Snow Fun!

We finally got our snow! After two years of waiting for another dusting of the white stuff, it came this past Saturday morning. But just a dusting. Other places nearby (Lynden! Which is only 7 miles west and about 100 feet higher!) had a bit more, maybe an inch or two. Sunday morning we had none, but had heard Lynden got a bit more. We packed up our snow pants, boots, gloves, coats, scarves, hats, socks, etc. so that the girls could play outside at my grandma’s after church. It was a beautiful day with sunshine and warmth and sparkling snow on the ground! They didn’t even need their coats or snow pants! Unfortunately, the crispy, sparkling snow wasn’t good for much, but they found ways to have fun!

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so there was no school, but we woke up to about an inch of snow and got a couple more inches in the afternoon. It was a Snow Day, but since there was already no school, it didn’t quite qualify.

The morning began with lots of neighborhood fun, despite the minor amounts of snow.

They were building snow forts for the much anticipated afternoon snow ball fight. Good thing we got a bunch more snow before the actual snow ball fight because I don’t think this fort was offering much protection!

The little girls did a great job making a snowman all by themselves!

The picture below is from my neighbor who is a photographer. I have a nice camera, but I wish I had hers! She was kind enough to share this picture with me – I love it!

 

Then I hosted a neighborhood hot cocoa party!

Afterwards, the girls spent pretty much the rest of the day playing outside with their friends with a lunch & snowflake-cutting break around 2:00. We sent the girls to bed under the impression that there would be school Tuesday, even though we knew there was a pretty high likelihood of at least a late start and, if the snow that was forecast actually did fall during the night, a snow day! Sure enough, 6:00 this morning I checked online and SCHOOL CANCELLED! Woo-hoo! An honest-to-goodness snow day!

We had 5-6 inches of snow overnight and it was a beautiful snow fall. No wind (yet) and light, powdery stuff. I went out before it was completely light to try to capture our tree in the  blue light of morning and the light of the lamp post. It wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, but still pretty.

I went out later on in the morning to take a few more photos around the homestead.

Snow on a lilac bud:

And on my winter berry plant – Beauty Berry or callicarpa??

We started the morning with homemade waffles:

And the outside fun didn’t last as long today since it’s much colder and a bit windy. The girls did manage to eat snow cones and make some snow angels before getting cold and heading inside. The little girls are now at the neighbor’s and the big girls are playing American Girl dolls with the neighborhood “big girls”. (YES! I have 2 teens and 2 pre-teens playing American Girl dolls together by their own free choice! LOVE that.)

(I actually took this one with my camera and I love how it turned out!)

And as I write this it is practically a blizzard out there, so we’re anticipating some more Snow Fun tomorrow! By Thursday I think I’ll be ready for routine, but the forecast doesn’t look too promising for normal routines to be in place by then. Ah well – it happens once every couple of years, so we’ll just take it and enjoy it!