Winter Picnic

One of my favorite winter traditions is our winter picnic. This winter hadn't cooperated with a lack of snow, then insanely cold temperatures and then a very busy February. So when the weather looked beautiful this past weekend - highs in the 30s - I reached out to my dad to see if we could do the picnic, even though we wouldn't have Dave because he was in Florida for work.

My dad said yes, which is good because just a couple days later the unseasonably warm temperatures destroyed our snow. And snow is a crucial element for winter picnics because a winter picnic includes rides on the incredible snow tube contraption my dad designed and built years ago (probably 8 years?). 

So the boys and I headed to the farm for a fun-filled day. It felt different, for sure, without my mom, as she was always willing to ride the tube and entertained Teddy for periods while we got things set for the picnic. But she'd be happy to know the tradition continues and that more fun memories were made.

In recent years, Teddy has been skittish about riding the tube, preferring to ride the ATV with Grandpa instead. This year he was all in for several tube rides with AJ and asked to ride with Grandpa while AJ drove. He was all smiles, even if I couldn't capture them through the windshield of the ATV.

We had so much fun we weren't even jealous of Dave in Florida.

The weather was beautiful, the fire cooked our hot dogs and s'mores perfectly, there were tractors to ride and there were even a couple shovels for Teddy and Grandpa to dig in the snow together. (Of course, Teddy kept trying to dig my adult beverage out of the snow, where I was storing it between sips for supposedly safe keeping.)

As we pulled into our driveway at the end of the day, after our 2+ hour car ride home, AJ thanked me out of the blue and commented how much fun the day had been. Now that he's a teenager, those type of unsolicited thanks and praise resonate even more.

The boys convinced Grandpa to ride the Beast.