My groceries were totally fine, by the way.

We had just left the grocery store and the thought of going right back home depressed me.  I happened to be driving east, facing our towering mountains, when I decided to just keep heading east.  "Do you want to explore the canyon?"  I asked Olivia.

It was a warmish winter day, but being in the canyon promised to be a little chillier.  I tried to drive her up to the top of Squaw Peak to allow her to look over the majesty of the entire valley, Lion King style, but the road was closed for the winter.  We headed back down the mountain and ventured further into the canyon.

We decided to stop when we spied Bridal Veil Falls in all her icy glory.  Only to discover the road was again blocked.  Avalanche Danger, the sign read.  I will tell you something: I am the most circumspect of rule keepers!  But there was no snow on this mountain.  There were little patches of ice mingled with an entire mountainside of dead brown foliage.  There was as much avalanche danger at this moment as there would be in the middle of July.  So we drove around a little until we found a small, unblocked parking lot a few minutes away.

We hiked a good fifteen minutes to the bottom of the falls, but Olivia was game (I'm pretty sure she was so happy to be spending time outside that she would've walked three times the distance, and happily).

The falls aren't nearly so full or beautiful in the winter, but the ice trailing down the mountain was very cool, even though the pictures don't do it any justice.

Yeahhh, that pose.

Oh, gosh.  I get nostalgic just looking down the trail where we used to run every Saturday!

Also, this pose.  Lately she has been doing that and telling me she is meditating.  I mean, obviously!

She also spent some time throwing chunks of ice, rocks, and large sticks into the river.  Four year old entertainment at its finest, is what that is.

I practically had to drag her back to the car when the sun started setting.

The next morning we woke to a wonderland of white (I believe I'd have heeded the Avalanche Danger sign this day) and a text from Emily reading: 

(She did get Mom and Dad from the airport that night, in case you were wondering the answer to that question.) 

Soon we recruited Rusty, then we all went sledding.

It was so much fun.  SO MUCH FUN!  I couldn't believe how many times they hiked their little legs up that extremely steep hill.  My own legs were sore the next day, I can't imagine how they must have felt with their tiny muscles!  They each ate at least a gallon of snow, went sailing down the hill time after time, and engaged in multiple snowball fights. (Even hitting each other in the face, and NOBODY CRIED!  That's what I call a winter miracle.)

Sledding from Jeni Ellsworth on Vimeo.