Spring in Island Park is different than spring in Idaho Falls. There was still plenty of snow in the area, but the high temperature every day we were there was around 50 degrees. That made for icy, crusty snow in the morning and sinky (I just made that word up), wet snow in the afternoon. We took advantage of the frozen stuff in the morning to play and do some sledding.
Winnie and Miriam sliding down the snow next to the cabin. See? Plenty of snow. All the way to the roof.
Bekah and Ana headed down a nearby hill.
There was a bump after 2/3 of the way down the hill, and if you could get enough speed before hitting it, you could catch quite a bit of air.
Seth taking Miriam and Winnie off the jump. Winnie's body actually became airborne and landed back in the sled. It was the only time she went down the hill, despite being physically fine after her first time.
Seth and Ana in the air. My absolute favorite picture from the whole trip.
Seth and Bekah about to fly.
Seth and Bekah racing down the hill.
Seth and Bekah racing down the hill.
And at the end of the hill, there was an abrupt drop-off at the plowed road. It was a good idea to stop the sled before you got there.
The drop-off. I was chasing after them and yelling for Seth to stop the sled so they wouldn't kerplunk.
Once Seth opted not to stop. His vertebrae complained afterward.
And sometimes the sled didn't cooperate by going straight down the hill.
Bekah veered off the path and fell into the hole by this tree.
The next time, she didn't fall quite as badly.
It was warm enough that most of us ended up taking off our coats.
Winnie stomping in the crusty snow to make an indentation.
We also spent our General Conference weekend at the cabin by drinking hot chocolate; playing Spot It, Coup, Wig Out! and our Frozen memory game; sleeping; going on a walk to pet a horse in a nearby corral; watching movies and shows; coloring folder games for the Humanitarian Center; going for a drive only to find that the roads to Big Springs and Mesa Falls are still under feet and feet of snow; coloring General Conference packets and listening to General Conference.
Seth had to be quite the tech MacGyver to rig everything so we could listen, but he figured it out (I knew he would), and we heard everything clearly. This was one attempt:
Headphones taped to the window as an antenna, plugged into an mp3 player that was hooked up to a transmitter that broadcasted a signal to the radio that was stuck on one frequency.
In the end, he had the TV antenna on the house picking up the radio waves and relaying them through the transmitter to the busted radio working as the speakers. (If this is inaccurate, I hope Seth will edit it.)
We came home Sunday afternoon in time to unload the truck and get dressed for the older girls' piano recital (post to follow). It was a fun, relaxing weekend.
To see more pictures, start here.