it is still winter.

(a complete picture overload type of post.
and you might be mad that it is about winter when we are all longing for spring.
but i have flower pictures that i can put on next.
will that make it okay?)

(oh and i'm backtracking here... this happened in february.)

we took a trip to the snow.
one of the great things about living in Portland is the access we have to the great outdoors. we can drive one hour and go play in snow. we can drive one hour fifteen minutes and go play at the beach. or we can walk down the street and go play at the park. or we can just stay home and feel frustrated about how messy our house is...

i just said that in case your house is messy. ours? it's never messy.
that's why we have time to go play in the snow.

back to OREGON's bounty...
my mom visited us in february... and she wanted to play in the snow.
[we have NOT driven to play in the snow YET because it always seems so complicated...
six pairs of gloves, six pairs of snow boots, six pairs of snow pants, etc.]
but we decided to do it.

some of us were dressed appropriately. (sorta)
some of us looked like eskimo wannabe's in rainboots.
some of us didn't even have boots on at all.

(and yet, didn't seem that cold.)

some of us were grumpy about needing to dress warmly in the first place.
this one swears he never gets cold.
he claims that being from california did it to him.
and then he traces his routes back to florida, alabama...
in his mind, that makes it perfectly logical that he wouldn't wear a jacket to school~ or to play in the snow either. (he didn't win that argument.)

(he kinda looks like he's contemplating sky diving, doesn't he?)
some of us were just there to chase and eat the snow.

elliot is included in that.
icicles are the cheapest popsicle i've ever fed my kids.

oliver was there to climb and fall.
climb and fall. climb and fall.
(all on purpose.)

nic as usual was charting new ground.
exploring... dreaming... imagining.

abigail was just quiet and content and happy to be there.
and dressed in snow boots... so she never complained about the cold.

elliot was looking for his mother.
instead, he found this snort.

you all know what a snort is, right?
you've read the book, right?
the little bird hatches right after his mom flew off to find him food, and he begins to search for his mother and asks everyone and everything, "are you my mother?"
when he runs into the big thing like the one above, he decides it was just a snort.

buy this book right now if you have no idea what i'm talking about.
here is all you need to get it:

Are You My Mother?

okay. back to the snow.
and mothers.

i said this snow trip was for my mother.
she loves snow.
she grew up in ohio and feels rather fond of the fluffy cold stuff.
and she was happy there to see it.
except she wasn't dressed appropriately either.
and i think she was a little frightened by my furry fuzzy hood.
but she hugged me anyway.
and these two boys hugged me reluctantly too.
and my forced sympathy and over the top FUN! didn't seem to help.
oh well.
i did have my really warm, furry hooded coat to comfort me.

and those stupid rain boots.
that made my feet freeze.

i think the whole day might have confused stella.
she ran off to see if that other snort was her mother.
or maybe she was just hoping they'd take her away from these people who obviously
don't know how to dress for the snow.

but at least my mother was happy.

and we were happy to have her with us for a short visit.
come back soon mom!!
(next time we'll have more gear.)