Snowed in!

As most of you know, we've been dealing with a surprise late winter storm in Portland. It snowed for three days, covering the ground with several inches to a foot of snow. This, of course, made driving in our neighborhood impossible...so we've been stuck!

Luckily, we had some warning about the storm coming, so we were able to run to a grocery store and get the kids home safely from school before it hit. The first two days had a lot of wind and wind chill factors under 10 degrees, so Brielle had to wait a little bit before going outside to check out the snow.

The snow was really dry and powdery, so she wasn't able to make a snowman, but snow angels seemed to work.

Ronan loved looking out the window at the snow and the occasional neighborhood dog who tried to run through it. He even tried on Daddy's snow boots, but ultimately he decided against going outside. That's fine.

We've been so impressed with how well the kids have been handling being stuck at home together. Kraig and I also enjoyed taking turns playing in the hot tub with Brielle. It's so fun to make and throw snow balls while relaxing in the hot water! Things are starting to melt, so there's a chance we'll be able to drive tomorrow at some point.

Even when it's not snowing, we end up doing a lot of indoor activities during the winter here. Here are some activities we've enjoyed during the past month...

We visited Playdate PDX, a large indoor play structure.

This time I didn't break my toe on this slide, but I did go too fast, fly up in the air, and land...pretty hard. This place is fun for the kids, but I'm getting afraid of it.

We also checked out a Native America Pow Wow.

Unfortunately, it started so late that the kids ran out of patience before the music and dancing got started. Oh well - it was worth a try. They got cute little instruments, at least.

We also enjoyed a brief visit from Grandpa Taylor and Linda. They loved seeing how much Ronan has grown and watching Brielle show off her Taekwondo moves and trampoline skills.

This new trampoline replaces one that broke. The new one is large and strong enough for both of them to play on it together.

There's an occasional dispute, but overall the kids play great together and truly seem to enjoy each other's company. That's been great for long wintery weekends when we spend a lot of time at home together as a family.