A second (smaller) winter snow

After our large snow storm in December, we had a smaller one in January that only kept us in for a day or so, and luckily it hit over the weekend so it didn't impact life too much! On Saturday morning, Natalie and I took a walk, trying to beat the snow before it started. We walked from the Downtown Mall to the Corner and back, and definitely saw some snow flurries along the way!

 

By the time we arrived home, the snow was definitely coming down, so we hunkered down for the rest of the day.

Sunday dawned cold, sunny, and covered in snow!

We weren't super snowed in, as it wasn't enough for that, but it was enough to let the kids sled again.

And enjoy another session in the hot tub to warm up afterwards!

Now that it's spring, we are enjoying our house even more - I like snow, but our neighborhood is so lovely now that it's in bloom, and I don't mind the warmer weather!

Natalie's 11th birthday

As I mentioned in my previous post, we had a really big snow storm in December that kept us all in the house for a couple of days. The snow fall started on the day we were supposed to have Natalie's 11th birthday party, so sadly we had to cancel that, but luckily her friend Kendall from our neighborhood was able to walk over, play in the snow, and have cupcakes with us.

 

The week before, Natalie was given this lovely card signed by all of the dance teachers at her studio, many of whom she's never even had! What a nice thing to do for the students.

On Natalie's birthday, although it was a Monday and Evan and I had to work, we wanted to make sure that it was a super fun snow day!

So we bundled up early and headed out. How lovely is my family in the snow?!

As we anticipated, Lucy REALLY loved the snow. I had to keep dragging her back in to pull the snowballs off of her fur (see photo above). Plus I didn't want her paws to freeze!

Our house and yard was just so pretty. I loved as the sun started to come out.

 

By mid afternoon the plows had come through, we had a neighbor kid shovel us out (with his fantastic snow blower!), and we were able to leave the house for Natalie's birthday dinner. She chose Bonefish Grill as she wanted seafood, and they gave her a small box of chocolates and a gift card for later use! She was one happy camper.

And since there wasn't going to be any school the next day, and it was her birthday, we agreed to some evening hot tubbing in the snow! It really is fun; I'd never done that before moving here!

And afterwards, was time for birthday singing and cupcakes. A pretty great birthday all around, I would say!

A December snowstorm in Charlottesville

On the day before Natalie's birthday, we got hit with quite the snow storm! Unfortunately for Natalie, that meant that her birthday party had to be cancelled (since no one could drive anywhere), but we managed to still make it fun for her (more on that in the next post).

It did mean that we had a very gray snowy Sunday together as a family! It really was a perfect snow storm - light weight, fluffy, and deep enough to have a lot of fun in. I think in total we got about 10" of snow; definitely the most we had seen in a couple of years.

The kids, Lucy, and I bundled up and headed out for some fun, even though it was still snowing. Can't stay inside all day!

One of Natalie's friends (who was supposed to come to her birthday party) was able to come over to play for a while, so at least she didn't totally lose that time with her friends!

Oh yeah, I did manage to drag Evan out in it for at least a little while :)

And we discovered just how much fun our yard is for sledding - just as much fun as we thought it would be!

Lucy loves the snow (no surprise there!), although I will say those giant snow balls that adhered to her fur were NOT fun to take off. But I couldn't keep her locked up inside, knowing how much she loved playing in it.

Lucy's first snow - March 2018

In mid March, we had a sudden change in weather, as you can see from the dates below (both photos taken in nearly the same spot in our backyard). We knew it was coming, so we were prepared, and honestly, I was excited to see how Lucy would react to the snow. As anticipated, she loved it!

I love how our neighborhood looks in the snow, especially before anyone has walked along the path by the pond.

 Evan and I still had to work, so once the snow let up a bit, I promised the kids I'd take a little time and go outside with them. They had a blast! I had been regretting buying them new snow pants as we'd had no occasion to wear them yet this winter, but now I was glad for it. Henry in particular was happy, as his last year were frankly way too small and he ended up getting wet. This year, he stayed nice and dry!

 

 

How much did Lucy love the snow? She couldn't get enough of running around in it. I absolutely love this slow-motion video of her in the backyard; it may be my favorite video that I've shot this year. 

And then two days later...

A small February snowstorm hit! Yep, just two days after Henry and I checked out the sunset, without jackets, we had pretty much the opposite weather hit, and we all bundled up for an evening walk in the snow.

It was truly lovely out, especially with the snow mostly untouched. We really do have a pretty neighborhood!

As you saw in my Montreal post, I really like focusing on snow/ice covered branches that are backlit by streetlights. Our street was just as pretty - look at these trees!

