Winter Camping

February has been a snowy month in Maine, and yesterday's storm brought just the right kind of packy snow for snow cave building.



Rick dragged several unwilling kids outside as the snow was still falling, and eventually dragged them into a sense of enthusiasm about a giant cave project.

Even Zac got into the spirit of things after he saw the scope of the idea...

"You never out grow playing in the snow. It just gets more sophisticated."

Rick has done his share of snow cave survival training, and has been waiting for the chance to get the kids in on it.  They headed out at bedtime with warm clothes and sleeping bags, and I didn't see them again until this morning.  And most of them got some sleep. 
          I guess you can call that a success.

The inside of the cave, ready for sleeping.

For orientation, the sleeping bags are on a raised shelf (of snow, of course) with a lower area down by the opening so that the cold air will sink, keeping the warm air up around the sleepers.  The green foreground is just a tarp hanging down into that lower area.  

And here they are, the winter campers.  They all had a blast, and I'm pretty sure the kids all know that they have an awesome daddy!