Snow Days

We promised the boys a trip into the mountains to go sledding over Christmas Vacation. So yesterday was the day! Everything but the kitchen sink was loaded and we finally hit the road around 9:30 in the morning. We arrived to find about a foot of snow that was apparently a few days old. It was rather icy and bumpy with lots of grass tufts and yearling trees poking through. That doesn't bother kids who've been waiting anxiously to go sledding though! So off they went bumping down the hill time after time. It felt a bit like sledding down moguls to me but it only added to the fun for them!

We spent a few hours, had some lunch and built a fire before everyone was cold and ready to head for home. Unbeknownst to us, we didn't leave a minute too soon. Back home, a rare Northwest snow was beginning to fall. And fall. By the time we reached the metro area the freeways were starting to bottleneck (within an hour they would be at a standstill with some closing completely.)

We arrived at Rick's parent's house as his mom's gathering was ending with several women now stranded. So, Rick played Suburban taxi driver and escorted a few safely home. He then ventured downtown to pick up his sister and nephew and bring them back home. What normally would have taken about an hour took him nearly three! You'd think we were native Californians the way people around here panic at the site of snow! To be fair though, it was pretty slick and if a hill was involved then there was bound to be cars piling up at the bottom.

Paige stayed with grandparents while we were gone all day and was asleep during much of the snow. Once she was fully awake though, she started to get excited about catching snow on her tongue. So we took her out for a few minutes and she loved it! Unlike the boys, she didn't have any snow gear though.

All in all it turned out to be a fun day. The irony though was that we had better sledding here at home than up in the mountains! Who knew? (Apparently the weather men didn't!) Now I'm off to find Paige some boots and send her out before it all melts...