Nature Walk

Living in Idaho is full of random perks, one of them being a winter carnival that is held each year about two hours from our house. We went for the day last year, but decided to make a weekend out of it this go around. We kicked off Saturday morning with a little snow shoeing around the lake. I had to laugh in looking at these pictures - everything looks so serene, so beautiful. All lies. Morgan was whining the.entire.time. She was mad about being cold, mad about her runny nose, mad about the fact that I didn't pack snacks. Basically, she was mad about being alive. There's nothing more heart warming than the dramatic wailing of your child echoing through the trees. Nature, baby.

Once we were back in the car and defrosted, we headed into town to look at the snow sculptures. Local artists had carved mounds of snow into absolutely stunning works of art, only to see many of them ruined on the one weekend that brought 40 degree days and a healthy rainstorm.

Many of the sculptures were interactive. I asked Morgan to pose next to the giant clock; this is what I got. When I told her that I wanted her to smile for me, she yelled out, "Take the picture, Mom. I AM smiling." My bad.

We even got roped into a 15 minute carriage ride that took us on a lovely tour of several parking lots. $12 clearly well spent. 

Before we hit the road, we made a pit stop at the ladies room.

As we walked back to the car, I asked Morgan what her favorite part of the trip was. "The hand dryers with the blue lights. They were very fancy." Of course they were. Don't be surprised when you end up with an empty cardboard box on your birthday.