Home to the end of winter

It was very hard to leave mum and dad in England, but the weather we returned to made the transition home so much easier. 

We had days and days of sun and winter temperatures.  

A week where I skied on the lake each day.  Mostly solo, but both boys did some cross-country skiing, and Leif and I had a couple of good outings with him being half towed in the sled, and half skiing. 

We had one day of heavy snow, and a great opportunity to bring wood in by sled.  A good family activity. 

Leif set-up camp in the garden, and happily spent a couple of hours solo-reading there before falling asleep watching the flakes fall!

Peter helping get the snow-blower ready for the trail

Stunning beach walks

And, ice!

Dry weather and incredible ice conditions.  We've been able to get a glimpse into winter-life on the Delta, and it's intoxicating.  

Spring break was rich.  

Dustin and I each took one boy solo for some time, we had a family day adventure, and some good time with friends.  We ended the week recharged, and with great sun-tans. 

Peter and I spent our adventure kick-sledding.  

We did a round circle of about 5 miles.. mostly small lakes, a little river-time, and some "portages" through alder. 

Peter with the beautiful wooden sled that Aaron made

Poor Dustin did his knee in on our trail (getting slammed from behind with a heavy/fast sled), but Peter and I were determined to get him out to experience what we'd found. 

A few days later.. we did.  A family trip down the Scott River drainage.  Turns out that it's fairly easy to push over 200 pounds (Dustin and Leif) on a kick-sled, and we had a great outing. 

You have some of the same feelings of traveling down a flowing river; traveling with some fairly effortless speed (for a team with two kids and a dad with a bad knee), and deciding which sandy beach to stop at en route. 

Fire and picnic time. 

Krysta and I got out for an incredible windy solo evening kick-sled.  

'Incredible', as in Out of Control Speed one-way, and Face-To-The-Wind Bent-Over-Walking the other way... but, it was magical to see the power of wind on the Delta, and be part of that energy as the sun went down. 

Our car spent a couple of days in the shop over spring break, and we had a snowy beach adventure with Brady to go pick it up. 

Peter lost his first tooth

And, our Spring-break highlight.  

A longer kick-sled adventure with Laura, Aaron and Hasan.  Four adults, three kids, three kick sleds.  We covered some ground, about 10 miles round trip almost to the ocean, and it was such an exhilarating day of ice, sun, and friendship. 

Stopping for a break on one of the sandy beaches

Picnic, a fire and hot-drinks

With three sleds, and three kicking adults (Dustin was being pushed), we were able to regularly shake-up the kick-sled combinations to keep everyone happy and moving forward.  

Hitting the tidal ice...and time to turn around

Thank you Aaron for your beautiful sled.  It's opened up a whole new world for us, and it's perfect for happy and easy travel with the kids.  

We can't wait for some camping trips in the future.