Yurt 2011-Whispering Pines

It had been a few years since we had taken our annual yurt trip on December 22nd.  I was excited we were back on this year.  It's such a fun tradition and memory for the kids:)



All bundled up ready to ride in the Wee-ride

I can't believe that the kids are getting old enough to get themselves into the yurt; or it could also be the fact that the families are growing in number and kids are getting the boot out of the sleighs.  Cam skiied/hung onto the wee ride/rode in the wee ride, but he made it.  The conditions for skiing were not in our favor this year.  It had hardly snowed and the trails were not groomed.  It was difficult for all of us to make it in the 2.5 miles; we actually ended up carrying our skis and hiking in our boots for a good mile, but we made it



The Whispering Pines Yurt




The view from our yurt.  I love being out in the middle of no where, soaking in all the birds that chirp, the wind that blows through, all by ourselves



Allie was my little greeter

Allie and Sophie hanging out on the bunk beds...the kid's favorite part about the yurt

Sophie was so cute!  She was exhausted from the day already; this kid only loves to sleep in her bed.  When we got inside the yurt and I set her on the bed,  she immediately put her head down and said, "NiNi," meaning, "I'm ready for bed mom!"

Allie immediately got her bed all made up for the night

As you can see from the marker....we didn't have much snow.  The snow level was just hitting 18" which is crazy for this time of year

The rest of the gang finally made it in and the kids were all in heaven

It gets dark early, so the kids were quickly turning on flashlights to color

Sophie was quickly loosing her sanity and didn't know what to do with herself.  She finally laid down on the ground for awhile trying to fall asleep

These kids were also going crazy on us.  I guess late nights in the middle of no where will do it to ya.  You can be as silly, loud, and as crazy as you want and no one will hear you

This was a wonderful site for me....she finally gave in and fell asleep.  Way to go Sophie!!!



The next morning we had breakfast, packed up, cleaned up, and headed outside to play for a little bit before heading back to the cars

Allie and Cam getting ready for some sledding

Sophie cracked a smile for me in the wee ride; I guess she was thrilled to be in there or thrilled to know we were leaving and heading home

The way out is much quicker than going in.  Even though the conditions weren't great, we were mostly heading down, so by gravity you just go.  Cam hitched a ride on the back of the wee-ride for a bit

Allie decided to ride in our sled being pulled behind the wee-ride and Cam quickly jumped in on that opportunity.  What a fun way to get out!  Allie wasn't to happy when the sled would get going fast, it would freak her out and she would bail out

Everyone survived and made it out alive though



Just had to post a picture of my gear that I took in.  Blake was shuttling the kids in, and I had to carry in our clothing/sleeping bags.  There were a few awkward things about carrying this bag.  The first being it was a men's bag and it was way to tall for me.  I couldn't keep my head up because it was forcing me to just look down.  Secondly it is awkward to ski with a backpack; I kept wanting to tip over and on the way out I did many of times. But, it was all worth it and we'll be back next year!!!