Annual Snowshoe Weekend

This weekend was our annual snowshoe weekend with Aunt Katy, Uncle Joe, and Elsa.  As always, it was fun, fun, fun!  This year we went to Hurricane Ridge. 

 

 

On Day 1, we went to the Olympic Game Farm.  The animals roam 'free', and you can feed them whole wheat bread.  We got a lot of laughs as hungry zebras, llamas, elk, muskox, European fallow deer, and others begged for food.

Lots of laughs.

 

Here's a muskox up close and personal.

 

Shoulder to shoulder with a bison.

 

Day 2 started with sledding.  Nathan is ready for any snow that might spray in his face.

 

Then we went snowshoeing.  The weather alternated between fog and sun breaks and we had great views.

 

Day 3 started with more sledding and loving on Aunt Katy.

 

We lunched with the locals.

 

They were very friendly.

 

All smiles.

 

On Day 4 we switched gears and went hiking at the Dungeoness Spit National Wildlife Refuge.  It was fun to run from the big waves.

 

Evan and Elsa are fishing.  You can see them both holding their 'poles' if you enlarge this picture.

 

Playing tug of war with a bull kelp.  I won.

 

What a fun weekend!  We can't wait to do it again next year!

Frugal Joe

We've never advertised another blog.  Well, maybe Mom's; we don't remember.  Either way, it's a  very rare occurance at best.  However, we think anyone interested in learning a little about finance should tune into Uncle Joe's blog.  Actually, it might be even more important for people who are NOT interested in finance to tune in.  This is a very practical way to start considering your family's financial choices.  Turns out, there's a reason that Uncle Joe's elective finance class has more than twice the number of students in it than the alternative elective business class at his high school.  We've always known he's a terrific high school teacher, but now we know he's a good teacher for adults, too.  Check it out at http://www.frugaljoe.com/.

I want YOU to root for the Red Sox!

Thank you for the new shirts Uncle Keith and Aunt Amanda!  We love them!

The weatherman said we'd be "hard-pressed to find a sun break today" (Sunday).  We found it!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sweet Nathan!

I'm three!  It's time to paaaaar-tyyyy!

 

 

The dragon I got from Aunt Katy, Uncle Joe, and Elsa made me a little nervous at first.  And that was even before I learned that it roared!

 

Grandma helped me to get to know the dragon in a safe place, and it wasn't long before I grew to love him!

Can't wait to catch my first fish with my Lightening McQueen fishing pole!

Happy birthday, Nathan!

Train-Mania

Daddy has been really busy.  First, he built us this train table.  Then he made us tracks.

 

And if that weren't enough, he made us a suspension bridge, tunnel, and train station!  We are proud of our talented dad.  Mom says he's had enough practice to build an addition on our house where we can fit all of this!

Ending the Year our Favorite Way

We ended 2012 with a trip to Mt. Rainier.  The weather was great and the snow was perfect for snowshoeing and sledding.

The view from the middle of the Nisqually River.

This is the good life.

Hamming it up.

This is the way I spend half my time in the snow.  The other half is spent on my back. 

We started off day two with sledding.  Nathan is in his ready position.  Do you think he's been blasted with snow in his face before?

Much better.  No threat of being sprayed by snow here!

So much fun!

Perfect snow.  Perfect way to send out 2012.  Happy New Year!