In and About...

There is more to life up here than griping about snow (all 123 inches of it) and winter. Here is a short list of the things I'm thankful for:

1.) Tea parties with super-fancy dresses. Although it was a struggle for the girl in the fancy blue dress to enjoy it. She was sure that if any boy ever saw her in that dress, she would die of mortification. She did like the treats, and the tea was o.k. However, she was beyond happy when she was allowed to put her "comfty" clothes back on. By contrast, the girl in the fancy pink dress was completely in her element. (Note the accessorizing...it was all her idea to add that little rose choker.) With all of the friends, it was almost like the Sesame Street song. "Three of these things belong together. Three of these things are kind of the same. Can you guess which one of these doesn't belong here? Now it's time to play our game (time to play our game)."

2.) Lessons at VNP. During the winter, our local National Park has Sunday lessons for the kids. They involve a bit of lecturing, many object lessons and games and crafts. We drive out and enjoy the afternoon in the Visitors' Center, complete with hot chocolate! Here the girls are making bats (a leftover craft from Halloween, I'm sure...reduce, reuse, recycle!) for their mammal lesson.

3.) Kids looking for buried toboggans in the snow. I wish I had space to post the full series of photos I got out of this one! After the 19 inch dump they wanted to slide down the resulting mountains of snow. Unfortunately, they had failed to put the toboggan away after its last use. They shuffled around for about 15 minutes before the girl in the pink coat "remembered" where she saw it last: right by the street, of course. They scampered out to the front yard and started digging. One of them almost ended up head first in the snow bank before it was all over. Great fun!

4.) When all else fails...memories of last summer.
Spring is around the corner. I can feel it. It's all sunny and the snowmen are melting. Easter is just over a week away. I'm actually starting to think about garden-y things. Wahoo! Now, I just have to find my flip-flops...who am I kidding? I know exactly where they are! I'm just waiting for some dry ground to appear.