End of 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We spent New Years Eve playing in the snow that is still here, building our gingerbread houses and playing games.  The snow is finally on the way out after a week of cold temperatures.  We enjoyed it while it lasted and are hoping for another snow event in the near future.  The roads on Vashon are still a mess as we are not a high priority area to sand or plow, so the kids lucked out with school being cancelled tomorrow.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the temperatures remained in the 30's we were able to ski, sled and build a 10 foot tall snow pal this week.  The night time sledding on Klahanie road was a lot of fun.  The snow pal was a neighborhood effort and all of the kids were eager to help push the snowballs up and down the road to make them big enough.  They were really heavy by the time they made it in front of our house so we needed an additional adult to help us.  I'm thankful for neighbors that are willing to get dressed up and play in the snow with us.

Covid numbers a year later:

We are still dealing with covid in year 2.  Seattle area and King County have been really cautious and have had the kids in masks so far this school year. They have been allowed to go back to school and there hasn't been any significant events until a recent outbreak with the wrestling and basketball teams.  Scott and I were vaccinated in March and the kids in June.  Both Scott and I got a booster in December.  

290,632,072 confirmed cases worldwide

5, 460, 301 deceased worldwide

252,766,698 recovered worldwide

4,590,745,127 vaccinated worldwide

56,142,175 confirmed cases in the US

847,408 deceased US

252,766,698 recovered US

Numbers from Avi Schiffmann and Daniel Conlon https://ncov2019.live/

Christmas 2021

 For Christmas this year, the kids requested that we find a place to play in the snow. This year we planned to go to the Columbia River Gorge and Old Man Pass sledding hill before Christmas. We were going to bring the RV so we could sled and ski for a couple of days prior to Christmas.

Plans had to be flexible when our car decided to break down before the trip. Parts were ordered so we decided to have an early Christmas and then go play in the snow.

The kids always ask for matching Christmas jammies.

 

One of our annual traditions is to start the day with a search for the snow pals that we hide. 

I love the chaos after we open gifts.  It's fun to watch the dogs play in the wrapping paper and the kids explore their gifts. 

Alia bought felt this year and felted all of us gifts.  I absolutely love her felted Avery.

She was gifted lots of craft kits, art supplies, and baking kits this year. 

Avery got a rowing machine, science activities, and things for his ant colony.

Avery knows I love puzzles.  This year he bought me a puzzle that is a giant QR code attached to a prize.  We spent the day putting it together and completed it in one day.  I didn't win the big prize but I did win in family quality time.

Our favorite Christmas morning bread we make every year. 

The car breaking was a blessing in disguise because the pass had three feet of fresh snow.

We had fun playing in the snow for a day but had to leave early because a snow storm and cold temperatures were headed for Vashon. 

Old man pass had a snowstorm while we were there so we had plenty of fresh snow to play in.  We enjoyed the sledding hill and the snow shoe path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A full day of snow can wear you out.

One of the gifts we got the family was a monthly escape room in a box.  We were excited that our first box takes place in Iceland since we are going there in June on our way to Switzerland.  The first box was challenging and we made it half way through the challenge the first night.

We made it home just in time for the snow to hit.  We ended up with 7 inches of snow overnight and were able to go sledding on our favorite road.  There's more snow on the way on Thursday.

We also tried sledding on one of the trails we take the dogs.  It too proved to be a very fast hill even though there wasn't much snow.

Halloween 2021

Mt Pilchuck

The road to the trailhead was full of huge potholes.  It took 45 min to go 5 miles.

The trail was an easy hike with a gradual grade.  We hiked 5.5 miles in 6 hours.  It was a slow going trail because there were a lot of boulders to climb over.

The fall colors were beautiful

The final push to the top was scary.  We had to climb over these large boulders to get to the fire tower.  The dogs couldn't climb the last part so we carried them in our packs. 

The clouds rolled in when we made it to the top but it was a nice view because we were above the clouds.  We enjoyed eating lunch up there.

I carried her a little while on the way back and she enjoyed the ride.  At 11 I was afraid the hike would be hard for her but she did really well.

Luna also enjoyed the ride but was ready to get down sooner.