Living that Backyard Dream

The final weekend of January had simply beautiful weather. On Sunday, all our hockey commitments were over by lunch time. Dec's buddy A was on goalie rotation for the week, so we invited A over to practice on the rink that afternoon. A's sister Lo came too in order to hang out with the girls. And because that was not enough people, the girls went and invited the 2- and 4-year-old neighbors as well. 

Quinn joined the boys on the ice for a while until the cuteness of the neighbor kids was too much! Meanwhile, Andrew and Dec were living their best life on the ice. Both Mike and A's dad were out playing with them. A's dad is a pilot, so he's missed the last few times we've had their family over to skate. Super fun to have him join!

When the boys were done skating, they joined the girls and littles on the sledding hill. It was extremely fast and one area was also glare ice. As he examined the icy hill and the ice rink, Mike decided to test out a dare from one of his coaching buddies. When the other Coach Mike was over on MLK day, he dared Mike to sled down the backyard hill and onto the rink. So Mike and A's dad Dan built a ramp (after a few failed runs) and once the ramp was packed down, it was on! The kids (and Mike) had so much fun. And I can happily report that no children (or adults) were harmed. Real truth: I was concerned. 

As we are on week 400 of a very cold and windy February, I'm even more grateful for the wonderful outside time we had with friends. We are a winter family - but need to be able to get out and enjoy the winter. Days like this one are what make winter our favorite!