Fall or Winter?

Early winter was very mild.  Great weather for hiking and playing outside. Karen helping Peter at Hartney Bay.  Not the best biking conditions!

Some wonderful high tides, and I got in a few local paddle-boarding sessions in early November.

Halloween was almost summer-like, with bright sunshine and warmth

A foggy family outing down Scott River drainage

A teaser of snow

A frosty sunny trip down Scott River with Julie, Karen and kids

Hard frost, and time to play on the frozen creeks and ponds up in the Secret Meadow

Our swimming pond.. now frozen

Seeking sun on Orca

Maybe a little progress on the potty-front, but not much..

Then, the rains hit.  We had one super wet, stormy week, with apparently over 30 inches of rain.  It was so bad it was actually spectacular!  

The boys played ice hockey in the yard. 

Skyla came over one wet day, and we had a great hike through the woods and down to the beach.  We were sheltered in the trees, and the kids had fun jumping and balancing on all the old fallen trees. Almost 5 yrs into life in Cordova, I'm a total convert to full rubber rain-gear for kids.  It's the only way to keep everyone dry and warm for any length of time outside. 

A family trip to Saddlebag Glacier... damp, snowy conditions.  

Not the best trail for a chariot, but it speeded our progress.  It's a long trip to do with the short daylight hours and little legs. 

Peter's been enjoying fires.  I lit this one, but he found and carried all the wood, brought the chairs out for him and Leif, and found the hotdogs.  They were in their own world for almost a couple of hours, perfect. 

Concert at Mount Eccles Elementary school.  Peter will start kindergarten there next year.  He's been doing morning music once a week before pre-school, and loves it.  Music is a great thing for him.  He played the guitar with the morning-music group at the concert.  

Early Christmas get-together with the Reynolds and Hallquists, before folk disperse for the holidays.  

And, now... finally snow!  We've been sledding three times this week, and I got a solo cross-country ski in today.  

Very thankful for the ski hill and everyone that works to keep it going. And this year they've got a new snow-maker for the bunny hill...for no reason other than to get kid's out on skis. Got to love that.  I'm not a down-hill skier... but, you can't beat hanging out on the bunny hill for the kids.  All ages and abilities.  A great community atmosphere; I can see spending a lot of time there these next few years. 

Our moss Advent Wreath