The Biker & the Hiker

The Biker: trying out two wheels on her new BIG bike.

The Hiker: made it around the neighborhood, down the road to the trail, played on the playground and then hoofed it back through the woods on her own two feet.

The Chaser

Young Explorers

So much to see!

The ice...

bugs on logs...

and moss growing.

Run to Rabbit Lake Run

Epic run to Rabbit Lake

Pretty wiped out. Deep snow. Ten miles round trip.

Rabbit Lake (under the snow)

Bright light. Lovely skies.

20-30mph winds sucked.

Looking back towards lake.

No tracks, just ours.

Painting with Nature

The kids and I hiked to the park and collected "nature." I thought we could collect rocks and sticks and leaves and pinecones, but Jude told me it was nature. I had the watercolor paints set up in the backyard and the kids used everything they collected (except the dried up piece of dog poo Sadie picked up) to create a watercolor. Sadie created with twigs.

Jude tried the wet wood approach.

Callie experimented with pebbles.

Lovely!

Auction Season

Up-cycled note cards

Wildflower note cards

Gnome Gnotes

We're Out!

After 5 weekends at home getting the house ready for market,

we finally made it out for a family bike ride.

The Reader

Uncle Gerald bought Maren the Magic Treehouse series and she hasn't stopped reading.

Up Towards Indianhouse

Thursday Evening Epic- "Buddha Nature"

Up we go!

Up, up.

Sheep Shit.

Definitely up there with the sheep.

Warm!

Sun!

Indianhouse is the highest peak behind me.

Too much snow to get up there now.

Down is faster.

Sunny Hike

My 2.5 year old hiked about 3/4 of a mile to the park in the sunshine.

She was so proud of herself. "Daddy is gonna be so happy!"

She hitched a ride in the backpack on the way home and slept for 2 hours!

She Loves Her Dresses!

Future Running Heavy Equipment

Introducing Princess Muffin

Last night Sadie told me a bedtime story about Princess Muffin. Princess Muffin went to her dad's office and had a snack. She found magical, sparkly crystals there. She has two dogs, Marker and Ellie. She went to the beach and saw fish and birds, but there were no crabs. These are all relevant things to Sadie's daily life. It was a great story. I told her I really liked Princess Muffin. I had never met her before. She looked at me and said, " Mom, I am Princess Muffin!"

So this morning she put on her sparkly skirt and shoes and started her day as Princess Muffin.
I wonder who we'll meet tomorrow!

Alaskan Beach Bunnies

Cold and muddy beach hike on Easter Sunday.

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came!

Sadie found a basket.

Happy Easter!

The 5th Annual Easter Egg Hunt

The 5th Annual Easter Egg Hunt! I just love this tradition. We started in 2006, when the big kids were the same age as Sadie. It follows the same route as the Halloween Hike. Eggs are filled with jelly beans, rubber toads, dried blueberries, sea shells, stickers, chocolate and little chicks. How fun it is to watch the kids run and find and then later open their eggs and discover the treasures inside. The Easter Bunny hid 225 eggs this year!

Happy Easter!

Bring on spring!

Digging into the stash post-hunt.