Fantastic is the word that best describes our day today.  The deer must have known that the girls were sleeping over this weekend because they paraded into the backyard and put on quite the show for them.  

After lunch we bundled up and took the x-country skis to the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot Recreation Area.  As we were driving into the parking lot, we spied a porcupine on the ground under a huge spruce tree.  It was munching on some branches that were

laying in the snow.  When we were leaving, it was up in a tree branch; still eating.

The parking lot was full of vehicles.  People were coming in from the trails and others were waxing up and getting ready to head out.  It was a gorgeous day to be outside.

I got the girls buckled into their skis and away they went.  Both wanted to go farther than we went last time.  They doubled their distance today and had great fun.  All the adult skiers that came by would comment on how well they could ski.  One gentleman even stopped and gave the girls a

lesson on how to get up after they fall.  There wasn't too much falling today.  They did awesome!

We had a little rest between ski sessions.  During that time the girls picnicked in the back of my vehicle before we ventured over to the skating rink.  There was a bit of snow on the ice so it was easy for them to walk on it.  Both found the highest snowbank.  We didn't have a sled with us but the slippery snow pants worked just fine for sliding down from the top.

After our little break, we put the skis on once again.  There were many adults zipping by.  The girls listened to the sound of the skis on the snow.  The older of the two wanted poles to use.  I asked her why and she motioned as if she was double poling and said that she wanted to go faster!

It was a great day to be outside.  There was no wind and the temperature was perfect.  That couple of hours that we spent outside made for some very rosy cheeks!