Snow!

A week ago on Sunday afternoon we piled everyone up (without coasts, hats, or gloves) in the van to drive to "the wheelchair playground" to play as a family.  An hour or so of running, climbing, chasing, and zooming down ramps later, we piled back into the van to go home.  It was a great way to end the last warm days of fall.

Friday evening it started snowing.  By the time we woke up on Saturday morning, 4-5 inches of snow covered the ground, and it kept snowing until lunchtime.  Kate bounced out of bed shortly after 6 and was antsy to get outside to play.  Ethan doesn't remember snow from last winter; seeing the blanket of snow covering everything through his fresh eyes reminded us about the wonder of childhood.

We are trying to get into the routine of doing weekend homework right away on Saturday morning; otherwise, we put it off and then feel extra stress on Sunday evening.  The girls finished things up pretty quickly and we all headed outdoors to enjoy the snow by 9:30 or so.

The hill in our front yard going down into the ditch is still good for the kids.  I'm sure we will try to take them to some bigger sledding hills this winter, but for now we are going to start slow.

Anna was the first to get cold, but that's understandable since she doesn't move around as much and get her blood flowing like the rest of the kids.  While she was outside, however, she had a great time.  It was amazing to watch her be able to play and move around in the snow, especially in comparison to last winter.  We could see the fatigue in her eyes, though, after only 20 minutes or so.  As Anna's OT said later the day, playing in the snow is an occupational therapist's dream therapy :)

Thankfully, everyone's snow clothes worked the first time we went out!  Most years we have had to make wardrobe adjustments, especially with the youngest member of the family, to keep them warm.  Maybe we've just had enough practice (finally) to know what combination of hats, gloves, snowpants, and coats will work.

Later in the day, Kate and I went for an exploration adventure out in the field.  45 minutes later, I think I finally managed to tire Kate out.  With the early morning excitement of snow and the activity of the day, she was exhausted by evening.

The weather is predicted to warm up early this week and the snow will melt off fairly quickly, but it has been a fun change of pace.  We are already looking forward to other ways that we can enjoy the snow this winter.