A huge part of life is generosity. Our family was able to spend a wonderful three days at a very cool cabin nestled in snow due to a friend's generosity. We are still getting to know this family but I have respected them from afar for years. In fact in just a few minutes we are walking over to have dinner at their house, a big step in the friendship direction. They not only trusted us with their cabin, but with their snowmobiles. Yes, snowmobiles. The roads all around the cabin are closed all winter. You pack all your food and clothes in and you basically don't leave until it is time to go. You can ski to a shuttle that takes you to the local ski resort and you can take a run directly back to the cabin. But with three small kids and a tight budget we decided to hold off on exposing our kids to the wonderful world of ski resorts. Of course by the end of the 3 days Charlie had taught himself to ski and did quite well. I love that he learned on a hill behind the cabin the "old fashion way". Looking back the trip was a highlight of the winter season for sure. But that does not mean every moment was easy. Kate discovered she hated being cold, which was hilarious since it was 60-70 degrees while we were there. However, they got a few feet of new snow in the previous week so every step we took we sank to our thighs and she wasn't properly equipped with the right boots and pants, so it was understandable. Still to witness our normally delightful and agreeable daughter whine and cry all day...SUCKED BIG TIME. Charlie and Alex played for hours together in the snow while I read and cuddled Kate inside. We are a busy family full of work, sports, and playdates. Our family time is few and far between. It felt great to come together in one cabin for three days. No work, no computers, no trips to the store or soccer field. Just us. My definition of a vacation. Generosity really can make someone's world go around. I try to focus on being grateful when I receive it and try harder daily to give it. To be generous to a sibling, a kid, a stranger, a dog. To give with the sole intent to give someone something they didn't have before...a smile, food, time. In this case my new friends generosity gave our family the time and space to reconnect. That is really all I can ask for in this busy life where my kids are growing up way too fast right in front of me.
Alex was all about the snow and actually enjoyed the process of suiting up
Kate, not so much. She preferred to stay inside reading and drawing
The three boys enjoying sledding together
Alex stayed outside for hours at a time "working" on the snow, most of the time with a ski pole in hand.
It was nice to eat all three meals everyday together. I knew my kids ate a lot and I packed a few bags full of groceries, but the last two meals were just tortillas and butter. These kids ate more than we did!
Our happy go lucky boy!
Kate and Charlie found a secret spy door in the loft and loved sneaking up on us
The second day we were there Adam made a pretty nice sledding run
We finished off each evening with a family hot tub which led into some pretty epic hold your breath under the water competitions. Kate took the gold, hence her face in this picture
It is so cool to now have two readers in the family. When the kids got tired of playing outside they read together. So cute!
This picture shows what we were dealing with. A tired, sad, and cold girl in the snow.
Like every year Adam built a snowman while the boys looked with admiration.
Charlie taught himself to ski on the hill behind the house. It was great to watch his progression
The Berkawood Boys
More family reading, never gets old
Alex riding on the snow motorcycle as he called it
What a great trip!
1 comment:
Wow what fun - invite me next time.
Uncle Fred
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