Winter Fun

This weekend we got our first blast of wintery weather.  What was originally only supposed to be an inch of snow turned into 2 or 3 inches.  This extra snow in combination with some really low temperatures allowed us to have some fun in the snow.  This was Also Luke's first real snowfall.  Last winter Luke could barely walk so getting him out in the snow out of the question.

Alyce and Luke spent the night at Gram's and Papa's because Mom and I attended a Christmas party the night before.  When we awoke and looked outside we knew that Alyce would be raring to go outside.  So we grabbed her snow suit and an extra change of clothes for Luke and went over to pick them up and to have some fun outside.

After getting both kids bundled up we ventured outside into the cold.  Sledding was the first item on the agenda. We grabbed their blue sled, walked to the side of the house, and took a few trips down the hill.  First I pulled Alyce down the hill in the sled to see how she handled it.  We didn't want a repeat of her first time in a sled.  After a run or two Alyce said that she "wanted to do it by herself".  The total vertical drop was about 15 feet so there wasn't much chance for damage and there was my little girl going down the hill all by herself.  Luke by that time had gotten his snow legs and caught up with us on the sled.  We put him and Alyce on the sled together and sent them on their way.  The extra weight was enough to add a few feet onto Alyce's first run and they ended up in a bush.  They both took a few more runs on the sled with Alyce taking a few more by herself.


Luke did remarkable well in the snow considering he wasn't properly attired.  He didn't have a snow suit, boots, or even waterproof gloves.  Even without that he preferred to walk through the snow and enjoyed each and every time on the sled.  He didn't have much of an opinion on what was going and was just going with the flow trying to figure out what this white stuff was.

We eventually grew tired of the sled and Luke's clothes weren't water resistant so Mom dropped him off inside to warm him back up.  He watched or rather cried at us through the window while Alyce took the last few runs on the sled.

Following the sled Mom took Alyce up front to teach her how to make snow angels.  Alyce has been wanting to do snow angels for some time but there hasn't been any snow.  What is kind of funny about snow angels is that she's been asking to do them but we don't know where she learned about them in the first place.  We are guessing most likely from a tv show.  Mom laid in the snow and waved her arms in legs while Alyce looked on.  Alyce then laid down and mimicked her actions.  Following that Alyce moved over a bit and did another snow angel, and another, and another, and another.  In all I'd say she did 15 snow angels in both the front and back yards.


After Gram's and Papa's and on the way to lunch Alyce said "we needed some snow" like someone would say we needed some rain in the middle of a drought.  We asked Alyce why we needed some snow and her response was "because Christmas needs it".  Bless her heart.

Not Yet Ready For Sledding

Last week Mom and I took Alyce to a local hill for a try at sledding. I'm sad to say that our experience was more failure than success. We went to the hill after I got off work and we arrived with plenty of daylight left. Alyce was bundled for the conditions and looked like a little pink marshmellow.

I took Alyce up the hill for her first ride while Mom was at the bottom taking some video of the event. I setup the sled, put Alyce in my lap, and off we went. We started going down the hill and faster than expected! I guess the snow was already smashed down into an ice like sheath. This would have been ok except for the fact that we were heading right towards Mom! I tried to adjust our path, but holding Alyce with one arm left me only able to adjust a single direction at a time. I decided to bail out so that we wouldn't hit Mom. I skidded on my butt with no damage except for my pride. Alyce took a little topple including a flip. There was no lasting damage, however Alyce lost all interest in sledding.



I took Alyce up the hill for one more try. Hoping that one crash free trip would get her to forget the first. That didn't seem to help. At the bottom of the hill Alyce wanted out of the sled as she was crying off and on. When she calmed down I tried to pull her around the bottom of the hill on a sled, and though she wasn't crying we could tell that she wasn't exactly thrilled.

We ended our little trip at that point. It is too bad that things didn't go better for Alyce. But sometimes things don't go exactly the way you want. Next snow or next year we are going to try again.

Snow Day!

Yesterday, Alyce and I, Mommy, went outside to play in the snow! Our neighbors, Jeff and Liz, asked if we wanted to come out and play while they were shoveling their driveway. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get Alyce out in the snow, since I didn't want to take her out by myself, being 7 months pregnant and all.

At first, Alyce was a little skeptical of walking in the snow, but after a few minutes she had no problem trouncing through the snow. It's not easy to walk in snow when it comes up to your knees or higher, but she had no trouble. After a few minutes of being out there, she walked to the front porch and was looking in. I think she was ready to go in. Then I laid down in the snow and made a snow angel, which got Alyce interested once again.

We decided to go to the backyard and see if we could get some sledding in. We don't really have a very steep hill, but Jeff and Liz were able to go down a few times. While they were making paths in the snow, Alyce found her slide and wanted to go down that. So, she did that a few times after I got some of the snow off of it. When Alyce saw what Jeff and Liz were doing, she wanted to give it a try. She was all smiles sledding down the hill. However, after only going down two times, she was done. So, we didn't get any pictures of that.

Alyce had found her wagon earlier and she wanted to go for a ride in that. Well, Jeff had to tip the wagon over to get the snow out and then try and pull it through the snow. I don't think it was very easy to pull the wagon through the snow, but Jeff had no troubles!

Soon it was time to go in and warm up! It was a good thing Jeff and Liz were there to play too because I don't think Alyce's snow day would have been very exciting with just Mommy. Thanks Jeff and Liz for inviting us out to play! We had a great time!