shortest day

Another day of very wintry conditions (-6 was the high today with wind chills of -25!) and so we were cooped up inside for most of the day. Iris has been exercising her right to be a full fledged two year old lately and refusing to eat most anything that's not clearly a bread or pasta product. So, this morning in honor of the first day of winter, I dug out the frozen peaches that were our fresh delight at the height of summer and made peach muffins. (She kind of ate them, but also told me they were "too squishy")

Iris loves the book "The Sun Egg" by Elsa Beskow and (with the help of her parents) has come to believe that its main characters (Larch and Little Elf) live in a big old maple in our woods. She often wants to bring them a treat and it felt fitting on Winter Solstice to pack up a little sack of treats for them. So, later in the day when the sun should have been at its peak, and theoretically it was the warmest part of the day, we headed out for a short adventure in the woods.

Everyone got VERY bundled.

Here is the elf tree. I must admit if I were an elf I'd live here too.

And the doorway to Larch and Little Elf's home...shhhh they are sleeping right now.

I'm sure someone will nibble away at this during the long winter night.

And then back in where it's warm for a jam session with papa.

Happy Solstice to you all.