Did we just get a lot of snow to add ONE MORE THING to the current crisis? Um…no.

Between WordPress changing its formatting (which made it more difficult for me to work on my phone) and living in the U.S. breeding ground for COVID-19… my blogging became the last thing I was going to do. Was I home more? Yep. But doing teletherapy from home with a toddler and baby, trying to manage new things with an unknown future (like trying to refinance our house suddenly and deal with unemployment applications etc.), and many other projects made complicated by COVID, and already being on the computer a lot meant blogging became my last priority the last three months. My husband and I are now both back to work part time and the kids have a good routine and the unknown future seems manageable (in a fly by the seat of our pants kind of way).

So tonight I renewed my domain name and am revisiting a whole different world, known as Leavenworth in February:

Alex rented from a place called Arlberg Sports Haus in town. Alex dusted off his skate skis from and rented skis for me, Kaya (almost three), and my nephew (almost 2.5).

We paid for the passes and got the skis (normally probably not worth mentioning, but a feat all to itself with littles).

We all hit the trail with gusto. We didn’t see my appropriately sized rental poles in the cargo box so Alex thought he forgot to pick them up. I ended up using his spare set of poles, meant for his 6′ frame.

I rarely give parenting advice because…I know nothing still, but when my brother and sister-in-law were asking what I wish I’d known before having kids it’s this: I would have gotten good at a few outdoor activities that I’d eventually like to do with my kids. We were already into camping but I wish I’d done more backpacking than I have and picked up skiing.

Being on skis for the first time while trying to pick an almost three year old up, with her skis still on is…an interesting challenge. I was grateful Alex was comfortable on his skis.

Kaya did fantastic! So did my nephew for a while until he got hungry or cold and his screams caused an avalanche (okay, perhaps not, but if you have had a toddler you believed me).

We figured Kaya wouldn’t last too much longer so sent both kids back with my brother and sister-in-law and Alex and I got to hit the trail on our own.

I’ll be honest, when I took this pic I was actually stopped because my toes hurt (the shoes were slightly too small) and the map said we were only halfway through the trail. But I took a few deep breaths, enjoyed my beautiful surroundings, reminded myself how excited I was to try something new (and be child free at the moment). I then slid one ski forward, then the other, and kept going. It was fun!

The hardest part to me was going uphill. I’d gone snowboarding as a teenager enough times to not be too afraid of going downhill, especially short spurts, but going uphill even a short ways was hard when you have no technique.

Thankfully, any extra energy expenditure was replenished by going to downtown Leavenworth after returning the skis.

All this made me happy to think about being able to start new outdoor hobbies, even with young kids, and I’m always invigorated by exploring a new town.

As I write about this I’m also remembering how much I took for granted (traveling even a few hours away, going into stores with the kids mask free, outdoor things even being open, seeing my family of origin, letting the kids play together, and free babysitting from my parents…I hadn’t had any of those for months now). A few days ago was the first playdate the kids have had since February and my parents finally have their plane tickets to come visit.

I’m so grateful for family, the outdoors, and adventure.