Playing in the snow whilst trying to avoid getting speared by deadly icicles

We live close to the North Cascades Highway, a scenic little road that winds over a couple of high mountain passes to the East side of Washington state. The road closes in winter, since snow, ice, avalanches or flooding make it treacherous. What is usually a busy summer tourist route becomes dead for about five months of the year, which is great for us residents but sucks for local businesses.

Last week we drove to the gate where the road closes so we could play in the winter wonderland up there. I think it's pretty busy with snow mobiles on the weekend, but when we were there during the week, we had it all to ourselves. The snow mobiles had done a nice job of packing down the snow, so we hiked on the deserted road to find some decent sledding.

On the way up the Highway we passed countless frozen waterfalls, spiked with sharp icicles.  Of course the kids had to get out of the car to admire them, break some off and lick them, and throw ice balls at them to try and break them, while I anxiously monitored their activity, lest one of my children get speared by one of these deadly things.

Besides playing in the snow, this week was dominated by visiting a litter of puppies, one of which will come home with us by the end of this month.  Can you believe we are getting a puppy???  Are we really ready for the chaos this will entail, on top of our usual day-to-day chaos?  You bet we are ready!

Snow, puppies... what else can I tell you about?  As usual, lots and lots of food prep is going on at our house.  Here is twice fermented ginger Kombucha, which creates so much fuzz that it will explode all over the house if you are not careful when opening the bottles.
Also: sprouts.  If winter doesn't let you grow greens in the garden, you grow 'em inside.

Other goings-on: reading and writing.  Lots of it.  I haven't told you this, but I am finishing the last touches of writing a book.  (Can you hear me jumping up and down over here?)  More about it later!

The kids spent hours reading or being read to.  I'm so glad Steve is home a lot right now.  Come spring, he will be super busy again, but for now, he gets to rest a spell, surrounded by a mess of books and a little daughter who is learning her letters right now, but is not ready to read by herself.  We are relishing this phase of her wanting to snuggle up to us while we read to her.  Soon enough, she'll barricade herself in her room, wanting to be alone, or asking for the car keys to get away from her boring parents...

I will leave you with a picture of the hill in our backyard, with clouds shaped like hearts, or angels if you look hard enough.  We are being watched over by something good, I think.