For those of you that are enjoying warmer climates this time of year, like temperatures above freezing, we have been living with single-digit high temperatures and sub-zero temperatures at night. Justin’s truck read –7 on his way to work the other day. It’s just plain cold! Even indoors, I can’t seem to peel my self away from the fireplace or my electric blanket. I don’t even want to go shopping or run errands unless I absolutely have to.
Recently, it warmed up to 12 degrees, so we blew the dust off of the sleds and I took the kiddos sledding. I didn’t mind watching them from my car with the heated seats on high and the hot air on full blast. It was a win, win situation.
Matti headed for a jump someone built. It was about 6 inches high. She didn’t get any air that time, but I love seeing the anticipation in her face!
We took a break from sledding on the mountain behind the school. It is super steep and someone gets hurt every time we go there. Justin is still recovering with a sore tail bone from sledding there 2 years ago. Last sledding outing, Wyatt ran into a tree. He learned the hard way when headed for a tree, instead of staying on the sled and letting your face make contact with the trunk, roll off the sled into the snow instead to avoid contact next time.
We went to a green space a few blocks away that the kids call “the dip”. It’s really a drainage area for the neighborhood, but makes the perfect sledding hill. There are no rocks or trees to contend with, and the slope is steep enough for the kids to get a rush.
Of course, it’s not good enough to just jump on a sled and ride down the hill now. The little daredevils are starting to do some tricks like standing up, making a sled train and doing tricks off of the jumps. I feel like sledding has turned into a broken bone waiting to happen, but at “the dip” they always seem to walk away unscathed.
I usually let them sled until their faces and hands are numb and when I announce their sledding journey is over for the day, they always beg to stay longer. I lure them home with promises of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream.
On the way to the car this time, Matti decided to grab some snow for the road. I guess I had forgotten to tell the kids not to eat yellow snow, but this was a good time to remind them. Eating snow is so gross. I remember my dad melting snow and showing me the dirty water I was eating. Maybe we will try that experiment again to show them how disgusting of a habit that is.
I hope your pipes don’t freeze, your toes stay warm and Spring comes sooner than later! In the meantime, Justin and I are looking forward to our escape to Cabo San Lucas in just a few weeks to get away from this weather!
