Friday, January 31, 2014

Snow-Pocalypse 2014

The face of pure joy

This week, we were able to enjoy a freak snow storm here in the South. The Atlanta-area isn't known for snow and cold weather, but this winter has been exceptionally cold. We usually have mild winters (40s-50s) and only get to watch our northern friends play in snow.

On Tuesday, just before noon, we were treated to some snowflakes. They started slowly and then as the afternoon progressed, they came down harder and started to actually stick! Gus had just arrived home from school when the snow started, and I'm so thankful that he was home safely.

Steve sent me a text and asked if we had snow yet, and I said we had not. Just after sending, I opened the window to see what was happening, and sure enough, there were flakes!

Of course, I had to take Gus outside so he could enjoy the flakes as they were coming down!!


Steve decided to head home at noon, and I'm so glad that he did. He made it home by 1 and said the roads were getting really icy and there was a lot of congestion and traffic. I'm sure you've seen the news about this, but there were people stranded on the freeways for more than 15 hours, and in some cases, some were there for 24 hours. Kids were stranded on buses trying to get from school to home, and some were stranded overnight at school because their parents couldn't get to the school to get them. It was a traffic nightmare.


However, we were all here and safe and warm and we enjoyed the snow tremendously. It started snowing just before noon and didn't stop until we went to bed. We went out before dinner and gathered with some of our neighbors and the kids were sledding down our neighbor's yard. Gus got to experience the joy that a little snow and a sled can bring and it was so fun to watch him.






After he had figured out the neighbors small yard, we decided to try our monster driveway. It was a big hit and Gus had a great time with our neighbor!



Even Steve got in on the action!

It was so much fun and the snow was coming down while we were outside. To watch Gus's joy was so awesome and it was a moment that I'll never forget.












 Trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue







Hugh was stirring from his nap (we have the iZon camera and can see him on our iPhone) so we headed inside to get him and brought him out to experience the snow. He was not as impressed as his brother was.







While we were outside, we got the call that school was closed for Wednesday!! Hurray!!

Wednesday morning, Steve decided to stay home and work and we were delighted to get to spend his birthday with him! We played outside while Hugh napped and it was a ton of fun!!






 Slipping on ice!




 Daddy slipped too!

We don't have a sled (we're going to get two cheap ones next time we're in Michigan and it's winter), but Steve improvised with using the baby pool that we had in the backyard! It turned out to be the perfect sled for Gus!!




He had such a great time using our steep driveway as a sledding hill!
























Our neighbor (next door) came over to watch








Gus decided that he wanted to throw snowballs at everyone!


 The neighborhood kids came over and used our driveway as a sledding hill






 Our neighbor (across the street) showing Gus how to create the perfect snowball








Hugh was waking, so we headed inside to get warm and to play for a bit. Hugh did not want to head outside, and it was starting to warm up, and the snow started to melt.



The snow has almost completely melted, but we had a great time while it lasted. I even took out a bowl to collect snow so I could make snow cream. It wasn't as yummy as I had hoped, but Gus enjoyed it!