Uphill, Through the Snow, Both Ways. . .

So, I thought I'd show you all what a mean mother I am to make my big boys walk to and from school every day. Since the new buidling was finished at the beginning of January, Sheridan and Marcus have walked this trail that runs from our cul-de-sac, right to the school parking lot. The school actually has a no-shoes policy in the classrooms, so it works well for the boys to wear their boots through the snow and then run around in their socks at school. Someone was a little shocked when I told them the boys had been walking in the snow and cold, but a little hardship is good for them, right? And when I've walked with them, I enjoy it so much I really can't feel too sad for them. Last Thursday Guy walked the boys to school to help carry Marcus's science project. On the way they noticed some rather large animal tracks along the trail (there are tons of bird tracks, cat prints, and we've seen lots of deer tracks too), so after delivering the boys to school, he followed the tracks up the bluff a way and spooked a rather large elk that had bedded down under some trees. He left a message with animal control when he got back to the house and we saw no evidence of it the next day. I think an elk in this area is just more evidence of the amount of snow we've had lately.