We got snow...

Two days ago we got snow! Or we've had some before earlier but not enough to do anything. The last two days school has been cancelled due to the road conditions...Compared with Montana last year the roads are not bad at all but I guess all is relative,  so we had a lot of time to play (despite my sinusitis, which is getting better).

The first day we just played outside a lot. We had powder snow so we couldn't really make our so sought after snowman. (Thanks Disney for your "Frozen")...We couldn't find any snowsleds but since we have THE perfect sledhill by the house we had to improvise a little.  I will show pictures later. Yesterday it got warmer so we finally made our snowman and got to go sledding for real!

Snow...

We got enough snow for playing a little bit... Jamie wanted to build a snowman but it was to cold snow for that!

Time to ski...

Friday, me and Natalie went skiing!! The school had a skiday so we went with the Swanz familly to Showdown. Showdown is a smaller skiarea about 2 h west of the ranch. It has 4 lifts and 30 + slopes. Half of them more advanced, half green and blue... It was a very convenient place to go ski with a child for the first time, not so big and a kid friendly atmosphere. The facilities might need some updating but they serve their purpose and it's good for schools to go ski here.

Natalie got to go to the skischool for a couple of hours. It was a very good start to do that, even if she at first was a little to eager to put both skiis on and go...  I stayed and watched her and it was a memorable moment to see her skiing for the first time!!

After skischool, me and Natalie were hitting the big slope... We actually took the chairlift up ( can't believe she dared to so quick...it) and then we could enjoy a long and perfect slope with plenty of time to learn all the way down to the valley. I can definately say that after a few rounds of "holding" Natalie (at little kid knee level) with my skipole, my legs and back were dead... BUT she learned a lot and did good!
( ♡ Pappa nu vet jag hur sega dina lårmuskler var under åren du åkte så med mig!)

We had a wonderful day and ended it over dinner, wine and laughter together with the Swanz's. Both me and Natalie really enjoyed having a day just the two of us and Jamie had a fun day alone with Daddy! Now I must plan another trip before this season is over...Showdown is worth another visit and then (with more skiing for Mama) we have Bridger Bowl and fashionable Big Sky a 2 h drive from the ranch!

(Ps. I know it was bad that she didnt wear a helmet,  but they were out of them! So before next time we have to buy one!)

Hot springs...

(Påminnelse..använd översättningsknappen längst upp/ner om du föredrar att läsa på svenska..)

Yesterday was a nice sunny morning so I quickly decided to bring the girls to White Sulphur Springs and the hot springs there. We are waiting a heavy winterstorm in the whole region with moist air from the westcoast and artic freezing cold winds from north...(snow and colder now...) This weekend's probably going to be an inside one, so I thought we better go for an adventure before..In the beginning of next week we'll see temperatures way above freezing again!

Anyway, our destination for today was suppose to be an hour or so drive..but unknown roads aside/over Little Belt mountains and road construction made the trip a lot longer...Well, it was a quite scenic road and Jamie slept almost the entire drive. The small town of White Sulphur Springs is nestled in between mountain ranges and I wish I could say it was a pittoresque and charming small village, but I can't. This town has probably been a nice and vivid place 2-3 decades ago, but now, unfortunately like many small towns around, it's in need of restoration. Many buildings and houses are in bad shape and empty stores/restaurants are standing empty... sad but true.

We had lunch at the local Doris cafe, nothing special, but the girls got new energy before it was time to swim. A typical "Montana thing" is to serve homemade and warm cinnamon rools  (just like the swedish ones) but topped with either cream cheese or carmel topping. Very tasty! 

The hot springs pools are located in the middle of the town, by White Sulpur hot springs motel. Very friendly staff and recently they built a new part of the motel where you can get a room for 125 $. The rest of the facility neeeded some TLC, but the pool area was nice. They get all water straight from the hot springs, but it's a little regulated so it doesnt get too hot. We had the opportunity to pick between 105° F or 98° F, which is bodytemp. We tried both but felt it was too hot in the warmest one so we played in the other. Since it's hot it was definately enough with 1.5 h for all of us. We took short brakes and drank alot of water too. The hot water really gets you dehydrated so its important to drink alot! We had a fun time and the girls liked it! This place is really busy in weekends but we were almost alone the whole time.

Summary; I would recommend these hot springs in the winter if you combine it with skiing at Showdown (only 35 min away), or just happens to drive by and make a stop. I definately feel that it's best to go here in the colder months of the year, even though it is a nice scenic drive to get there both from east (Harlowtown) west (Helena) and north (Great Falls).

Snowy days...

Two days last week we had really nice and sunny days. Still cold (around -5 °C, 23F) but we played outside quite alot. Next weeks project will be to find snowracer and a sledge "pulka". We have many hills around so there must be good ones to go downhill!

Sunny days like this makes me wanna go skiing. We have several ski areas pretty close (ski Montana). I know Bridger Bowl is 1.5 h away. That area is known for good offpist skiing...My dear brother Mikael needs to come over and help me shape up my skiing. I haven't been skiing at all since 2009 in Åre... 

 

I know Natalie will join her school on a daytrip to Showdown Montana , and I will definately go with them. Then I'm gonna check out the ski resorts a little more, and hopefully we can go ski some days this winter...

 

 Natalie in a snowsuit and beanie from swedish Didrikson.

 

Jacket Colombia 

 

  

 Jamie is a happy girl in the snow! Gloves swedish Hestra, Jacket and pants Colombia

 Cold evening...

White and cold outside...

So I found a useful website...www.rei.com. It seems like Natalie needs this right now...

Click, click and thanks for online shopping...

(I also got a late gift for Jared, but can't show it yet!)

Windy...

This week we have had both very windy and beautiful, cold and sunny days. I took some pictures when the wind reminded me of windy days up in ski areas... You know the feeling when the wind makes cold snow move tight to the ground...

 

White ground...

Today we played at the beach in Hörvik...I'm getting really tired of the grey winter here! It suppose to be cooler next week, so we might get some snow... I'm sorry for being mean wishing for cold weather when half the us suffers from icestorms and blizzards.. I don't wish for that coldness but a little white on the ground would be nice!! 

We still haven't heard anything about a time for my interview so now I'm working on getting back to Montana...and I suppose back again as soon as we get the appointment scheduled..I can't stand the thought of the girls beeing apart from Daddy anymore..especially the little one because so much happens so quick at that age! And I must admit that it is very hard on me too beeing alone with them and never get a break. I am longing for a sleeping morning...

Anyway, eventually we will replace the gray sand in Hörvik to white snow in Montana...but before that we hopefully feel something warmer between the toes for a little while...