On Sunday, we had a stay-at-home family day, and we decided to take a walk together in the snowy woods behind our house. The easiest place to walk was on the frozen stream, and very soon it became apparent that it was not the walking itself that was fun. No — it was the climbing,…

Last weekend we spent two magical afternoons ice skating at our next-door neighbors' house (who, by the way, are definitely the best neighbors ever). They have a man-made pond created specifically for skating, as both of their (now college-age) children are ice hockey players. It is large and well-maintained, and even has spotlights for night…

School was cancelled today, my office was closed, and Adam was given the opportunity to work from home. It didn't seem so serious at first, but when Grace opened the door to go outside shortly after 10:00 am, she said: "Now that's what I call a snowstorm!" She was right. We estimate that we got…

We stayed close to home today and decided to take a walk in our very own woods. It was a beautiful, sunny morning with a fresh dusting of snow. We wandered through the woods, over "bridges" built during the summer (above) and past evidence of beavers. Eventually, we ended up at the stream that runs…

Just before the holidays, Adam and I discovered the joy of "words with friends" (i.e. Scrabble) on our iPhones. So in between conversations with family and playing in the snow and eating lots and lots of cookies, we would think up brilliant words to play against each other. Then I figured out that Grace and…