Winter does (sometimes) equal snow

Winter finally decided to deliver, and we had our first snow on Sunday night.  As the flakes began to fall, all three kids parked themselves on Ryan's parent's deck, catching snowflakes on their tongues, racing from one side to the other leaving tracks along the way, throwing mini snowballs and soaking up the snowy goodness they've been waiting for. 

It was getting dark when we finally got back home (because I am crazy paranoid and made Ryan drive like 15mph the whole way home...) but the kids and Ryan were ready to go.  We suited them up, which went one thousand times smoother than last year and out they went. Declan and Quinn didn't last long. Declan got too cold and Quinn couldn't walk two feet in all of her snow gear without face planting, so they watched the other two crazies from the porch.  Ryan rigged a rope to the saucer sled and proceeded to run Isabella around our  (very flat) yard, simulating a fast as lightening sledding hill. Daddy dedication at it's finest. 

I'm telling you, girl is obsessed with this elmo face mask. Doesn't have a clue who elmo is, but she loves him on her head.

Everyone was ready again once morning came.  I'm not crazy about snow. I like it (when I'm wrapped in a blanket reading a book watching it snow through the window), but it's not my favorite thing to be out in.  Ryan on the other hand is much like a fourth child when there are any type of weather changes.  He was ready to head to aunt Cathy's as soon as his feet hit the floor because he wanted a real sledding hill. So we packed everyone up plus about one hundred and thirty pieces of snow paraphanalia, and headed out.  As we were pulling up Cathy's  (very steep and pine tree lined..aka: shady) driveway, Taylor was heading back down.  He couldn't make it up. Ryan on the other hand thought that our van (?) could out-do Taylor's Element (?).  Ryan knows how I feel about driving in the 'elements' so I trusted his judgement. Mistake number one.  We made it about halfway up and then the tires started spinning. I put my head against the dashboard and quietly informed him that he better let me and the kids get out of the van, like 10 seconds ago.  On a serious note, I really think I have some PTSD from an accident I was in, in college while coming home from a skiing class at Wintergreen.  Not the most experienced ice driver, I was riding the brakes down a mountain, my brakes locked up, I freaked out and pulled the emergency break landing me sideways in a ditch.  Needless to say, I can not handle slipping on pavement.  So I unhooked each kid from their carseat and we were out and up the driveway in about fifteen seconds, me hyperventilating the whole way (the clue that maybe I have some post traumatice stress....). Anyway, Ryan slid off the side of the driveway and left the van there, walked up to Cathy's and we resumed the plan of sledding while hoping that the rising temps and sunny skies would quickly melt the ice that our van was stuck in (and it did work!). 

We started on a small hill and all the kids went down and felt very confident in their sledding abilities. I was pretty surprised. Then we migrated to the side yard where the hill is pretty steep and a whole lot longer. Isabella was pretty much in love with that whole idea (daredevil to the hilt) and would have stayed all day. Declan didn't even attempt that hill and Quinn was quite content eating a gallon of snow.

So, it does still snow in Virginia afterall.

 I think tomorrrow's supposed to be 68*.