Before the spring

Hello dear reader! We’re finally in the home stretch here in Seattle; finally getting out of the cold and into the spring. This winter has been rough, with quite a few snow days, and fewer than 15 days of sunshine in 6+ months, and we’re now getting a good steady drizzle of rain. I don’t know about you, but I am ready for longer (and sunnier!) days spent out in the garden, out on the trails, and generally not cooped up inside!  Before the spring hits, I wanted to share all we did over the winter. I really need to be better about posting quick updates, in addition to the food posts!

My hope for the winter was to continue building traditions with Izzy, creating magical memories for her to relish for years. I look at all of the pictures and somehow she has gone from my tiny baby into my little girl. She grew so much over the winter, and while my heart breaks to know she’s no longer a tiny baby, I am so excited for all of our adventures we’re having and all that we’ll be able to do as she gets bigger. I am trying to live in the moment with her and enjoy everything as it comes.

This winter we explored, played in the snow, and traveled to Eastern Washington as we needed to get away and have a break during all of the holiday craziness. We rented the sweetest dog friendly Air BnB in Kittitas, right above the Thrall & Dodge Winery. For three days, we cooked meals in the retro 1940’s kitchen, snuggled in the massive bed, played in the snow and explored the tiny town and surrounding areas. We stumbled upon Whipsaw Brewing in Ellensburg, and I explored used book stores adding to my Serendipity book collection for Izzy. Happy and rested, we would return home for more holiday adventures.

One of the biggest highlights of the holiday season was the Mount Rainier Railroad’s Polar Express train ride, a two-hour adventure filled with elves, singing, and Santa! Izzy danced, sang “Jingle Bells” at the top of her lungs and stared in wonderment at Santa as he gave her a bell. The parents were entertained by amazing views of the Mt Rainier area and various rivers and their children totally embracing the spirit of the holiday. We’ll definitely take that trip again, making it an ongoing family tradition.

To really bring Christmas home and get us in the spirit, we returned to Pfaff’s Tree Farm to visit Santa again for some one on one time, and to cut down our own Christmas tree. We hunted for an hour for the perfect tree, finally settling on one that would (yet again) be way too tall for the highest part of my ceiling, despite chopping more than a few feet off of the bottom.  Almost every year I misjudge how high my ceiling actually is, and every year I still make that darn thing fit. Izzy found her first live turkey and gobbled along happily with it.

Lastly, Izzy saw the Nutcracker for the first time. She loved the ballerinas, but was disappointed in the lack of mermaids (no idea why she thought there’d be mermaids), which she loudly proclaimed often to the annoyance of the little girl in front of her who would continue to turn around and scowl at us. Izzy and her daddy would eventually make faces right back at the grumpy girl who finally stopped her leering, confused why an adult made faces back at her.

Our magical winter was spent making memories with these amazing events and finding down time where we danced in snow flurries with our critters (true story: bunnies hate snow) and chased sun beams for as long as they stayed around. We snuggled on the couch and read books together, and celebrated each moment with each other trying to keep the magic of her childhood alive and strong for yet one more year and I couldn’t imagine a better way to have spent the winter.

And there you have it! So many adventures were had, before the spring. What did you do this winter?

Raina