Snow Much Snow

One on the best parts about living in the PNW is that it usually snows once or twice a year with just enough snow in which to play and then the snow melts in a day or two, and we are back to regularly scheduled life. 

Except sometimes, apparently once every 60 years or so, the snow just keeps coming and coming, and doesn't melt for weeks and weeks, and life comes to an absolute standstill because our infrastructure is not remotely up to the task of dealing with substantial snowfall. Such is the situation in which we found ourselves in February.

The first day of snow we reveled in the day off from scheduled activities and the opportunity to play with friends and neighbors whose school classes had been canceled.

We had almost given up on having any snow at all this winter, so it was especially exciting to get a significant amount.

My favorite part of snow is getting snow pictures.

 We don't have much in the way of hills on our street, but the kids were resourceful and found a steep driveway on which to slide.

 

A second day of cancelled public school and activities also wasn't too terrible, but the snow was unrelenting, and we were soon mighty tired of being stuck at home.

I still made sure my kids did their school work (because we have a lot to finish before our upcoming trip), but they still have plenty of time to play outside with friends and neighbors.

One afternoon we trekked up to another neighborhood to meet up with friends.

With so much snow (well over 2 feet), the kids found a variety of ways to keep themselves entertained and busy. Graham and Ike thought eating the snow was the best choice.

The kids were especially impressed with this enormous snow boulder they found on our walk back home.

Overall, the snow we received in February was record breaking in almost every sense. Our school district ended up cancelling school for 7 full days and 2 half days. Mark worked from home for an entire week because the roads were completely impassable. Many, many residents on the outskirts of our city were stuck by the snow for weeks on end. On the upside, I guess we got plenty of opportunities to drink hot chocolate, and one day the kids even made themselves sno-cones with the syrup from Otter Pops.

Since Homes United follows the lead of our local school district, Aubree had a lot of extra time at home. She made the best of it by spending extra time with Lily. They did a lot of trekking back and forth to one another's homes, practicing music, and making treats.

This event became known as "Snowmaggedon," and it kind of felt like a natural disaster. Local stores were even completely stripped of food and gas stations ran out of gas! I will be glad to (hopefully) go back to normal snow amounts next winter.

I do love this picture of my boys. It reminds me of something Graham recently told me, "Every brother is a friend through heaven."