We're melting! We're melting!

We are tentatively optimistic that the groundhogs may have been wrong. Pretty much all of February has had above-freezing temps during the day! And lots of rain, rather than snow. Time to break out the bikes now that we can see pavement!

How can you not smile when you see this? Makin' it work, girl!

And this guy suggested that we not allow any TV show viewing during summer, so that we can spend all our time outdoors! I was shocked, but I think it's because he was tired of waiting for Hadley to watch her show when he wanted us to go on a group bike ride. I'll have to see if he remembers making that statement once school lets out. Ha!

The chilly rain has kept us indoors, so for a change of scenery we took the kids bowling.

There's a lot of waiting for Hadley's slow-rolling granny bowls to reach the pins...

Owen was getting the hang of it and garnered several spares and even a strike! (Yes, we had bumpers in the gutters. It helps level the playing field.)

We also checked out the new climbing gym in town. They have a kids' bouldering room with padded floors and a super-tall slide, which was a hit! Both Hadley and Owen were fearless in climbing up the walls.

For a fun and tasty afternoon, we broke out the cutout cookie recipe, cookie cutters, and leftover gingerbread house candies (blech, but the kids didn't seem to mind).

Family game night saw the inauguration of Pie Face, which is just as it sounds. Definitely good for some laughs,

Especially when Daddy gets pie-faced! I wish I had Owen's laughter at that on video. :)

Owen thought it was the best thing ever and relished eating the whipped cream off of his face. Hadley, in true form, cried when it got in her hair. But.... that face! Too funny.

I took the kids to family day at the art museum for some culture. They stuffed panty-hose remnants and decorated them a la a local artist's "sculptures". I wasn't really impressed by the inspiration "art", but it was fun to make, and I loved how the kids' cat sculptures turned out.

Side note: love the art museum! I took a pottery class, formed these bowls, painted/glazed them, and took them home all for $20. The pottery wheel is so mesmerizing and therapeutic, I almost want to get myself one for fun. (I got a little too brave on the wheel with the lime green bowl though and it collapsed two times, so this was the best I could get with my overworked clay.)

Finally, we helped the patriarch celebrate another trip around the sun. The kids LOVE birthdays and excitedly anticipate the cake and presents. Hadley declared it "the best day of my life!", and it wasn't even her birthday!

Thawing Out (just a bit)

Not much new going on. I think January had only two days that reached above freezing, but so far February has been pleasantly warmer (getting into the mid-30s!), and melting some of the ice sheets and snow piles around town! We'd been trying to find new ways to enjoy the snow and subfreezing temps. Here's a frozen bubble. The air was so cold, it froze in a few seconds on the wand and broke upon being touched.

The kids also really enjoyed writing and decorating the snow with squirt bottles filled with some food coloring and water. 

I managed to get out for a ski day with a friend for my favorite snow activity. This is at the top of Grand Targhee, which overlooks the backside of the Tetons. This is the same view in the morning and later in the day. We had a gorgeous day!

On a whim, I submitted a picture of the kids at String Lake to the newspaper's contest, which asked for pictures of families enjoying nature. A few weeks later, we were told we won tickets to a film festival as a result, and the kids' picture was in the paper! They were both amazed that their picture was in the paper.

Another great find for indoor entertainment has been Perler beads. The kids really focus on them for a good chunk of time and can handle them all on their own. They've been especially handy for the last couple of Hadley's sick days.

Finally, we've reached 100 days of first grade! Can you believe it? In celebration, Owen dressed up like a 100-year old (or the closest we could get). The finishing touches were an umbrella/cane and some white face paint in his hair.

His teacher also took their pictures and aged them digitally. Here's Owen at 100: