Many of you have commented on how green it has been looking in the pictures here lately and what a contrast it is to your snowy surroundings. Wintertime here is usually overcast and rainy, green and lush. We only live about twenty minutes from the ocean, so it keeps our weather pretty moderate. But this morning we did not wake up to green, we looked out the window and were greeted by white, much to Bracken’s delight! He immediately wanted to play in it, of course, and most importantly- he wanted to eat it (which he always wants to do when the snow comes.) Snow is a very exciting event around here, since we don’t get it very many times in a winter. In the pictures above Bracken is carrying the egg basket to the coop to collect eggs. He was literally bundled up in wool from head to toe- wool hat (that no longer fit Jeff), wool mitts, (mama’s) wool cowl, wool sweater, wool pants, wool socks.

 Our friends came over and Bracken was happy to have his buddy to play in the snow with. Jeff had a fun idea- to go sledding down our driveway. We don’t have a sled. So he thought perhaps we’d try out our little summer pool. It was wet inside from all the snow, so he put a piece of waxed cardboard in it to keep the boys dry while they sat in it. Well, it made for a fun ride when they got pulled in the pool down the driveway, but when it came to the sledding part, Jeff discovered something that worked much better….

 Who knew you could have so much fun with some waxed cardboard, some snow, and a slope?

 We all took turns.

 It helped if someone pulled you to give you a start.

 Getting ready to take off.

 The boys wanted to go again and again. They were fairly short rides since we usually veered off the driveway into the ferns and came to a stop. The snow on the ground wasn’t very deep, so I’m glad we were able to sled at all. Afterwards, I realized that it was my very first time sledding in Oregon. I had gone sledding in Iowa many times growing up, but not since coming to Oregon. Sledding on a piece of cardboard certainly made it memorable. And the funniest picture of all?

 I’m saving that one for you to enjoy tomorrow. You’ll probably laugh when you see it. 

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In other news: a week from today Bracken and I are leaving on a big (for us) trip. We’ll be flying to Florida to visit my mom. My grandma and sister are coming too, so it will be a rare treat for all of us to be able to spend so much quality time together. Admittedly, I’ve felt nervous about the flying part, keeping Bracken occupied on plane rides for that long. He loves to be outside, run around, move around, he’s a doer and doesn’t like to sit still for super long periods of time. We did fly to my sister’s wedding in Wyoming last summer and I learned some things from my first time flying with him. I had his little suitcase all packed with fun things to do while we were on the plane, but when we were actually on the plane the things I had brought hardly interested him at all. Lesson learned: bring things that are brand new and exciting. It took a lot of ingenuity to keep him settled and looking back, I probably did a lot of praying too. My nerves were so shot after that, I didn’t want to think about flying again with Bracken for a long time. I’m not a fan of flying to begin with (it’s hard to describe specific reasons, really. It’s just an overall feeling) and keeping a little one happy on one adds a whole other dimension to the mix. I’d prefer not to fly at all, but going to spend time with my loved ones is so absolutely worth it to me. So I’ve been asking friends and family for advice. What to bring? I knew I didn’t want to fly again with Bracken without a DVD player. My mom bought us a portable one to bring on the plane, bless her heart. We limit screen time when we’re at home (we don’t have a TV, but we do watch things on Netflix on the computer), but with one of our flights being over five hours, we are definitely going to need it. We didn’t own a single kid’s DVD and a friend brought a few over for us to borrow. Bracken loved Winnie the Pooh, since Jeff and Bracken read that book together sometimes. We watched a Disney movie that Bracken thought was scary and clearly wasn’t ready for, which I felt bad about. So I’ve been looking for ones with no scary parts in them at all. That’s why Winnie the Pooh is nice. I also remember an animated Robin Hood movie I watched as a kid that I think would be good. Any suggestions? We have to keep spending to a minimum, so I might get some from the library and another friend is bringing us a few to borrow. One of you also suggested to bring a roll of tape, which I’ll be doing. Bracken doesn’t get to use much tape at home (little pieces at a time, dispensed by mom) so I think that will be fun for him. Stickers were also recommended. Bracken is always wanting to use our camera so we found an inexpensive kid’s digital camera for him. I’ll be giving it to him on the plane, so it will be brand new. Then he can take pictures with it while we’re on our trip. Phew. I’m really trying to be prepared this time. I know once the plane rides are over, I’ll be so happy to be in sunny Florida with people I love! For the getting there part, I’d love to hear what you parents and grandparents do when you’re flying with little ones to keep them sitting still for so long. I’m all ears!