This week brought us another wave of snow outdoors. Before moving to Switzerland, I always imagined that the winters are generally white across the country.

But now I know that this isn’t necessarily the case. We dedicated most of our time to bonding, and getting to know each other, and ourselves as a family of five / seven.

Hubby was still home with us (on paternity), which was very special. The kids love being woken up, and put to bed by him. He is going back to work next Tuesday, after being off for almost a month. It will be strange not have him around during the day (especially in the morning times).

Outdoors in sub zero with little kids

It was M’s first time being outside for some free roaming in proper snow and ice conditions. She’s been walking, running, falling for 2 months now. She is generally quiet happy to spend 90 minutes outdoors exploring and playing. However, in this week’s sub-zero temperature her limit to play outside has shrank to about 30 minutes.

There are many contributing factors to the shorter threshold:

• Too many layers – reduces mobility
• NO! – she says to gloves:
  • gloves on – she cannot hold or touch anything
  • gloves off – well, cold hands
• Slippery ice – many falls
• Deep snow – of course with such tiny legs, the snow gets to her knees
• Failed attempt to pull her on the sleigh – it tipped over and she fell head first in the fresh powder snow

Despite all the odds, she is keen to head out every day – preferably twice a day. Often she picks up her little shoes at home and brings it to me. “Hey, Mommy! It’s time to get going!” – I imagine she would say if she would be verbal.

Longer walks

This week I managed to sneak out for a longer walk with Dad. Courtesy of Mom, who volunteered to stay with my eldest in front of the house playing with the ball. He is not keen on walking, I guess it is boring for a five year old to walk and talk, and not to play with something on the journey. Luckily, he is content to stay close to the house and play in the garden or on the porch. Mom is similar, she prefers to do something rather than getting lost in the forest or in the countryside. On the contrary, Dad and I could walk and walk and walk, day and night.

We took the youngest member of the family in a carrier with us. O was nice and cosy on my chest. As soon as I put him in the winter overall, he is fast asleep.

1000 Hours Outside challenge

Weekly total 4:36 min in the fresh air. One day indoors, but all other days we managed to get out a little. Time spent outside varies from 24 minutes to over an hour.

Overall, we spent about 38 hours in the nature since we started the challenge back on the 8th December. I am happy with the result so far. I know it is not too much but under the current circumstances it is better than I thought it would be. I know that once winter is over, we will be able to spend much more time outdoors.