The Lizzard

When we first mentioned the upcoming blizzard to her, Clara said, "No, it's a lizard. That's what my teachers at school said". This has been quite a storm and it's not over yet. Some photographic evidence, followed by snow day activities.

L: This is a picture I took of the snow before anyone, anyone in our neighborhood came out. C: It was SO annoying. That there was so much snow that Lucy fell down.

L: This is our back porch covered in snow. It is so deep!

L: This is me and Clara. We are the first ones to step out in this neighborhood and that's my daddy's glove.

L: This is me. I was diving down the steps, head first. And I got buried in the snow. You see my foot, and the little turquoise thing is my hat. And the other pink thing, standing up, is my sister Clara.

L: This is my daddy helping me up when I fell down the steps head first. It felt really cold and I was screaming.

L: This is me standing up when my daddy helped. C: And this is me standing up almost near Papa.

L: This is me at the top of the snow mountain that the "lizard" made.

C: That is Mama. It's a selfie. And there's snow, deep snow, houses buried in snow, and the cars. Nobody are outside. And the cars are buried in snow.

C: It is Clara. Me. Climbing up a mountain. And my boot got stuck one time and I had to go inside with a wet sock snow. And Mama helped dig my boot out with a shovel and my boot was stuck. And graham cracker. L: This is Clara in the snow, just like me standing in the snow before.

L: This is me trying to rub off my car with my mitten, and that is Clara who fell in the snow and got stuck just like me.

As we were trudging through the snow up to her waist, Clara said, "A blizzard is hard to walk in!".

L: This is all of the cars- you can see the little wipers sticking out.

C: That is us hugging. L: This is me and my sister, Clara, with rosy cheeks after we came in from the snow. Eliz: I think they look like dolls!

C: That's my hot cocoa, that I was eating today. And I had marshmallows in it and it's brown hot cocoa and my dress is purple. And that's my pink shirt that I'm wearing right now.

L: This is my hot cocoa. I was trying to make a smiley face but the nose kept on floating off to stick on the mouth or an eye.

L: We were painting today, and these were the paintbrushes we used. My mom took this picture. She thought it looked pretty.

C: I like that Mama said that she likes my pictures. L: These are the pretty pictures I painted. If you see the rainbow one, that's mine. And you can see part of my name- Lu, that got caught off. And the other one over there, with the blue and purple on it, is my sister Clara's that she did.

Ice skating!

We went ice skating with some of our extended family this last weekend. It was Clara's first time, and we all had a blast! 

Camping!!!

 This post requires a lot more exclamation points than that, but I will spare you all. I was SO excited that the girls and I were able to go camping this past weekend with some friends. I grew up camping for 1-2 weeks every year with my family, and was really missing it. It had been 7 years since my last camping trip (when I was pregnant with Lucy!). Matt was really sorry not to be able to join us, but has promised a family camping trip next year!

What I love about camping is that you are outside the whole time, surrounded by the beauty of nature. The experience is so sensual- feeling the air, smelling the pine needles and fire, hearing the gusts of wind and the crickets, seeing the trees and bark and rocks. It fills me up from head to toe! 

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, especially for late September- sunny and in the high 70s/low 80s during the day. The girls had an awesome time. There were 10 kids there, 9 of them between the ages of 3 and 6, so they had a ton of playmates. There were lots of games of tag in the woods, building of fairy houses, and general exploring. Not to mention throwing leaves and sticks in the fire, sparklers, glow sticks, s'mores, and hot cocoa.

Dinner by lantern-light on the first night.

Building a fire Saturday morning.

Clara standing proudly over the fairy house she built.

A close-up of the house.

The whole group, preparing for a big hike.

Lucy started strong, but the late night combined with a long week of school had tired her out, so she headed back early with some of our friends.

So beautiful.

Clara tackled some of the trail on her own.

Above the tree line- an amazing view!

A beautiful rock garden by the side of the trail.

My hiking partner.

The view at our feet was just as beautiful.

A nap on the way down. It made for a peaceful last part of the hike.

Cooking some delicious pork kebabs and baked potatoes.

Comic book reading.

A quiet morning, as I boil water on the stove.

My snuggle bunny.

There were also games and coloring when the kids wanted a break from running around.

Some fall colors on the way home.

Napping on the way home.

Having fun is hard work!

Remembering summer fun- Storyland!

I was about to post pictures from our recent camping trip, but thought first I should post from our fun trip to Storyland this summer! It was a quick, 2-day vacation, but we all had a blast. The girls loved all the rides, fast, slow, and in between. I lost track of how many times we went on the roller coaster and log flume rides, and Lucy even went on the big-kid roller coaster twice. The first time we went on the roller coaster, Clara laughed out loud the whole ride.

2 soldiers and a goofy girl.

Our two princesses.

Meeting Cinderella in her castle was a highlight.

Intense merry-go-round riding.

We stayed at the most family-friendly hotel imaginable. They provided S'more fixings after dinner, and showed a kid-movie each night.

A hummingbird, seen at breakfast.

The heated pool was a huge hit.

Especially the floaties and noodles!

Riding the train around the park.

Up high in the sky!