Christmas in July

Our good friends the Goveias introduced us to their yearly tradition of going up to the snow in the mountains and sledding in the month of July.

I was really grumpy about going, because a family trip to snow in July entails finding snow gear for the kids, Tygh and myself not to mention finding appropriate snow wear for Lucie in the baby bins. But it was so worth it because the drive to the Snoqualmie National Forrest was absolutely beautiful.

Once we got there it was absolutely magical to be on a snowy hill in July.

Brian and Scott skied down and the rest of us sledded. Here's a clip of Tygh going down like a madman.

I wish I could have taken out my camera more often to show the kids sledding, but I kind of had my hands full. Lucie went down a few times and squealed with delight the whole way down. Spencer did his usual go down a few times and then sit at the top of the hill pouting. Izabella was an absolute monkey and scrambled up the hill almost as fast as she went down.

When we all got too cold and tired of sledding Scott surprised us all with a tale about powder monkeys and how they often bury food in the snow. He asked the kids if they could smell something fruity, and then he invited them to dig around. To my surprise they all came up with 3 whole watermelons (Scott had driven up in the morning and buried them).

It was so much fun eating ice cold watermelon. We didn't have a knife so we cut them up with a snow shovel. It was so yummy.

Here's some pics of happy Goveias chowing down. Thank you so much for sharing your annual tradition with us!
On the way out of the parking lot Izabella excitedly pointed out a divet in the snow where she exclaimed that's the cave where the powder monkeys live. I can't wait to do it again next year.