.  Top day.

Sunday brought more of the lovely same old, same old.

The sledding hill was really giving icy vibes that morning, so we walked over to the adjacent field in search of better snow coverage.

The sledding was decent, but then I popped Isaac’s beloved blue innertube on a particularly rough patch.  Again we sought out alternate fun.

We found a snow cave!

I loved exploring a little further afield this trip.  So many beautiful little clearings – a pair of deer crossed our path just as we were leaving this spot.

And we found another pond!  This one was much more solid.  Shane practiced his fancy footwork.

The kids were somehow unimpressed with their dad’s dance moves.

Like…”What is he doing?!”  Let’s hear it for dorky dads.

After lunch, we headed to the pool for swimtime.

The pool wasn’t as warm that day and Isaac’s little teeth started to chatter after just a couple of minutes, so we adjusted our game plan.  Shane took Juliette over to the indoor pool and I took Isaac out for a hot chocolate and a walk.  Something for everyone!

We made our way down the river and threw rocks for awhile.  I never knew this was here!  Such an idyllic little spot, particularly on a sunny afternoon.

He really can be the best little buddy when we have the time to slow down.

This is Isaac’s Bear Hunt face.  Get that grizzly, Son.

We drove into Roslyn for a pizza dinner and Isaac fell asleep on the 10-minute drive.  He wouldn’t wake, even as we pulled him out of his carseat into the cold night air, and he spent the first half of dinner sleeping in his sister’s lap.  She ate it up.  Play hard, sleep hard.

On our final morning at the lodge, we did…more of the same.  Coffee, sledding, snowplay.

We found a little hill at the far end of a clearning and the kids did a few runs.

I mean, THESE KIDDOS!  They obviously don’t always love on each other with such abandon, but when they do, it’s a joy to watch.

Deer spotting!

And some snow-baseball.

Isaac found a stick and spent 15 minutes trying to dig a hole with it – that snow was crusty.  But he kept going and I kept watching.  We had nowhere to be but right where we were.

More scenic stops…

We pulled some beautiful ice sculptures out of the stream.

And then with one last squeeze, hit the road back to Seattle.

What a weekend.