It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

Well, obviously not Christmas, cuz' it's about a month and half too late for that, but I think you get the general idea.

We don't live where it snows. at. all. And no, this wasn't a freak storm that other parts of the nation are getting, we actually had to drive to see it. Kinda like visiting the ocean in the summer time. :0)

It was interesting getting there though! We rode with another family who had less snow experience than Yohn and I (we both grew up and learned to drive in the snow). It was raining when we left so I knew that meant possible good snow where we were heading, everyone else was not so optimistic.

Driving up the other family's van (there were three families total on this trip) got a flat tire and they had to purchase a new one. It took twenty to thirty minutes in the rain to change the tire, a little driving around to find a Costco to replace the tire, then hanging around Costco for an hour waiting for the replacement tire to get put on the van.

And then we were off! Off to a stop on the way up to put chains on the vans. No one had ever put chains on before, not even Yohn or I, and in order to save $60 for the installation fee it took another forty five minutes to put the chains on. Did I forget to mention it was still raining?

After chain installation, all we still saw was rain as far as the eyes could see. I tried to assure everyone that they wouldn't have us put chains on for just rain but no one believed me for another ten minutes or so when rain gave way to sleet and sleet gave way to big fluffy snow flakes pouring out of the sky!

It snowed the entire time we spent on the mountain, never relenting once. But it was beautiful and the kids really had a blast. However, it was deep and you got stuck if you weren't careful.

Someone smarter than us shoveled a path to a great sledding area so that's where we spent the next few hours. Snowball fights and sledding were the highlights of the trip. The big fluffy snow kept us well supplied with fresh snow for the snowballs and nice soft snow for the sledding.

Despite that fact that I don't miss the cold, I certainly do miss the beauty of the snow.

A few hours and it was time to go. We spent more time driving than actual play, but because of the circumstances of the day it couldn't be helped. When we stopped to eat the kids balked at the idea that it might be time to go home. But we realized after trying to pass out food that was getting snow flakes in it that it was not only hard to eat without your food getting soaked, but that we were also soaked as the big fluffy snow is also really wet!