Snow Trip

The last time we went to the snow was about 6 years ago, so, according to the kids, we were long over-due for a trip.  Some wonderfully generous friends of ours blessed us with a weekend at their cabin in Arnold (which is an adorable town, by the way).  It was basically Seth's first time at the snow, since he was 1 1/2 the last time we went.

As soon as we started to see snow on the ground, the kids started to shriek with joy!  We pulled up to the cabin and, within seconds, they were in the little snow pile that was in the driveway (Seth was barefoot)!  We spent a little while getting settled in the cabin (which was so clean and cozy and WONDERFUL) and then headed out to do some sledding and snow playing!

Seth's barefoot-print!  That kid has an amazing tolerance for cold!

The Foosball table at the cabin was a huge hit!

Beyond thrilled to be heading to play in the snow!

Kacie was NOT a fan of the snow, so she and I ended up hanging out in the van!

Haley's first snowball (very perfectly round, of course)!

Everyone slept super good (yay!) and the next morning they were all ready to head back out into the winter wonderland around us.  Calavaras Big Trees State Park was just a few minutes up the road, and it was our destination for Saturday morning.  We went to the visitor center (if you don't go to the visitor centers at state parks, you are missing out, fyi) and then went out on the North Grove Trail, equipped with our little pamphlet to  tell us about what we were seeing.  It was amazing "hiking" through the giant Sequoia redwoods with snow covering the ground.  We even got to see some animal tracks in the snow.

Up early and ready to go!

My new favorite picture

After a fun morning of exploring the beautiful redwood forest, we took a lunch/nap break at the cabin and then headed out to do some more sledding.  We found a great snow play area and everyone had a super fun time.  The big kids loved sledding and went up and down the hill a billion times!  Kacie was still very unsure about the snow, and kept saying "no, no, no" when we tried to get her to go on a sled.  I finally just took her down on one with me (she LOVES to slide and swing and I knew she would love it) and she laughed the whole way down the hill!

Sunday we woke up and packed and cleaned up the cabin, trying to make it out in time for the service at the local church (I love visiting other churches when we are out of town).  Unfortunately, we missed the service, but we did manage to have a blast sledding for a while before heading home.  

One last, quick visit to Calavaras Big Trees State Park

How cute is this girl?!

Good-bye snow (and wet socks and puffy jackets and crying about gloves!)