First Snow of 2016

While the rest of the northeast is getting slammed with a blizzard, we received just enough snow to have plenty of fun without being a total nuisance. The city was basically shut down on Friday and Saturday, due to ice.

We awoke to a snow covered lawn on Friday morning. Once we finished breakfast, we suited the kids up in miscellaneous winter wear and explored the back yard.

Jackson was the first to run out in the snow.

Amelia excitedly showed us the snow on our gloves.

James loved the snow and shook everything he could to make snowflakes fall.

We don't own any proper gloves so I wrapped my hands in washcloths and saran wrap.

The kids briefly enjoyed the snowballs.

Jesse and the girls had a mutual annoyance with playing in the snow.
 Jesse took the trio inside while Jackson and I played in the front yard.

Jackson wanted to build a snowman.

Arr!

My favorite association with snow is making snow cream.

The girls helped.

The six of us consumed an entire bowl of snow cream.

We stayed indoors the rest of the day, playing Candyland, building blocks, watching TV, and cooking. 

A friend posted photos of her kids "coloring" the snow with dyed water. I thought the kids would enjoy this so I dug through the cabinets and recycling to find miscellaneous squirt bottles. After a few drops of food coloring in each bottle of water, we were ready to paint the snow.

I tried to line the kids up for a photo before giving them a bottle, but James was way too antsy.

Coloring the snow was a huge success. Everyone had lots of fun.

Zelda joined in on the fun. She even surprised us by climbing to the top of our neighbor's tree.

We had left our only sled with our inlaws over a month ago, so sledding was a bit of a challenge. I tried pulling Jackson on a tarp yesterday but it wasn't very effective. Today we used a blown up kiddie float.

Amelia and Jackson were the only two willing to ride down the hill. They each got a few good runs in before the float lost air.

Our second day in the snow was much more fun for everyone, including Jesse.

The front yard was so serene. No other people were outside, so it felt like we had an entire winter wonderland to ourselves. It was pretty icy, so we didn't even leave footprints in the snow.

After an hour, Amelia and Maddie were losing interest in the snow. Jesse took them inside.

Jackson and James happily demolished the pirate snowman.

James sat on the ground and threw snow all over the place, just like he sat on the beach and threw sand. 

I love the snow so much, likely because it makes me think of my college years. I'm so glad the boys enjoy the snow as much as I do.

We went for a walk to the top of the street to check out the road conditions. Jackson was protective over James with the ice. They shuffled together like little penguins.

When we returned back inside, Jesse and the girls were wearing pajamas and drinking hot chocolate. I guess they bond over snow days in a different way.

We haven't had any more precipitation in several hours, but it barely reached above freezing so the roads are still an icy mess. Church has already been cancelled tomorrow morning and I have a baby shower to attend in the afternoon. I've really enjoyed our snow days together, but I hope we can get out tomorrow and resume a normal week of school on Monday.