 

Evan and I had to take a snowy selfie - aren't we adorable?!

And the kids wanted to run in the snow as much as possible. I managed to get them to pose for me on this hill, very briefly, and then they were off again.

They were particularly excited because we hadn't really gotten snow before this snowfall. It didn't stick around for very long, but particularly Natalie enjoyed running around in it outside!

A wet and icy, but beautiful, Montreal

In January, I headed to Montreal for the first time ever. Of course, that's not the ideal time of year to travel to our neighbor to the north, but it's when my clients needed me to visit, so I packed heavy and flew up...into a right messy storm! The snow was blowing, it was late at night, and the weather for the next day two days was...not great.

I stayed at a hotel where I could walk to my first two client sites, which was fortunate because the roads were in bad shape. My first two appointments were in the morning; my afternoon appointment was cancelled due to the bad weather. So, I trudged through the slush in my boots (more on those later), met my clients, and then headed back to the hotel to work for the afternoon.

By about 4pm, I was going a bit stir crazy and had gotten all of my work done. The freezing rain/snow had stopped (or at least greatly slowed down), and I wanted to go see at least part of Montreal, since so many people had told me how pretty it was. I wasn't too far from the old town area, so I bundled up and headed out.

Despite the gray, slush, and snow, old town Montreal was very picturesque!

I walked down to Notre Dame; I thought about going inside but it turned out there was some sort of light display inside that was about $30 to go see, so I decided that wasn't worth it and didn't go in.

And here was the view across the street from Notre Dame. I think this was some government building? I'm not sure, but the square was very pretty.

It still wasn't snowing, so I ducked into a nearby Starbucks to grab a warm drink and check email. While there, thawing out, the freezing rain started back up. I'm a Lyft girl, so I didn't have Uber downloaded to my phone, and unfortunately Lyft doesn't exist in Montreal yet. This meant no way to get a ride back to the hotel (there weren't any cabs where I was that I saw either). So, I bravely headed out in the rain for my 1.5-ish mile walk back to the hotel.

Despite the rain (and rain it did - I got soaked!), it was beautiful.

 

The lights shining on the ice during my walk was too pretty, so when I could take my phone out to photograph it (without ruining my phone), I just had to. And oh, was it raining. I tried to take a "sad face" selfie to show just how wet I was. Honestly, I wasn't totally miserable - by that point, it was an adventure, right?

 

My jacket was soaked through in the shoulders (it's not waterproof!), and even worse were my boots. I had brought my tall black boots on the trip, and despite their being leather, they are also NOT waterproof. They've gotten wet before, but never like this. They were truly soaked through after this multiple mile walk through slush, rain, and ice. I dried them out as best as I could, including using the blow dryer on the inner lining, but they were still slightly wet the next day. I had to wear them to my clients and home on the plane, but once I got home they sadly had to be thrown out. A sacrifice to the travel gods! Of course just a week or so later I bought what would have been the perfect black winter boots (for $20 on clearance!), so at least that won't happen again.

Calla's last snow day: March 2017

Much to the kids' dismay, we had quite the mild winter this year. All winter they kept asking us "When is it going to snow?" By March, it just seemed like we were out of luck. In fact, I even returned the snow boots I had bought for Henry (who had yet to wear them), and the snowbibs I had bought for both of them. And then what happened on March 15? A snow day! School was closed, Evan and I both worked from home, and we all got to enjoy one snow day together.

And I say all because not only do the kids enjoy the snow, but it had always been one of Calla's favorite things as well. She patiently waited through the morning until we could all go outside that afternoon.

 It was COLD so it was time to bundle up!

 

As you can see in the video, the snow was pretty moderate - just a few inches. But again, since we hadn't gotten ANY snow at all, they were excited to have even that little bit to play in.

You can also see their put-together snow outfits. Natalie had no waterproof pants, so we doubled up on spandex exercise pants. Henry had big heavy sweatpants that we put thermal pants underneath. Natalie had her winter boots, and I had just bought Henry rain boots, so we made it work. As you hear in the video, they weren't exactly waterproof, but they worked better than sneakers would have! And since we had great winter coats, hats, and gloves, the kids did alright.

We walked outside of our neighborhood and up to the building next door. In their courtyard we found a snowman that the employees there had apparently made.

 And what about Calla - remember I said she likes the snow? We did take her out with us for a while, and she had a great time wandering about in the snow.

All of that fun in the snow wore the old girl out. She spent a good chunk of the afternoon curled up on the couch afterwards.

Calla died the next day. So I take comfort in the fact that she had one last time in the snow, which was always something she loved (since her first winter with us in NYC, in 2004).

Now excuse me while I go wipe these tears away.