cross country skiing

Liesl and I went cross-country skiing today at Teacup Nordic center on the southeast side of Mt Hood. It was Liesl's first time on xc skis, and my first time in many years. (I think the last time was with Steve in Jasper, in 2001 or so.) We had an absolutely amazing time. After our first hour of skiing around the groomed trails, she announced that she loved this kind of skiing,  couldn't wait to go again, and that it was her new favorite winter sport. Yay!!!

I thought we might go out for an hour or so before she got tired or frustrated, and was prepared to end our ski session whenever she wanted to (trying to learn my lesson from our downhill ski day, when I got a little over-enthusiastic and put her on a run that she wasn't ready to ski). And instead she just wanted to keep going and going, and was both happy and steadily improving her stride the entire time. We skiied probably 5-6 miles on green runs, completing the big loop around the groomed park, and were out for more than three hours (there were lunch, snack, and hot chocolate breaks). Such a fun day together, and so beautiful to be in the snow on a bluebird day. We're already plotting our return.

snowshoeing at Twin Lakes

We had a family adventure day, driving up to Mt Hood and hiking from the Frog Lake snow park to lower Twin Lake. It was a gorgeous winter day, blue skies and bright sunshine, and so fun to play and tromp in the snow together. Steve and I wore snowshoes but the kids opted for snow boots, which meant the occasional post-holing (not truly a deterrent), and the ability to ride the sled. Jasper spent a delirious 20 minutes of joy jumping into the snow and sinking to his neck, post-holing with every step, before deciding that he preferred the stability of the firmly packed trail. 

Sebastian wanted to get this clump of snow to fall out of the tree. And then he sank into a snowdrift.

Seb threw a stick way off into the deep snow, and Jasper valiantly attempted to fetch it while sinking in up to his chest, and having to dig through various snow piles. But he found it! Such a good doggo.

Seb pulled Liesl along for good portions of the trail, even though the trip out was mostly uphill.

We decided to sled down this short, steep hill, and Jasper was NOT a fan. He barked, whined, tried to both physically block and then bite the sled, and overall did his best to prevent our certain deaths. :)

We had to tie him to a tree at the bottom of the hill; I covered his eyes as the kids sledded, but he still barked and whined in mental anguish.

Seb was riding the sled along the trail when he veered off the steep edge and crashed into this ditch under a tree.  No injuries, except to his pride.

 

And then we made it to lower Twin Lake, after 2 miles of slogging and sledding and crashing into trees. The sun came out and it was so warm and beautiful. Such a perfect day to be on the mountain.

Liesl built a mini-snowman and Jasper romped and fetched and rolled in the snow.

 

And then we headed back - a half mile uphill to the crest, and then 1.5 miles down to the trailhead.

 

Apparently careening headfirst into trees wasn't dangerous enough, so Seb (and then Steve and Liesl) tried snowboarding the sled down the trail. No injuries to report.