Fun in the Snow

We had our first significant snowfall last week. Schools were closed for several days and the neighborhood children were outside playing. Joe, Steve and Madelyn made a huge snow fort in the front yard. It was about 30 inches tall, with a diameter of 8'. I couldn't figure out why they put the fort right next to our driveway, until I spotted the 12" tall, 2' diameter fort on the other side of the driveway. The forts were facing each other and obviously a major snowball war had taken place with the neighbor boy.

The backyard is sporting a huge igloo, that all of my children can enter at the same time. Paige made a snow lawn chair on Saturday and spent hours sitting in her snow-chair.

Sunday after supper, Paige and Allie realized that they hadn't made any snowmen this year. They raced outside to build snowmen in the dark. After 30 minutes, they came inside searching for "large carrots" to use for snowmen noses. I was declared the Best Mom Ever because I always let them take carrots when they make snowmen. It always amazes me when they make similar statements. Giving the kids a few carrots when they make snowmen seems no big deal to me, but it's very important to my 5 and 6 year olds.

Madelyn and Joe spent several hours outside playing with friends across the street. Their friends have a long, steep driveway and the neighborhood kids went sledding. The friends don't own sleds and we have 7 or 8, which were shared with various children. There were many shouts of joy and tons of giggling.

I really enjoyed watching all the activity outside this week. Most of the time, my children are the only ones who play outdoors in the winter. This snowfall reminded me of my childhood, when neighborhood cliques were broken down as all the children caroused in the snow together.