Monday (January 9) was our first snow of the year. And really, the season. There was a light snow that melted right away and didn't stick back in October, but we were in Pittsburgh for that one. This storm was supposed to be rain. It ended up snowing for several hours but didn't start sticking until later in the day and was mostly gone the next morning.
We were grocery shopping at Target when Princess Sparkley spotted that it was snowing out the window and the kids all ran out to play in it for a second. This happened about a month ago at church. We could see through the foyer doors that it was lightly snowing, but it only lasted a couple minutes. That time no one ran outside.
We took the kids sledding again yesterday (1/28), mainly because they were trying to sled down the pile of ice we'd shoveled our car out of.
This time we went to a different hill in a different park. There was added excitement at this location because if the kids went too far, they'd land in a (we assume) shallow creek that was frozen over and slushy at the bottom of the hill. They only got close a couple of times and either stopped themselves, or I was down there to stop them.
Little Guy was frustrated because he wanted to get on his sled and then sort of hop until gravity pulled him down the hill. If he thought we gave him a push, he was furious and his run ended in tears. Once, midway down, he turned to tell me I gave him a little bit of a push and he didn't want to be pushed and he tumbled off the sled. Mostly, he wasn't understanding that we were holding the sled for him to climb in and as soon as we let go, gravity got him. We weren't pushing him at all. Oh well. He still mostly had fun. But after awhile he gave up and wandered over to the nearby playground.
Buddy's sled got a tiny crack the day before and that crack got bigger until it finally split in two on one of his times down. And of course, every store in town is sold out of sleds right now. I guess they'll have to learn to share for awhile.
Buddy turned the corner on the soccer field and found where some kids had made a sledding spot that went down a big hill and then went up a tiny hill (to what is normally a sidewalk in the park) and then down again.
The snow stopped late Wednesday night and so Thursday morning B and I joined the kids outside. We shoveled, they played.
It was a warm day, so the slow was slushy but the bottom layer was those sleet balls I took pictures on an earlier post, so shoveling was a pain. Keep in mind also that the sidewalks were shoveled at least three times already by the time we came out to play. And there's about two inches of snow on them.
Since it was such a nice day and the roads were clear, we ventured out in the car in search of a park with a sledding hill. There are a few we know of in town, but we didn't want crowds. I remembered I park I'd been too before that has sort of an elevated soccer field. I guess, more accurately, the soccer field was leveled off to create a flat field and so two sides of it are hill. It was perfect. We had to park at a nearby shopping center (because the parking lot for the park hadn't been plowed, and the gates were closed) and trek to the park in probably 8 inches of snow with just a couple other sets of foot prints in it. But it was worth it. The hills were little enough for our kids, but big enough for them to love it. And there was just another group of older kids off across the field leaving us alone.
You can see in the bottom left picture how deep my foot is in the snow. 8 inches. Maybe.
So handsome.
So excited.
Pretty and colorful.
While sledding, Buddy kept saying variations of "[Buddy Mileposts] the world's most fantastic awesome sledder!"
Lots of videos... I figured the grandparents and cousins might like to see some of them.
Buddy was thrilled with this sledding hill with a jump/bump that someone else made and he discovered.
Little Guy getting a push from Dad.
Princess Sparkley goes down the hill with the jump.
Little Guy. Then PS and Buddy.
Mom and Little Guy go down a hill together next to Princess Sparkley. Then the camera pans over to Buddy going down the hill with the jump. The best parts are PS's scream and the end of the video when Buddy has his legs straight up in the air.
PS and LG go down together.
Buddy.
I went down the hill with a jump (twice, the first time really hurt but B didn't get it on film and made me go a second time). Ow.
Little Guy goes down the jump, then Princess Sparkley tumbles at the end of her slide.
Three more videos to come... it's just taking forever.
Buddy and Princess Sparkley were not happy with me today because homeschool was in session even though it was Little Guy's birthday. And on top of that, it was a snow day for every other school in the city and county and B's classes were canceled. But it didn't even start snowing until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. And by then our school day was done. I think it's stopped for the night now (midnight). But for the first 3-4 hours we were under a severe weather warning and were supposed to get 5-8 inches. After an hour or so a snow plow went through our parking lot and the grounds crew shoveled the sidewalks. We'd gotten as much snow in that hour as we've had all winter to date. But now that the snow has stopped snowing, it's no where near the amount we got in the two separate huge storms last winter. But it's still a lot and the kids have big plans for it in the morning.
