Reason number 8 we bought this house

When we were in the process of house hunting there were several things that attracted us to this house. Liked the layout, it had a basement apartment for extra income, close to work, close to shopping, secluded (people always get lost trying to find us), thought it had character and with a little work we could make it our own (how ignorant we were to the amount of work it needed!), great view etc. On the list of things that caught our attention was the backyard. The majority of it is a little hill, some of it is a hill with a steep drop off (well like 4 feet) and then there's a decent enough flat area (nice patio and enough room to play catch if you're under the age of 8). For summer activities it holds nothing spectualar, though the large amount of shade provides for great BBQs but for the most part summer playing takes place in the front yard in sprinklers and on the slip n slide. However, in the winter our backyard becomes a killer playground. The hill is HUGE in the eyes of the little ones and they have the time of their lives sledding/tubing down it. As for the steep drop of part, it's become a tradition to build a sled run going from the top of the hill all the way into the front yard. The greatest part of it all is we don't have to go anywhere to take part in the fun, a HUGE advantage when you spend 1/2 hour getting ready to go out, but then reach a freezing point all too soon. Those that want to stay out to play can and those that want to come in and sip on hot cocoa can.
With all that said, we had our first real big snow on Sunday so on Monday the tubes and sleds came out. The sled run is in the process of being built but there wasn't enough snow to build it all the way up over the rocks to make it a smooth ride. That didn't stop Brayden and his friend Carson, they just went sailing over the edge and endured the now 2 foot drop. We thought we were being slackers but not getting all the bags of leaves out of the back (see previous post for an idea of the insane amount of leaves we get) but boy have they come in handy. They make the best bumpers in the world. The kids would sled down hit the bags that were protecting them from the patio and continue down and slam into the ones protecting them from the steps. They looked like ping pongs, it was great! WE managed to escape with only one minor injury (I hadn't properly bumpered far enough across the steps and Tavita managed to hit right next to the last bag, flew up and slammed into the patio post. There were tears but he was good to go a few minutes later)
I mostly took video but did get a few pictures in.
LeiLei's first time actually playing in the snow, she wasn't sure what to think

But after Daddy sent her flying across the patio a couple times she was hooked

She was on this tube for at least an hour having Jr push her around or even just casually walk around pulling her.

3-way collision and a dog

Snow angels (a lot of the snow had been scrapped up to use on the sled run)

Brayden gunning down the hill

Tavita making the trek up

Brayden being a gentleman and pulling Emma up the hill, man did he work hard at it!

Then of course I have to end with some randoms.

LOVE this pic of the boys helping Junior with the dishes

A few weeks ago the boys came up PLASTERED with blue marker all over their face and bodies proudly proclaiming they were "haka guys". Junior decided the damage was already done and turned their random scribbling into some fine art work.

They nailed Kalei as well which she was NOT happy about. She came up with the most disgusted look on her face.

Lastly, a fine way to end the post is with this beauty.

This is what is left of poor Kalei's pinky after it had an encounter with the treadmill. It got stuck between the belt and the side of the treadmill and just sanded away at the skin. If you look closely, you can see where it almost reached the bone. We've been keeping Band-Aid (use about 9 a day) in business but it's healing up well. The doctor took a look at it during her 18 month check, said she'll definitely have a scar (obviously) but as long as we keep it clean and it doesn't get infected (has to stay covered til all the white and gray is gone, only pink skin allowed) then we should be good. Our main worry now is keeping her finger mobile. With so much scar tissue that is going to build up we need to make sure that she stretches her finger regularly so she can bend it once it's healed up. She's a little trooper though!