Snow Day!

So much has happened since last I wrote that I've been putting off sitting down to write simply because I didn't know where to begin.  Rather than doing much back-blogging, though I prefer to fill you in on more recent news.  We continue to have Wednesdays off as a family day and have been toying with the idea of taking Emily to Sierra Nevada to play in the snow for some time now, but since Christmas she has been obsessed with Frosty the Snowman (I introduced her to the1969 cartoon that I loved as a child) so getting to make a real snowman has become a real priority.  Finally, last week we decided to just go for it, and after doing some minimal research on the internet for a good place to just play in the snow, ie. not at the actual ski resort, we got the whole family in the car (yes, Bela, too!) and set out on our adventure Wednesday morning.

It turned out to be the most perfect day!  The weather was great.  VERY sunny, I was thankful I'd remembered my baseball hat, sunglasses and 50 spf sunscreen.  The temperature was around 40º but if felt more like 75º+ because there wasn't a breath of wind.  It was an absolutely stunning day.  The snow was perfect for skiing...it had snowed just two days earlier and an icy base was covered with about 2'' of powder.  My long dormant inner skier felt an urge to hit the slopes, but as it turns out, I don't think my day could have been any better.

The powder made snoman construction difficult, but after much persistance and the necessary purchase of real snow gloves, we succeeded.  My family was highly critical of his rock eyes and especially the "corn-cob" pipe we created from a piece of cardboard...but Emily was completely enamored.  We sang and sang and danced circles around Frosty.  She was a very happy kid.

The snow was also a first for Bela, who had a blast racing around chasing snowballs and barking a sledding children.  We brought along a sheet of sturdy plastic, (whose presence in our garage I honestly cannot explain seeing as I have know idea what else we'd use it for) which made a perfect and VERY speedy sled.  Growing up in snow country we've always had "real" sleds and saucers to play on, but our folded plastic sheet was faster than any I've tried before.  As you'll see in the video, Emily even went sledding alone. :)  She loved it and kept gleefully crying, "gain, gain" after each run.