Strangers in a Strange Land

Just a couple more shots of the kids in SD. Riis spent most of her first snow outing screaming and tearfully begging me to "take!" which, as you can imagine, was not so much a good time. These are from our second day, when she realized that the snow wasn't really out to get her. Cole was a trooper as long as he could sit in the sled. Man, that kid is lazy. Anytime we asked him to walk, the whining started up like clockwork. I've never seen a 4-year-old with chronic fatigue syndrome, but judging from his moans, sighs, and slumped posture, he's evidently got a killer case.

Oh! And in other trivia, it's possible to go sledding and get a STICK IN YOUR EYE. Cole and I made a run down the hill behind the house, and as we came to a stop, he suddenly started screaming bloody murder. I had no idea what the problem was until he bellowed, "There's a stick in my eye!" I turned around and there was, indeed, a thin stick poking straight out of his eye. That? Is something no parent should ever see. (Especially a parent without health insurance.)

I pulled it out and it turned out alright--it was actually a really stiff dried reed of some sort, and it didn't puncture the eyeball. But holy god, freaky. I was extremely sympathetic when he decided he didn't want to sled down hills anymore. ("You can get a stick in your eye," he explained gravely.)







(And just to be fair, Cole DID walk. Sometimes. Short distances. While complaining.)