SNOW!

If there's one thing we really hope for each year, it's one good snowstorm. And this year, we got it!

It was questionable whether we'd even get anything right up to the night it was supposed to start.

But it did start and it kept coming down!

The next morning, we had 9 inches on the ground and it was still snowing pretty hard as times. By the time it was over, we had a little over 10 inches, which is pretty significant for us.

The chickens weren't particularly thrilled with the snow.

But the kids were. :) Irene was so excited to get to go out in it; a far cry from last year, for sure.

Emma, too, was raring to go when she saw the whole world turned white.

The did some sledding in the front yard.

Olivia went over to the big hill and did a little there.

Even Nukkah got into the action by escaping and running like a mad dog all around the park.

It was just so pretty...However it was freezing cold, so staying outside took some serious determination.

Olivia wanted to try her hand at shoveling. It didn't last long. :) 

Because it stayed cold (like 10-20 degrees for highs) for a couple of days, the snow wasn't any good for making snowballs or snowmen. However, a couple days later, the sun came out and softened the snow enough to make a couple of pretty good snowmen in the yard.

They didn't last long, tho. the very next day, we found the bits and pieces all on the ground as their occupants had melted swiftly away. 

Beach Trip 2016 - Part 2 - Jockey's Ridge State Park

After we had eaten and dried off, we took a ride down to Jockey's Ridge State Park, which has some tall sand dunes that you can walk on and even sled down. They have a hang gliding school there because of the constant winds that blow over the dunes.

The rain left behind some significant "puddles" that were the size of ponds but only an inch or two deep.

We climbed to the top of one of the dunes and attempted to slide down on pizza sleds we had brought specifically for this.

It took a good deal of effort to pack down a run smooth enough to slide down.

Fortunately, the slope was gentle enough that the little went down with no problem.

From our vantage point, we could see the Atlantic Ocean...

as well as the Sound

Over at the hang gliding school, they had a replica of the Wright Brothers' glider that preceded the powered airplane. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it in action.

The kids and I doing our best C3P0 impression... "Over here!"

At this point, it was getting hot and sticky. The littles were about ready to give up, so we started walking back while Rebecca stayed behind to do a little yoga on the dunes.

On the way, we found a shorter, but much steeper slope that worked much better for sledding.

Even Rebecca went down it when she caught up to us. :)

More Snow!

The big blizzard that hit a big chunk of the Mid-Atlantic managed to graze us a little. We woke up the first morning to snowflakes coming down, but that afternoon, it changed over to sleet. Still, it came down heavy and the kids wanted to go out in it. 

 This was Irene's first time getting to go out on her own in it and she had fun with it. :)

 Later, we went out across the street to try out the sledding hill.

 The sleet didn't pack, but it was still slick enough for us to have fun.

 Emma wasn't particularly happy about going down on her own.

 But she went!

 Irene wanted to go, too!

 The sleet continued throughout the day and into the night, eventually changing over to a little more snow the next morning.

It made the sledding that much more fun!

 Both Emma and Irene went down on their own again.

 But they needed help getting back up every time. They're getting awfully heavy. ;)

 Rebecca thought this would be a perfect opportunity to get out her snowshoes and go for a walk to Bestway for a few groceries. 

Even though it was more ice than snow, it was still great to get a little winter weather. We're hoping for more!