a one hour winter adventure

On Saturday Rory loaded his family up for a winter hike at a nearby county park. The temperature had risen to 21 degrees with more sub-zero temps in the forecast. It was time to seize the day. He started out with three less-than-thrilled family participants, but by the time we got out of the car at the park we had switched our attitudes. And it was a really great adventure. We found a hollow tree we could get in and a little hole in another tree that we imagined was an owl house. Ivar excitedly pointed out all of the "wooden rainbows!" in the woods...trees that were arched over so the tops were touching the ground. Elsie was a trooper, walking the whole way and everyone was kept nicely motivated by the gorp I brought along, complete with valentines m&m's. 

Ivar and Elsie lost steam for the very last hill back up to our car but thankfully their daddy is strong and loves them to pieces. Once out of the woods we made our way to the picnic shelter but Ivar was really done then. He wasn't exactly sad or mad. Just done. And licking the snow.

It was a good reminder for me to find the fun in this weather. I recently saw a blog post of someone who went camping over valentine's day on the Oregon coast and I was struck down with the whole "why is it so cold where I live?!!" thing. But Saturday turned that attitude on its head. I still wonder why it has to be so cold, but it also is beautiful and full of its own adventures too.