Bundled up

These kids need to be outside as much as they need to breathe, especially this time of year, when cabin fever starts to really set in. The adults get depressed at the prospect of more snow and colder temperatures that will likely linger a little too long, and the kids get whiny, wild and antsy from being cooped up inside the four walls of our house instead of being able to run free.

So when the temperatures climbed into the low 40s, Justin did what any good dad would do. He bundled up his kids (the ones that can walk, at least) and took them on a long walk. They wandered through the woods, Caleb slowing them down with his need to stop and explore every little thing. They got their shoes muddy because they rightly refuse to stay on the path. They threw rocks at the frozen creek and watched as they bounced off the ice. Abby picked some wispy little dried up weeds, which she calls feathers, and clutched them in her tiny purple gloves so that she could show them to me when their walk was over (which would not be for quite some time).

They wandered so far, in fact, that I had to get in the car and go pick them up when Justin rightly assessed that it was getting too windy and the sun was setting too quickly for them to make it home on foot. The kids were not thrilled to have to come back home, and spent the drive warming up and recounting their escapades.

I'd say their little midwinter adventure was a success.