Here's the snow throughout the day. top left to bottom right: 2:30 pm hail/sleet (I opened the door and scooped a handful up) 4:10 pm 5:40 pm 7:18 pm 10:29 pm
The boys went out around 4:30. Buddy and Little Guy were eager to get out there with the kid snow shovels they got for Christmas. It hadn't been very long since maintenance guys went past with their snow shovels, but the snow was coming down hard and the sidewalks needed shoveling again so I sent them out front. PS opted to stay inside and be in charge of hot chocolate when the boys came in. The one picture is of Buddy's hood covered in snow. It was a really wet snow, so the boys came in wet like they'd been out in the rain, with snow stuck all over them.
I need to go back through this and edit the pictures, especially the red eye but my computer was in the shop and B's laptop doesn't have a photo editing program.
A woman in our homeschool group organized a fieldtrip with a docent tour that focused on nature at the National Gallery today. The kids and I rode the Metro in to the Smithsonian Metro stop and sludged our way through snow and ice to get across The Mall and to the National Gallery. Afterwards we ate lunches we brought downstairs in the cafe and the kids got to see the people mover, which was one of Buddy's favorite parts of the museum from last time.
Our good friends got a late start leaving their house, got stuck in traffic, and took a different Metro route than us that had them switching trains/lines which took forever, so they missed the National Gallery tour, but we met up with them afterwards at the American Museum of Natural History. PS is fearful of natural history museums because the University of Kansas had one that was filled with reptiles, bugs, stuffed animals, and bones. Once we got inside this one, she decided she might like to come back and tour the whole museum (we mainly just saw bugs, some bones, and the Hope Diamond). She may just want to come back to see the Hope Diamond again and the other jewels that we didn't have time to look at.
Baby X crawling through a bug tunnel.
Ants. Baby X yelled out "Bug! Bug!"
PS looking at the Hope Diamond.
EG, PS, Buddy and CG
The Washington Monument
Then we all road the Metro home together. Two moms, and 6 kids. Yikes! Four of the kids.
There was a lot of snow in the forecast while we were still recovering from the huge snow storm. This was supposed to be maybe a foot of snow, but we only ended up with maybe 3-4 inches, thankfully.
Maintenance went through last night with a snow blower and carved a path along the sidewalks.
Look how deep that is!
B and basically all of our neighbors were outside shoveling out cars all day. A little snow plow went through our parking lot, but just made a skinny, snow plow width clear path and pushed snow behind all the cars. He finally got our spot cleared, and then helped out the neighbors. Some of the people, with corner spots, have more shoveling to do than most. And there's no where to put all the snow. Here's Baby X helping him.
Giant pile in our spot.
Buddy climbed the mountain of snow in front of our parking spot. This pile got even taller as the day went on. It's probably over 5 feet in some places now.
While Buddy and B were shoveling out the car, Baby X and I went on a little walk down the plowed sidewalks.* The snow was almost as tall as him.
"There it is. See. See." He says this a billion times a day. He'd just spotted our car on the street where B had moved it while they shoveled out our space.
One of the times I went out to take pictures when I came back Baby X was waiting for me saying, "Heyo Mama."
That's B in the gray shoveling.
Baby X helping.
We had to walk down the parking lot in order to go one direction because there isn't a sidewalk (and the parking lot was nicely plowed). See all the snow everyone has to deal with blocking their cars in? We're straight ahead, behind that tree.
There's our cleared spot. The snow is even higher up on that tree now because once our spot was cleared, he helped the guy two doors down clear some snow out. *PS threw up last night, so she was inside in bed all day watching movies and sleeping.
Yesterday was snowy all day, but by bedtime last night, there was just a few inches. So we had a snow day, but just stayed inside in our PJs all day (the boys did at least). Today, we started out cuddled up in blankets and PJs watching movies. (Except Buddy, who was later joined by Daddy, shoveling the sidewalk).
Baby X tackling Princess Sparkley
Buddy on a trek to our car about 10:15 AM.
Buddy and B shoveling.
That's how deep it was after they shoveled.
Baby X was all cuddled up inside watching Thomas or Bob the Builder or something.
We had some sort of animal prints on our back patio. Any ideas?
The car. 11 AM
The backyard. About 1:40 PM.
B took the 4+ feet of snow drifts in our backyard and created a sledding hill and a tunnel. The kids loved it!!
PS
Buddy at the top of the sledding hill.
PS crawling through the tunnel/arch.
Buddy sledding.
Helping Baby X up the hill.
The car. 2:20 PM About the same.
The backyard.
Buddy wipes out.
Baby X sleds.
He liked it.
Baby X LOVED it outside. PS and B came in but Baby X stayed out with Buddy. I kept asking him if he wanted to come in and he'd yell "Noooooo" and hurry away from me so I couldn't grab him.
