Outside!

I had high expectation for the past week and outside time - as I was mentally participating in the 1000 Hours Outside challenge, even though I knew from the get go that I wasn't going to actually tweet/blog/facebook about the minutiae. We did OK in the beginning of the week, with the weather still amenable to some outside biking, a visit to an outdoor sculpture park, and the two younger kids go to a nature based school where they spend hours outside on their school days. Come Friday, though, a very wonderful but busy weekend was upon us, and there goes that. (I'll blog about our tree trimming craftiness tomorrow...).

The DeCordova Museum's Sculpture Park in cold fog.

But today! We woke up to a white(ish) world and before I knew it, the kids went outside for the first session of playing in the dirty mess "snow", with their pajamas still on under their ski pants and jackets. Follows hot chocolate and some lunch, and not a single request for TV time later, they're back at it.

A few words of wisdom that I have learned way too late: If you want happy outdoor kids, you have to shell out for quality gear. Even though the rational side of my brain said 'what business does a third girl have, getting a new winter coat all for herself?', the mommy bear side of my brain made me go out and get her a brand new down jacket that has very, very significantly increased her outdoor endurance. The littlest ones get cold fastest, simple matter of heat transfer (surface vs volume, do you want a computational model on the side?), and it pays to get serious about keeping them warm. And woolen unders for layering - I could swear that a woolen undershirt adds as much warmth as a whole bulky fleece sweater.

And of course, it's my job to provide hot semolina dumpling soup when they finally decide it's time to come in again.