The Big Snow

As we have our first sunny day in a week and crocuses are beginning to blossom; there is a very real sense of hope that winter is finally over.  Before I have to choose between sweet outdoor time and blogging time, I want to play a little catch up.  How fun our winter pictures seem in review.  Truly the big snow the last days of February was a highlight of our winter fun.  It was the most snow either boy has ever seen, and the most I've seen stateside.  Although DH had to work through the three solid days of ice and snow, he was excited for us all to have a taste of what was so common in his childhood winters.  It was also really exciting for me to find LO enjoying the snow so much more than he ever has.  He could barely shovel breakfast into his mouth fast enough before he donned his many layers and headed out into 18 degree weather at 8:30 in the morning.  He spent hours outside with his friends and only confessed after he came in that his fingers and toes hurt, but he could "tough it out."  NB, on the other hand, was a different story.  He saw no reason to brave the elements.  He did endure snowman building for about 15 minutes at a time, then go inside to warm up.  Back and forth he went for the two hours I was outside.  It was some consolation, though, to know that my risk taking, full speed ahead toddler would, in fact, show caution in the face of discomfort.

Without further ado, let me share our pictures from our late February snows...

A smaller snow storm several days before the big one.  It was covered in ice, so the boys skipped ice chunks in the road rather than having snowball fights.  The ice was unsettling to walk on, and not much fun.  

Four days later, the ice had melted and Papa was visiting as snow quickly began to accumulate.  LO was quick to launch a snowball in Papa's direction and the fight was on!

The next morning and many layers later, NB liked the idea of being out...

but wasn't so sure about it when he sank down to his knees.

Unbeknownst to LO, Papa had delivered a sled to our yard.  LO's face lit up like Christmas morning when he opened the door and saw it.  We didn't end up doing much sledding because the snow was so soft and deep, but LO's excitement was fun nonetheless. 

I kept trying to capture how deep the snow was.

Almost up to LO's knees in this shot.

Nearly 8 inches by my measure on our back balcony.  Apparently it was the biggest snow the valley had seen in 20 years, and we got more than they did.

LO surprised me by lying down to make a snow angel without any prompting from me.

NB was ready to decorate the snowman, but couldn't find one.  He seemed to think they just appeared whenever snow did. He was a bit disappointed to learn that having a snowman required work on our part. 

Just a sweet scene in front of our neighbor's house. 

I had envisioned a morning building a snowman with my boys, but the call of their friends was too enticing and off LO went.  NB visited often when he wasn't thawing out inside.  When I realized snowman building was more important to me than it was to them, I resolved to make one on my own.  In the meantime, the big kids "built" a "snow fort/igloo" in a pile of snow left by the snow plow.  They worked hard on it for several hours and over several days. 

The big kids invited NB to join them, but he couldn't make it up the slope to join them. Maybe they invited him to watch him try?  

As the snow fort lost its appeal, NB joined me at the snowman.  Since the big kids had plastic utensils to shape their fort, NB wanted one too.  He ended up repeatedly slicing into my snowman. Without inquiry from me, NB kept saying, “he doesn’t feel good, I cut it out."  Future surgeon?  

Finally LO went in to warm up.  He lost a couple of layers, and came back out again.  I just thought he looked so handsome, I had to take this picture.  

Finally, it was time to go in. NB was shedding layers and unhappy.  At the same time LO was screaming in the road for a reason beyond my understanding at the time.  The snowman would have to he happy without a mouth.  

At least we found him a scarf.

The next morning everything old was new again.  The boys "painted" the snow.  Actually they pretended the bottles were relieving themselves.  Ahhh, boys!