February

February started with us celebrating Sean's birthday. When I asked Sean what he wanted to do, he just wanted to hang out with cousins. So, off to Tacoma we went. We partied with my sister's family the weekend before his actual birthday. We had also just picked up our favorite Cameron family from the airport the night before, so there were so many reasons to celebrate!

On our way home from that trip, we noticed more and more snow. It was coming down fast and sticking a bit! As soon as we pulled into the driveway, the kids were out the door and running to the neighbor's house to see if they could play. 

The school has great sledding hills, so up we went!

Sean also started rolling a massive snowball. With the help of some other boys, it turned into a fort for a bit before being abandoned for a few more times sledding down the hills since it was starting to get dark. 

The next several days brought more and more snow. And we went out every day because, why the heck not?!

It cracked me up that the kids were trying to ride their bikes in the snow. 

Sean's actual birthday started with the traditional pancakes. Matthew had picked out a lego set for him and we had a pretty low key day. (With some more playing in the snow, of course.) 

Since we had cake the weekend before, we went to Sluys for birthday donuts. Sean mentioned a few times how great his birthday week was. Time with cousins, snow, donuts. It was the best!

The school parking lot was plowed and the kids thought that would be a great opportunity to make a fort in the big piles of snow. 

Matthew carried around a big snowball for most of this day. He called it his egg. It was hilarious. 

You know those pictures people take at the beach with their toes in the sand? This is the winter version. Haha!

Every day that school was cancelled (a whole week, by the way) we laughed a bit, and then bundled up to go play outside. I really loved it. We drank lots of tea and hot chocolate and snuggled and watched shows and just had a great time. There was one day when tensions were high (we hadn't been outside yet that day) and I decided that a walk was in order. It was definitely a good idea. It took several days for the snow to melt, and it was really nice being able to drive around again. 

A week after Snowpocalypse, Sean participated in a school music festival. His group did a really nice job. He rarely practices at home, so I didn't know what to expect. I think it was a good experience for him. 

Last up for this month: I took the kids to Manchester State Park. We hadn't been to that one before. We walked on the beach a bit, and then walked around a trail. It was a pretty place, but I kept having a weird feeling that a cougar was going to jump out at us. Once we made it to the top of the little trail (less than a mile), I could see that my fear was probably irrational, so I won't be so nervous next time.