Snow Day and Catching Up

For those of you who live where weather does not impact if you go to school or not (a.k.a. all you California coast people that we love so much)...

Snow Day - a day where the snow is so bad, or makes the roads/traffic/driving/bus routes so terrible that school is cancelled that day.

One Snow Day = Fun.
Multiple Snow Days in a row, such as last winter, have lived up to the stuff of urban legends and are know as the "Mother Killers".

Two weeks ago we had a snowday. Now really, Grant goes to school 2 days a week, and this wasn't on one of his days, so technically, it was just a day with snow. Snow days are usually set-up the night before by the 10 o'clock news saying words such as "freezing cold", "large amount of snow after midnight", "driving sleet", and "icy roads". These are words you do not want to hear. These words are usually followed the next morning by a 5:30am phone call from a recording telling you that your child's school is closed for a snow day, and you probably could have all slept in, except that they call you early so you can arrange for work/daycare and really because your kids will wake up on their own earlier for a snow day than they ever would for school anyway.

Yes, just a day with snow, except that the snow was so much so quickly, that we really couldn't go anywhere safely. Now we have a child who is not sure he wants to play in snow, one dog who loves the snow and is probably a miniature St. Bernard wrapped in a Cavalier suit, and one dog who actually just sat and peed on the mat in front of the back door because there was no way he was going out. I'll leave you to guess who is who. It is one thing to spend all day inside playing. It is another to know at 6:02am that you WILL BE INSIDE ALL DAY PLAYING. You start planning.

Here are a few shots of the snow first thing in the morning from our front door. When we went to bed, there was no snow on the ground.

 And it was quiet. Non-normal quiet. Like a Hallmark card, or an errie wilderness movie where you know a bear or a pack of wolves are going to jump out from behind a tree and get you. Luckily, the wind picked up after lunch and blew most of the snow off the tree limbs, or else most of those branches would have broken off from the weight of the snow and ice.

What did we do? We got excited! We got amped up! We got dressed in full snow gear, complete with the snow pant/suit with suspenders thing that only top-notch skiers wear, and we went outside!

Then we realized it was cold. And wet. And still snowing. And getting in our face. And on our shoes. Someone kept pointing to the snow on his shoes saying "off".

And then the crying started. With the frozen runny nose. And the cold hands because he won't keep his gloves on. So we went inside. 20 minutes to get dressed for 10 minutes of fun. Oh well. It was a good attempt. And now it is at least 7:30 in the morning, so an hour or so has gone by since breakfast.

(In your head, you start counting down the hours to lunch, and then nap, and then dinner and bedtime. Seriously, this is how you survive a snow day.)

Yes, I know one day Grant will spend all day outside and it will be different, but for now, and many years to come, snow may not be as awesome as we had hoped.

Grant's room and the office share a bathroom. We played in his room and the office most of the morning. Lots of fun things to do in the office, like pretend you are one of the dogs and lay in their bed with your stuffed animals. Strangely enough, the dogs like to sleep under the desk, so that bed never gets used anyway.

I mentioned the bathroom - we like to wash our toys in the sink. We liked it so much we got water everywhere, hence the missing shirt. We also found the comb and decided that combing your hair on your own for no reason at all is much more fun than combing your hair for school.We also learned how to use the spray bottle of water. We then learned how to use a towel to dry off the counter, walls, cabinets and floors.
Let the fun begin!

 All in all, it was a good day. The irony was that the best time to go outside was during naptime, as the weather got a bit warmer, the sun came out and it stopped snowing. But there is a special punishment for people who wake up napping toddlers, and I don't want to find out what it is.

Catching Up

Hey! Grant turned two recently. Oh really? When? Ummm...back in December. Here are a few pics.

For Grant's birthday, we went to the zoo...on his actual birthday. That means we went to the zoo on December 15, in 42 degrees. You dress warm, you live through winter, you get used to it. I'm reading a book I love on Danish life right now and they have a special theory on life on how to enjoy the snow and the cold. Otherwise you'd spend 3 months out of the year trapped inside the house.

Our story to Grant about this day will be that we rented out the zoo, because it really looked like we did. There were far more zoo employees than patrons walking around. We had a great time, moved around the zoo easily, had fun having lunch together, and got to see all the animals we wanted to.

Watching the orangutans play inside and stay warm.

Sea Lions! You didn't think that hat was going to stay on all day, did you?

Polar bear! My favorite. I do have a love/hate relationship with the idea of a zoo in general, but if you read the story about this polar bear HERE, it makes me happy...well, not the beginning, but at least the end. And when did Grant get to be over half my body length? I'm going to be the shortest one when he's 10 I'm sure.

Kali the polar bear

Yes! Cupcakes after dinner. 

Little man is all grown up. He's got his blanket, Thomas birthday card, and resting on the couch after a long day of fun. Bring on the new year!

Until next time, keep exploring!

Love and hugs,

M, K, G, T, O and G calls him, "bebe"