Long Weekend Bliss

It is Tuesday morning, back from a long weekend.  Last night Cooper said, "Mom, isn't it crazy how just three days can seem like weeks?"  We had an action packed, yet totally relaxed, long MLK weekend.  Snow played a major role in the awesome-ness of the whole thing.  So here is a glimpse into the totally fun, friend filled, snow sledding, hot chocolate sipping, fire sitting, snow candy eating weekend.  Whew. It was a blast.

The plan was to set out Friday right after school pick-up.  I spent the morning making alfajores with my friend Steph.  Apparently homemade majar blanco (the filling of my most favorite Peruvian delight) takes only two ingredients but one full hour of stirring on a hot stove. And the short bread cookie takes about 30 minutes of kneading. Thank goodness for company in the kitchen.  Especially when the end result is this.

I spent so much time making the cookies, I didn't have a chance to make the aji de gallina that was also on the menu.  Oh well. Dessert is really the most important part of the meal anyway, right?

I packed the car, picked up Cooper, stopped at City Market for fresh mussels, lulled Charlie to sleep in the backseat by singing lullabies while Cooper & Carmen made eye rolling faces at me in the mirror (stop singing, Mom) then turned on the video and drove through the Gorge in uninterrupted bliss.  There is a tunnel just before Cascade Locks.  It has become a metaphor for me.  As soon as I drive through the tunnel and emerge on the other side I feel as though everything else is left behind.  I am truly away. So when I passed through the tunnel on Friday, the long weekend began.  Ahh. Our friends Kim & John arrived soon after I unloaded the kiddos. Pretty soon all five kiddos were running around the house having a grand ol' time.  We popped open the wine and scrambled dinner together in the kitchen. 

The chorros a la chalaca made me wish I was sitting on a beach.  But gathering around our Parkdale table with new friends was even better.

Saturday morning we all packed lunches and threw the skis in the car and headed up for SnoBlasters. There are a handful of kids from Cooper's school signed up for the Saturday ski class for the month of January.  He loves it.  We dropped him off in the chaotic SnoBlaster area, then dropped Carmen in a different ski school area and then finally dropped Charlie in day care.  I had three different colored wrist bands, one for each kid. It was almost 10 o'clock, we had been there since 8:45am.  I finally got my own skis snapped in and hit the slopes.  Icy, windy, cold, snow sparse slopes.  I called it a day after just an hour and a half and searched out Kim, smart woman who had seen the conditions and opted for reading Us magazine in the lodge. Where was the snow?

We picked up the little kids and headed back for afternoon naps and relaxing by the fire.  The hubbies and boys got back a few hours later, and brought with them the first inkling of the blizzard to follow. 

Happy, hungry kids, huh?

Sadly, Kim & John had to head back to an action packed weekend of their own.  But no sooner had we waved good-bye to their car pulling out of the newly snow dusted driveway, then we said hello to a multitude of cars pulling into the snowy driveway.  The hot chocolate stop on the way home from SnoBlasters turned quickly into a pizza party (thanks to Kristina who brought pizzas in from Hood River).  The snow was dumping and the kids got back into all their gear and slid down the driveway on sleds, standing on "snow boards" fashioned from whatever they could find.  I found Charlie sliding down the rock wall on one of my snow shoes.  He grinned with glee, "Look Mom, my snow board." The sun went down and the kids came in looking for flashlights, head lamps and camping lanterns.  Out the window they looked like winter fireflies, darting back and forth, up and down the drifts. The scene reminded me of winter days of my own childhood.  It was a bit magical. I wish I had taken a picture, but you will just have to trust me.

In the morning Jeff couldn't resist the call of the powder on the mountain and he headed up with a friend.  I was content to have a snow day with the kids and after a small nightmare involving Charlie trying to be "independent" while cleaning up his own poop accident, we bundled up and drove into Hood River for a play date. Snowmen, snowball fights and mac-n-cheese followed.

We met Jeff back at home and I sneaked up to our neighbors house to pick up a home grown winter squash so generously offered to me.  They have this incredibly cozy home where I imagine tea is always steeping, cookies are always baking and good conversation is always waiting.  I jumped at the invitation to join them (maybe was secretly hoping for an invitation) for a cup of tea. It was pure bliss to have a quiet hour with no craziness happening around me.  When I got back home, dinner was made and a glass of wine was waiting for me.  I should sneak out before dinner more often.

Hard to believe we had a WHOLE day still before it was time to go back through that tunnel, back to real life.  Monday morning started with kids jumping on us in bed asking if they could go out and play yet?  I swear they were already outside by the time the coffee was made.  Out the window I'd see flashes of pink of green as they ran by in their snow clothes, fleece hats flopping over their eyes and snow boots going up and down.  They came in for breakfast and begged and pleaded to make "snow candy". I've told them about when I was a little girl Grannie used to make snow candy on snowy days.  It is myth and lore as far as they are concerned. So we decided to bring it to life. I'm not really sure where my Mom's recipe came from but I think it was from a Laura Ingles Wilder book. Maybe Little House in the Big Woods, I'd have to ask her.  It is very simple though. Boil brown sugar and water until it bubbles up like a cauldron of syrup, then pour it into shapes in the cold snow. Voila, snow candy. Yum. Perfect for a mid-morning snack.

Its more about the process than the product, but it sure is sweet and sticky.

 

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent in and out of the snow.  We forged new sledding trails, walked up to the irrigation canal, watched Boomer frolic in the foot of powder and explained to Cooper why I would not go down the sled hill while standing on a sled.  I'm amost forty and I just don't bounce like you do Coop.

Hot chocolate, marshmallows, whipped cream topped with chocolate chips soon followed. Might as well give them the weekly sugar allotment in one day, right? 

At one point I had to finally start the process of packing up the fridge, doing laundry, etc.  Cooper asked if he could watch a video while I cleaned up.  I said, go outside for 30 more minutes and then you can watch something.  He and Carmen came back 2 hours later, sweaty and covered in snow.  "Has it been 30 minutes yet?" They asked.  By then the whole house was clean, folded, packed and ready to go.  Love it. And so here we are, on a snowy Portland Tuesday morning counting the days until Friday when we get to do it all again. Life is pretty good. Come join us anytime.

*photo credits to Kim Sordyl, thank you!