We're deep into winter now

While early February blessed us with a sneak peek at spring (seriously, there was a week where daily high temperatures were in the 70s F!), the end of the month has given us (or at least some of the major cities in the area) record snowfall for the month!

The past few weeks we've been hit by a few big snowstorms, and even in between snow flurries and light additional accumulations have lingered.  Our yard is covered in snow, but luckily most of the main roads and driveways/sidewalks that have been plowed or shoveled are dry and clear.  There are icicles hanging all around our roof's edge and daily high temperatures rarely get above freezing.

However, the upside is that there is snow to play with!  And so yesterday, John took the day off and we went to our neighborhood sledding area (i.e. drainage basin).  Evan and I had gone sledding there with Sarah when she was in town, back in the end of December, so I knew it was a decent slope for young kids and conveniently very close to home.

Speaking of that sledding experience back in late December, since I didn't get around to posting about it then, here are a few photos of that last time we went (sorry that it's two months old!).  We only had a "snow seat" sled at that time, which Evan got the hang of using well, and some waxy cardboard.

Evan and Auntie Sarah racing down the hill

Sarah's attempt at knee boarding (worked better than her running jump over a bush sled idea...)

Sarah perfecting her form for sledding on a piece of cardboard :)

This time I bought a new sled (a disc-style was all that was left in stock at the store) and we brought Emma too, though she was more interested in walking along the walking path than sledding (it was clear and dry since it had been plowed). The snow seat from last time worked for Evan again, though it was not as fast as the disc so he quickly preferred the new sled.  I tried the snow seat without reading the weight limit and broke the handle on my first time down.  :(

Emma went down on John's lap a few times, but she didn't care for it.  One of those times she got snow blown up in her face, which made it all the more uncomfortable for her.  She was curious about what the snow was, but not interested enough to really play in it.  She liked dusting it off my glove when I'd scoop up a bunch for her to inspect.  She liked watching us play in it.  But mostly she liked exploring (i.e. walking away from us) on the dry walking path.

John with Emma and Evan getting ready to go down the hill

What a cutie all bundled up!

Evan and I made snow angels at one point.  We also had a little snowball fight.  I threw a few John's way too, one of which nailed him right after he took a photo!

Evan's snow angel

My snow angel

Incoming!

Having a snowball fight with Mommy

And by the end of our outing, Evan and I had run around and explored the snowy field in this drainage area, and found a longer, gentler slope to sled down together.  He'd sit on my lap, lift his legs in front of him, and we'd soar down the hill.  At the bottom, we'd both rest a bit after each "run", where I'd just lay backward so I was laying on the snow (sled still underneath my bottom half) and then he'd lay back on me (still sitting between my legs on the sled).  It was wonderful...relaxing in the cool snow (after having worked up a sweat playing in it!), looking at the blue sky, with my son snuggled in with me doing the same.

John and Evan about to sled one last "run", the same way Evan and I had done so many times (left) and Evan and Emma holding hands as we walked back to the car (so cute!)