Winter pastimes

We have been slogging through a VERY long, cold, and snowy winter here in Minnesota, and the boys and I have had to get a bit creative in order to stay sane through our many, many hours spent cooped up playing inside the house. Here are a few of the indoor winter pastimes the boys have enjoyed:

(1) Pillow Blanket Mountain

Procedure: Procure six large cushions from sofa on back porch, plus two to three throw pillows, plus three bed pillows from upstairs, along with several blankets and/or sheets. Create a large, fluffy mound in the middle of the living room floor. Alternate jumping/diving/sliding off the couch onto the Pillow Blanket Mountain, lolling around on top of it reading books, and running across the length of the dining room to leap or belly flop onto the pile of pillows.

(2) Repurposing the play mat

I don't think this is exactly what the makers of our alphabet play mat had in mind when they decided to make the letters removable....

(3) Taking over the toy bins

We have not had much luck so far convincing Leif and Bjorn that our various toy storage boxes are actually for toys, not for boys.