Saturday morning we headed out to Mt Rainier to enjoy some snow while it's still here. Hazel was excited to try out her snow shoes, but she was more excited about the prospect of sledding. Rowan was very excited about sledding too - we couldn't get him out of the sled when we were packing up the car in the garage. The drive wasn't too long, but long enough with both kiddos. We stopped for a break & coffee at Whittaker's in Ashford, where the kids ran around and tried out the mini climbing wall.

 

When we got to Rainier we decided to snowshoe first at Longmire, before heading up to Paradise. We knew that if we were going to get Hazel snowshoeing, it would have to be before she saw other people sledding at Paradise. We suited up and headed out on the Wonderland Trail. It was slow going, but Hazel did great. She didn't have any trouble at all - she just walked along as if the snowshoes were perfectly normal. After 1/4 mile (which took 45 mins) we stopped at the creek for a snack. We fueled up while Rowan slept in the pack, propped against some trees. Then we turned around & headed back - we didn't want to press our luck with Hazel. The trip back didn't take quite as long, though Hazel did ask to be carried one time. But she did great, collecting pine cones & pretending all sorts of creative things. At one point she even busted out her ABCs, singing herself along the trail.

 

After returning to Longmire we stopped in the museum (Rowan love the Mt lion) & then drove up to Paradise. By the time we got to Paradise it was snowing pretty heavy - big beautiful flakes. Dave & I took turns taking the kids down the hill on the sled, then we set them both out on the toddler hill. They did great the 1st run, but on the 2nd time down Rowan took a pretty bad face plant. That was the end for him.

 

We also got to check out the new Jackson Visitor's Center & were astonished to see the old one has already been demolished. The center has a great common area for warming up after being out in the cold, but the interpretive exhibits weren't very exciting. But maybe I'm just nostalgic for the exhibits I grew up with and introduced the kids to on earlier visits.