On a February day, in the midst of a relaxing winter break, the children all wanted to play in the snow.... but each of the darling children wanted to do something different. One wanted to sled, another wanted to snowshoe and the last wanted to skate. Oh, where to go, for the mommy to take them to find all three of these things in one place? why, of course, KACK land.
This past Thursday the kids were wanted to get out in the balmy winter weather (it was probably between 30-34 degrees... almost spring weather up here) and do different fun winter activities. Colin had been given a pair of hockey skates that he was anxious to try out, and Sadie had just learned that she fit into Natalie's old ice skate and was very much wanting to use them. All of the kids had been loving using their snowshoes as of late - but Natalie really just wanted to sled. I wanted to make the outing something of an adventure, but understood my limitations and realized that I couldn't help and monitor all 3 of these kids doing different things. Knowing that my parents house (KACK Land - short for Kevin, Ann, Chris and Kerry) provides an oasis of winter fun, I thought we would try skating out on their lake. Although we have been vacationing at this lake for over 20 years and my parents have had the house for at least 10 years, we have never ventured out on the ice for skating. All the grown ups were a little unsure about how skating, both Colin and Sadie were overly optimistic and persistent about the idea. It was a huge success.... we had to snowshoe down to the lake since the snow was so deep and Natalie managed to sled down to the lake (getting in the fun she wanted) and then we got out the big broom to clear off a section of the lake and the skating began. All that was missing was a nice wooden bench to get your skates on (don't worry, I already have an idea of where I might be able to get one of those made...)
Sadie loved skating. She had taken lessons last year and did great out there!
What awesomeness!
Colin seemed like a natural in the skates. This was the first time he had skated and did great! He definitely "marched" more than glided on the skates, but he held his own staying up on them. I think the natural bumpiness that comes with a lake helped provide him some extra traction. He was so proud of himself - telling us over and over again about how he was "playing hockey." We had told him about how my cousin was a hockey player and then he said over and over again, "You have to tell JC that I play hockey!" 
This experience was great in so many ways. I love being up at my parents house. It provides a sanctuary that I don't feel at my house. I feel excited when we take advantage of the natural surroundings that it has to offer. I love getting the kids out and doing things with them. I love seeing them try new things and then be proud of the work that they did... and on top of that - this activity was very focused on Colin and Sadie and I think with all the ski talk lately, that Natalie has been gotten a lot of the limelight. It was nice to do an activity where that light was shared...Who knew that we could be loving and enjoying Winter!
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