Snow Day 2

After snowing for 24 hours we had a lot of snow, more than I had ever seen. I wanted to try to go on a walk to take cool pictures and I invited Katherine to join me with her camera. A few houses down a neighbor boy wanted to get Hooligan for a walk. I was glad for him to get out her energy but after about 3 minutes Hooligan was handed off to me. So much for taking cool photos with a dog shaking my camera.

A lot of neighbors lost large branches and even trees as they were so weighed down with snow. We were lucky and only lost a few smaller limbs. A lot of people were also without power.
Katherine really enjoyed measuring the snow. She did it over and over just like a good little scientist.

The official measurement was just under 9 inches at our house. The airport measure over a foot which was a record snowfall.

We invited a few neighborhood friends to come over and play as well as to stay warm since they lost power. One family ended up spending 2 nights at our house. It was a fun slumber party.

Valentine's Day

I have never been one to do a big celebration on Valentine's Day. Sam and I usually exchange a card and small gift. We celebrate all holidays more with kids though.

Sam brought all three of his girls our favorite flower - tulips. The girls loved smelling their flowers. He also wrote all three of us a letter to be put in our keepsake box. I love these letters and know they will be cherished by the girls too.

He also bought supplies for us to make chocolate fondue. He and I ate at a fondue restaurant a few weeks ago and talked about how it would be fun to do with the girls. We got out our fondue pot that we received as a wedding gift 7 years ago and used it for the first time. We were a little nervous about the hot surface and sharp fondue forks so one it was melted everyone had their own bowl of chocolate.
Fondue made a huge mess but the everyone loved it and had a lot of fun.

Snow Day Part 2

When we got home from Nana's house I went out to measure our snow. It measured 4.5 inches which is a lot for us.

When Sam got home we went straight outside because it was getting dark. By now we had even more snow. It had not stopped falling.

Sam made a quick mini snowman.

Caroline was not as into the snow tonight. She just wanted to be held. I think that being all dressed up it was a challenge for her to walk through the deep snow. She fell down often.

We noticed that there was a lot of snow on the slide. I challenged Katherine to go down it.
She is normally not very daring so I did not know if she would go down the snow filled slide. She did!
I was expecting a faster ride with snow flying up but she just pushed it down as she went.

She thought it was pretty cool and there was quite a pile of snow at the bottom when she got off.
Caroline thought it was pretty funny.
And seconds later just wanted to be held again.
Katherine made snow angels.
And she made a quick larger snowman with daddy. By now it was dark and getting colder so the snowman did not get any facial features or accessories.

Snow Day Part 1

Thursday morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. I knew there was a chance of snow but it was already several inches deep. I rushed outside to take pictures thinking that it would not stick and be gone soon like usual. Boy was I wrong. Four days later there is still some snow on the ground.

We had records for the most snow in a 24 hour time period (12.5 inches) and in a single day (7.8 inches). It pretty much did not stop snowing all day.
We were headed to Nana and Pops' house so we waited to play in the snow until we got there. Pops' enjoyed making snowballs. Katherine liked to eat the snow.

Of course, if big sister is going to eat snow, Caroline is going to copy her.
When it snowed in early December and at Christmas, the girls were not that excited to play in the snow but they really enjoyed it this time. Somehow we actually had the right clothes for it too. We had 2 snowsuits, warm coats, and snow boots. We also had cute hats and gloves that we bought in Norway.
Here is the back yard before we played in the snow.
You can see how deep it was at 9:30am. This was after only snowing for 5 of 24 hours.

Pops pulled out my childhood sled and pulled the girls around the yard.

They thought it was fun but I am not sure they would have really enjoyed going fast down a hill.

Nana was a great photographer and enjoyed watching us all play in the snow.


After playing in the snow we went inside and made snow ice cream. Yummy!

American Girl Bistro

One of my best friends, Regina, came in town for a quick visit with her daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Katherine are 4 weeks apart and get along really well even though they only see one another only 1-2 times a year.

I kept Katherine out of Mother's Day Out for the day but went ahead and sent Caroline so we could have some big girl time. It is very rare these days that I get to do things with just Katherine so it was a very special treat.

We took the girls to the American Girl Bistro for lunch. Of course they loved it. Katherine took her Bitty Baby with her but when she saw the dolls that you could borrow she also wanted "the one in the purple fancy dress" or Felicity.

Elizabeth borrowed one of the store dolls as well. The servers did not remember her name but later I looked it up and she dined with Ivy.

I think that the American Girls Dolls are precious and I can't wait until Katherine is old enough to really get into the stories. I love how they tie in to the historical characters. Of course I don't like the price tags so hopefully we won't get into it too much.

I love it when we get to hang out with Regina and Elizabeth and every time they come I realize how much I wish we were in the same city. Now it is my turn to go visit them.