Winter Wonderland, Part 3

So, since pulling up to the cabin at noon, we have spent a good few hours chipping away at the snow, trying to clear enough to get the kids into the cabin safely. The shovel was of no help, so My Honey and I broke up the ice with a hammer and wrench. Sort of like a chain-gang, just hitting it, removing the blocks, bit by bit.

As the kids grew restless to get into the snow, I decided to take a break and change them into their snow clothes. Since the original plan (which was pretty much out the window, although I dont know if I knew it yet) was to have some snow play, I had kept their snow clothes, hats and mittens in a separate bag, and had dressed them in clothes that would be appropriate to go under the snow clothes...so, it was easy to get them out, dressed and into the snow to have some fun.

Pooper had been itching to build an "igloo", in fact, the day before, he was on the phone with one of the little girls from school, who was also going up to the mountains. We had talked about meeting up to let the kids play together, and this is the conversation I heard from Pooper on the phone:

P: Hey, me and you can make an igloo

P: (looking puzzled) yeah, they are easy.

P: No, I can totally make one, you just make a bunch of snow bricks.

P: It's easy, Ill show you.

Then when he got off the phone, he said, "mom, it's easy to make snow bricks, right?"

I told him that while the snow can be tricky, I was pretty sure he would be able to do it.

So, while dad slaved and sweated away on our "vacation", Pooper got to building his igloo, which eventually was downgraded to a "fort"



Beauty enjoyed sledding, and started out on the "driveway" eventually graduating to the perfect sledding area next to the cabin. That sled run is actually a dirt road, the same dirt road that the landlord suggested that we park on, if we werent able to clear the "driveway".



Little One, also my fiesty one, wanted to go sledding too, and she didnt want anyone touching her or helping her, no siree, she was gonna do it all by herself, and she did!





Before we knew it, the sun had ceased to temper the chilling air. It was after 4:30pm, and we knew we needed to get some food (nobody had eaten since breakfast! Hello!), get to the store, and get back to the cabin to settle in before dark.

The driveway was still packed with snow, as was the front of the stairs....we determined that the kids would be just fine, and we could get them up to the cleared section of stairs safely.

Once at the top of the stairs, there was a large area that was covered in icey-packed snow.



My Honey and I carefully got over the snow, while holding on to the side of the house, it was tricky, but we could do it. It wouldnt be safe for the kids, so the two of us worked together to get the kids to the top of the stairs, and then help lift them over to the door. Sounds simple, but with 3 kids and 2 adults, it became a bit tricky every time we came and went, to help one child down, leave them at the car, come up to get another, etc. etc. But we did it, because, it's mountain life, and it's a good life.

We got all of our bags inside, and let the kids take a look around. It was a nice cabin. They had obviously done a lot of recent work, as everything seemed new. There was a great kitchen and family room above, and down below were 3 bedrooms. This was fantastic, we'll have to come again and invite some friends....really a great cabin in an awesome location.

My Honey finished one remaining task, that had been in our outline from the owner; he turned on the water. We were now ready to roll, we couldnt wait to get into a warm restaurant and stuff our faces. Mountain life really builds up the appetite!

Before leaving, I glanced at the thermostat. We had turned the heat on about 5 hours prior, yet it had only moved a few degrees...it was now 53 degrees. Hmmm.... I was hopeful that things would be warmer by the time we came home later on that night.