a saturday in willow

the above series describes my uncle bob without using a single word.  and, as far back as i can remember, he's always been this way.  growing up, we visited his place knowing there would be plenty to do - the latest game system; those racing cars/tracks where you control the speed with a little hand-held contraption (and that you could even shock yourself with - c'mon, you know what i'm talking about!); candy in every corner of the house; rooms with toys still in the box; he even had a drawing table!  he's always been fun uncle bob.  it's so nice to see that overlap with my own children.

with ben out of town on his bison hunt, and with our warmer temps, i thought it would be good to get out of the house and venture up to willow.  after 4 trips to load up the rig with all our snow gear, sippies and snacks, a stop at the grocery store, and a movie playing to entertain (aka to keep the calm), we were off.

we left wasilla, a brisk 17 degrees and pulled into the driveway of the cabin at a tropical and welcoming 27 degrees.  it's incredible what 10 degrees can do for you!

like most of anchorage and the valley, willow didn't have much snow either.  lucky for us, thanks to uncle bob's large driveway and his plow truck, there were plenty of snowbanks to sled down, roll down and dig IN.

sledding fun

 tree house fun

 taking turns fun

 she's just FUN to look at!

i kept close to the fire.  i couldn't help it.  even with all my layers - and yep, THOSE extra layers as well - i was still cold.  it must be a corey thing.  {in my mind, i can practically hear my aunt and my mother saying i'm cooold, with a frowny-face expression.}  jack was great about stoking the fire, carrying armloads of logs over, and i even let him throw a few on.

notice uncle bob's "box" lunch?!

dylan wouldn't come near the fire. not sure if it was the heat or the sitting, but she was on the move all afternoon.  at one point, i lost sight of her and when i finally heard her calling to me, i saw that she had trudged through the snow, ALL the way on the other side of the cabin!  that's a lot of work for such little legs.  she's a toughie, that one.

"mama, i over here!"

super fun way to spend a saturday.