Petting bear cubs

While I was away earlier this month, Jason got to take the kids to a local tourist attraction, Bear Country, USA. My MOPS mentor mom, Karen and her husband generously took them to the park on their season pass. Specifically, for a very special, one-weekend a year event -- Cub Fest! The one weekend where the new crop of bear cubs are able to be pet by visitors.

The big catch to attending this event (other than the cost) is that you have to wait in line inside your car alongside the highway for close to 2 hours before you actually can get in park ... with your small children. Ugh! I am really glad the kids got to go, but I'll admit I am glad I didn't have to be there waiting in the line :)

The park does contain a lot more than just bears ... the kids had a great time checking out all the other animals, and especially loved the bouncy house play area (of course!). Big thanks to Dale & Karen who treated our family to such a fun, memorable day!!!

 

Having a VERY fun week - with visitors, a 6th birthday & getting away for 57 hours!

We just had what for us was a very busy (and super awesome) week!

It started when our Idaho friends, the Hayes family mentioned they might be able to stop in again as they headed home (woo-hoo!). They spent the night and were able to celebrate Luke's birthday morning with us. Such a perfect start to his big day!

Later on that day, we had a play date with Luke's Rapid City friends and then a family party in the evening (complete with "minion" cake per Luke's request).

Then ... it was time for me to get ready to go on a two-day women's weekend retreat with our church - all the way in Bozeman, Montana!! Woo-hoo :) It was really, really good to get some space from the kids and get re-grounded; with an amazing, added bonus -- my very good friend from high school, drove 10-hours round trip to hang out with me for a few hours during the retreat. SUCH a special treat to see and catch up with Gail.

And now, just as our rhubarb, lemon balm and bulbs were starting to come alive, we're in the middle of yet another snow storm! Ahhh!

Luke picked Lucky Charms for his birthday breakfast - a first for him and now he's hooked!

We were incredibly blessed by a friend who helped us find a new {used} bike for Luke for FREE!

A birthday playdate at the Outdoor Campus 

Making a Minion cake -- got a pretty late start on my preparations, but got it finished before Luke went to bed!

Love those Montana mountains, the Rapid City ladies at the Retreat and especially seeing my amazing friend, Gail!!

Spring in Rapid City -- one day it's warm and things are starting the grow, the next day we're in the middle of a winter again.

Having our own 'March Madness'

This month has gone by in a bit of a blur --

• With some tax refund money in hand, we've been able to restart some house projects that have been on hold for nearly a year. It feels great to be getting close to finishing work on at least one room in our house (the bathroom!).
• In the midst of this, we got to experience winter storm "Ulmer" (a bomb cyclone) which meant Jason had two days with his office being closed and we were all house-bound together. 
• We celebrated a very random holiday, Casmir Polaski Day with an introduction to all kinds of delicious homemade Polish food with some fun friends, the Bruno family. Perogies, potato pancakes, polish sausage, sauerkraut, braised cabbage, caramelized onions and even paczki (Polish donuts!) So so delicious!
• Jason and I got to go on our second date of the year (woo-hoo!) and see our first movie in a theater in SIX years! We saw 'Free Solo' which was a-mazing!
• And then! As the snow drifts cleared, it seemed Spring actually started to arrive! We've even had a few days outside without snow gear. Awesome!
• Twice this month, we experienced the incredible generosity of a neighbor who passed on a large number of really, really nice children's games, crafts, books, activities and toys.
• I got to have my first overnight away from kids since before Mabel was born, a really lovely 18-hour local MOPS retreat. Kind of surreal.
• And to top it all off, we had some fantastic friends from Idaho stop in for a weekend as they headed East on a road trip. They brought special foods/drinks to share with us and treated our whole family to a day at our local indoor water park. So much fun! So thankful to get to continue to make memories with their family.

A few snow drifts in our yard post-winter storm Ulmer. 

What to do during a blizzard--stay in PJ's, read books, puzzle and accept amazing hand-me-down toys from neighbors!

Celebrating Casmir Polaski Day! YUM!

Playing with good friends, Evelyn & Fiona

Growing pinto beans in a ziploc in our kitchen window.
How to garden when everything is cold & snowy.

