a winter hike

as you can tell, we've taken every possible chance to soak up the warm sun this week! today was the warmest day yet-- 48 degrees in town! so we headed up the canyon to a little hike without our puffy coats. it was luxurious.

it's been really great this year that both kids can actively take part in whatever we're doing outside. last winter, sylvi was still pretty small and had just started walking, so she was mostly in the stroller or the carrier. she was certainly happy about that, but couldn't take part nearly as much. now she can keep up with her sister and make her own observations and generally play an active role in whatever we're up to. isa really enjoys this as well. yesterday at the skating rink, she called out to sylvi who was watching behind the fence and said, "sylvi, i wish you were big enough to skate with me too!" it was pretty heartwarming, to say the least.

so today we just enjoyed being outside and poking around and stretching our legs. isa, being the naturalist that she is, found some really cool tracks in the snow (that mommy completely missed). we didn't have our book with us, so we took some pictures to check out at home. finding the animal tracks turned out to be a perfect segue into making our own tracks and keeping them moving down the trail in search for more.

on the ice

we headed over to the outdoor ice rink this afternoon for some afternoon skating. it was our first time of the season and we thought we'd take advantage of a perfectly warm afternoon to get out and have fun (notice no hats or gloves). isa only skated a few times last year so i didn't know how she'd do, but as always i am amazed at how fast kids learn and pick up right where they left off! she definitely enjoyed the push bar because it gave her alot of freedom and let her go faster. by the end of an hour, her balance had already improved alot and she was leaning on the bar less and less. even though it was after school hours, the rink was empty for the first half hour. a few kids trickled in here and there but we had the whole place to ourselves most of the time.

sylvi was a really good sport and enjoyed watching and guarding the snacks! she got a kick out of watching isa spin and slip and race around. hard to believe that she might be out there soon too!

busted!

the house was awfully quite yesterday afternoon-- the kind of quiet that makes parents drea what they might find. i was fully expecting to find some lovely artwork on the new cabinets or a bag of flour dumped on the floor. instead, i found sylvi with her hand in the sweet pea bowl. busted! what can i say, the girls likes her peas. she had finished off about half the bowl by the time she was discovered!

pizza pie!

it's hard to overestimate the value of neighbors who walk over at lunch and say, "hey how about we come over tonight with some dough and the pizza stone and make some pizzas with the girls?" uhm, yes please! so tonight we had round two of pizza night-- complete with some really awesome dough, a dozen or more fixins, three very excited children (oliver will be able to take part soon!), and two very happy families. and for the record, the pizza was sooooo good too. not that it would have mattered in the end anyway!

winter sun

HOORAY for the sun-- the pictures tell the story well enough! as you can see, we got a good dose of vitamin D this afternoon and we soaked up every last ray of sunshine. the girls had a blast and really enjoyed being out and stretching their legs and working up a sweat! afternoons like this are always a great reminder of why we love where we live... and all four seasons :)

movie night

since the temperatures creeped above twenty degrees yesterday, we thought we'd get out while we could... and head to the movies! we rarely go to the movies here in landiego because there is rarely something good playing and there are really limited showtimes. but it just so happened that Tangled was playing, and we needed to get out of the house like it was nobody's business, so off we went!

in a last minute decision, we decided to take sylvi as well, since she had been stuck in the house with us afterall. it was her first movie experience so we weren't sure how it would go, but thought it was worth a try. turns out, our little theatre is super loud (maybe even louder than the average loud theatre?) and it was just too much for her. even after she calmed down, and made it through the even louder previews, she was still asking to go home. so she and i headed home, where we snuggled on the couch and watched an episode of Sesame Street at a very soothing volume!

for her part, isa seemed to like it, and was happy to stay until the end. she did have her fingers in her ears for the first 15 minutes, but after putting on her thick fleece hat (with ear flaps) she was more comfortable with the volume. she and nanny and daddy shared a bucket of popcorn and that was that!

cabin fever flashback!

we haven't had a flashback post in a while so it seemed fitting to dig up some shots from this time last year. isn't it amazing how much changes in a year's time? wow. i don't remember too much about what the weather was doing this time last year, but i am sure we still had the same moments of cabin fever mustgetoutofhouserightnow feelings that we've had this week. being that we've been shut in for the ten days because of sickness and now it's wicked cold out, we're all itching to get OUT! there's some light at the end of the tunnel though, since phil will hopefully be alot better after the weekend and the temperature is supposed to be in the twenties (!!!) by midweek! not to mention that school, childcare and ballet resumes as well, which we are all very excited about.

so yeah, winter and cold spells and sickness and small children can be a maddening combo. good thing there's relief in the near future-- and we have big plans to get out and enjoy ourselves. time to bust out the skis and sled and enjoy all the new snow. and mommy and daddy may have to to go on a much needed dinner and movie night as well :)

oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR TOO!