So far, we were not very
lucky when it comes to white winter. During the first snow spell back in
Washington in winter of 2008, Lily was still too small to enjoy any of
it; what she liked most about the snow was the fact that I spent some
extra days at
home since my office was closed due to the streets being impassable. The
winter that followed did not bring any snow at all; in fact, it was so
warm that I returned her winter boots to the store in March. Violet’s
first winter was marked by a ton of snow being
dumped on us just before the holidays. Finding a sled for them as a
holiday present was certainly a task! Lily, then 2 years old, went out
with me once; she was seriously waist-deep in snow and braved her way to
the playground - without any help from me - to go and play
on the see-saw (I know, why the see-saw??). She also got to play with the
sled until she took a somersault off the back and ended up face-down in
a snow hill unable to move because she was bundled up like a little
Michelin man. Once back home I was frozen solid
and couldn’t get warm for the rest of the day. Jeans and running shoes
were definitely not the right outfit for a trip through (for me)
knee-deep snow; I had planned on only shoveling a little trail and was
not prepared for a lengthy outing. Before we could
take any more advantage of the white, both girls got sick – and once
recovered, the snow was gone and did not return for the rest of the
winter. Last year was a green winter as well with temperatures way above
freezing, except that cold spell in February, when
it was way too cold for snow. I believe I must have jinxed us all by
buying the sled back in 2010!
I almost didn’t believe in winter fun for the girls any more, but
lo and behold, on December 2, 2012, just in time for the meteorological start of winter,
we woke up to the streets and houses being powdered and little white
flurries whirling through the air. The girls
stood on their chairs, looking out the windows in awe. Lily’s first
question was: “Can we take out the sled??”, and to be honest, I was
about as excited for snow as the girls were. If Lily and Violet had
gotten their way, we would have run outside in jammies,
but since I am the grown-up I made us all hot chocolate and honey and
raisin oatmeal for breakfast. After the snow had slowed down a bit, I
bundled up the girls and off we went. I was beautiful! While I shoveled
the stairs and front yard, the girls went to
explore the white powder covering everything. When I was done we even
build a little snow man and had a snowball fight; yes, I do throw
snowballs at my daughters!
After two hours, which felt more like twenty minutes, I went back
in to make noodle soup for lunch while the girls kept playing with the
neighbors’ girls and the dogs. I can tell you, there is nothing better
than a nice family lunch after lots of play
outside. Today, the snow is everything but gone, but more snow is
expected for the weekends. Cross your fingers that it will be enough for
some sled action!
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| The girls and their snowman |
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