Enjoying some time on our local walking path on one of our recent "warm" days.

Enjoying a free cone at Dairy Queen for the first day of Spring -- poor Luke had been feeling sick beforehand
and got really sick afterwards for several days. Mabel wanted to curl up on the couch 'just like Luke' even
though she wasn't sick.

Fun playdates with friends

Idaho friends Brynn, Connor, Merritt, Luke & Mabel ... all enjoying some olives on their fingers.

Meeting Mammoths and ... enjoying an above freezing day!

A couple weeks ago, we had a Saturday forecast for a "warm" 33 degree day and sunny. And Jason was home. And, really awesomely, someone had anonymously sent us money with a note to do something fun with our kids. Seemed like an outing was meant to be!!

The kids have been interested in visiting the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD so we headed that way.

It was a very cool place with active excavating still occurring and over 60 mammoth skeletons found so far. Afterwards, we decided to take the scenic route home, through Custer State Park which was beautiful, as always.

Getting through another week without Dad

Jason returned late Sunday from another work trip - 6 days this time. Winter is a challenging time to be without Jason. With every day well below freezing, it's hard for me to feel motivated to get out and help the kids burn off energy outside, which means they are just more wild inside. With the cold weather, plus my injured hand and fighting a mild cold, we didn't do as much "fun" stuff as we've done before. This was more just a survive the week mentality. Survive we did and still managed to make some nice memories too.

Let's see. We celebrated Valentine's Day Monday with Jason since was going to be gone. While he was away, we decorated sugar cookies at a friend's house, got to go to Free Swim with friends at the YMCA, had friends over to play, went to MOPS, made snow piles to jump into (it's so cold, the snow is very fluffy), had friends over for brunch, played at the Outdoor Campus & also the Library, made hand/footprint cards, made deviled eggs, ate pizza, hot dogs and macaroni and watched Winnie the Pooh. And an added bonus, the jeep started everyday but the last. Whew!

Learning how to be left-handed

Three weeks ago we were having a rather warm day right before another 10-day forecast of frigid temperatures. Jason & I decided to take advantage of the warmth and get the jog stroller out for a quick jog before church. Not 20 feet into it we realized how foolish we'd been. Even in the "warmth," the sidewalks were still completely iced over ... and I was on the ground before I knew it.

We continued on for 20 minutes and by the time we stopped I realized I'd hurt my right hand pretty badly. After icing, splinting and anti-inflammatory meds, a professional opinion seemed like a good idea. Fortunately, no fracture, but the doctor said I might be in a splint for up to 6 weeks. I told him I was hoping for two. Three weeks later, although much, much better, I am still in the splint.

I've been extremely grateful to at least have a working left hand and fingers on my right hand that can move at least, but I've been really surprised by the activities that are difficult or that I literally cannot do with only one hand. I expected writing and eating to be difficult, but there are a myriad of things I never thought of ... cooking and dishes were out for about 10 days, I am still struggling to cut foods that are hard, brushing teeth with a non-dominant hand was really frustrating (& my teeth never felt clean!), pushing a shopping cart is extremely difficult, putting deodorant on, and the silliest thing, I still can't pump a liquid soap dispenser with my right hand. Not to mention trying to wrangle my wild children.

It's been interesting and has definitely given me both a lot of frustration and A LOT of appreciation for those that are dealing with more serious/permanent limb issues. Jason has been amazing (of course!) through all of this, doing his best to keep up with the things I need help with and taking on a lot more of the household chores. So thankful to have a teammate! 

Lucky for me, I also have a wonderful snow shovel operator here at the house!

Ice skating ... for the first time in 20+ years

Ever since last winter, Luke has been asking us about going ice skating at our Main St Square and last week he was able to go finally! We were given a lovely gift of some $$ to spend on our family and this is one of the outings we picked to go on. I was a little nervous after I realized that I hadn't been on the ice since my freshman year of college, yikes!

It was a lovely afternoon -- a wind-free day that wasn't too far below freezing AND half price day at the rink! By the end of our time there, Luke was skating without assistance while Mabel enjoyed doing a lap with the pushcart, then a warm up at the fire pit (my kind of girl). It was a really fun and memorable family outing.