Doing it for a Pal in the Army

Well, that pal's family, at least. Here are the youngest members with my Bear on a hike we took yesterday in the Campbell Tract of trails near both our homes. Cute kids, yes?

I received one of my many weekly updates from Alyeska Resort around 9 p.m. last night announcing Military Appreciation Day for all active-duty personnel and their families. Normally I am not a playing-hooky sort of person, but a free day of skiing, plus rentals and lunch thrown in seemed a bit too good to pass up for my friend J and her boys, both of whom have been bugging her relentlessly to do some skiing. J's husband is an Army Chaplain currently serving in Iraq, and the guys really, really miss doing outdoor father-son stuff together. So I thought a day away at a ski resort would be just the ticket.

I offered to watch her daughter (Bear's Girlie) and another child J keeps after preschool, she packed some snacks and the outdoor gear, fueled up the Suburban, and off they went. The boys so far are enjoying an afternoon of ski lessons while J is recharging her mom-batteries in the presence of gorgeous scenery.

Conversely, the scenery is less than gorgeous at my house, where three preschoolers have taken possession of the downstairs, removing every single dress-up item from its trunk and using every last sticker from the art box. Oh well, at least they are busy and the stickers are going on their intended paper targets. Two of three children ate lunch, but now all are snacking on popcorn and avoiding the dog while watching Pocahontas since the one child who did not eat lunch began whining she was hungry and well, you know what that led to...

It feels good to give J and the boys a day away together while Chaplain T is still in Baghdad. We're making them some spaghetti for dinner, too, just so she has a full day of non-mothering duties.