Snow!

This makes quite the contrast from the previous post.  Elizabeth has gone from short sleeves on the beach to being bundled up like the little brother in A Christmas Story.

From 2015 January

We got 6 or 7 inches on Saturday and then another 20-24 today.

The only good thing to come from Clair's move to Florida is the snowblower because I doubt we would have bought one if they hadn't been getting rid of theirs and that saved us (okay, mostly Joe) literally hours and a lot of physical strain today.  He had to fight some this morning because we already had 17 inches when we got up and so the snow was literally higher than the snowblower (but not the spout, thankfully!).

From 2015 January

But we weren't going to go out at 3 am to do a first pass.  He did go out first thing this morning, though, even though it was still snowing pretty hard and I'm glad he did because I don't know if it would have been possible to use the snowblower once it got much higher.  He then did another round this afternoon, which was much easier because even though it snowed all day, it was relatively light most of the time.  There is still some cleanup work to do in the morning (including the wall at the end of the driveway--ick!) but in terms of square footage cleared we are in good shape.

We spent most of the day playing inside (and eating--it feels like we've hardly finished a meal before it is snack time and then almost before we've cleaned up they are hungry again!  I didn't expect that for another 10 years!)  We also tricked Nicholas into doing schoolwork for most of Elizabeth's naptime (as soon as I reminded him that it was a school day and started calling things by their school subject names he was on board) so we could get some work done.

Then we finally went outside to play for a bit in the afternoon.  Elizabeth and I were probably only out for 15 minutes because her face and the space that wasn't staying covered between her gloves and her sleeves were getting bright red (it was less than 20 degrees out and still snowing lightly), but everyone had a blast.  Joe worked to create a little sledding track (which was hard given how soft the snow was) for the kids to go down.  We weren't able to have the kids share the sled today because their combined weight was making them sink, but Nicholas then went over the track dozens of times after Elizabeth and I went in, so hopefully by tomorrow it will be firm enough that they can share the sled and Nicholas can help keep Elizabeth from falling (see the video in the January album).

I wasn't sure what Elizabeth would think this time around.  She was not keen on the snow at Thanksgiving, but she is much more capable now.  I doubt Nicholas would have enjoyed sledding at her age, especially after the first time falling.  I think last winter is the first time we even tried with him.  But Elizabeth is our adventurous one.  She was a little skeptical at first, but quickly warmed up to it and kept asking to go again, even after we thought she must be freezing.

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

And Nicholas impressed me so much.  He has turned into such a big kid.  On Sunday he went out and created his own sledding track (with instructions from Joe but doing the work on his own.  I was out with a friend and Joe was inside with Lizzie) and did a great job (Joe took a video for me, which is in the album).  And today after Elizabeth and I went in and Joe went back out front to do the second round on the driveway he stayed out there working on the track for a long time. 

From 2015 January

He got very frustrated at points, but got it back together and worked on a strategy and eventually got it to work the way he wanted.  I love that he is willing to play by himself like that and am so grateful that we can keep an eye on him from the warmth of the house. 

From 2015 January

I do leave a window or door open a few inches when he is in the backyard so I can hear him so a little cold air gets in, but way better than being outside.  And so Elizabeth and I watched him through the storm door while Elizabeth tried to convince me to put her gear back on so she could go join him.

I am sure this snow is going to cause us all sorts of headaches in the weeks to come, but for today at least it has been okay.

From 2015 January

Florida

Elizabeth and I spent 4 days in Florida and it was amazing!  The best part was getting to spend good quality time with friends.  And the younger child of each of the friends we went to visit is within a few months of Elizabeth in age, which was lots of fun (and made the logistics easier).  Also, sun.

Before we could get to the sun, however, we had to get out of snowy New England.  Luckily the snow slowed down enough for us to get to the airport, but we then had a flight delay.  But there were snowplows to watch, so it wasn't a complete loss.

From 2015 January

  And Elizabeth got to spend 45 minutes running around the airport, burning off energy and entertaining all of the other travellers.

We spent the weekend with one of my college friends and her family and did all sorts of fun animal-related activities.  On Saturday we went to a manatee viewing center, a spot near an electric plant where the manatees apparently come because the water is so warm.  It was cool to see them in the wild (or sort-of wild), but there wasn't actually much to see, especially for the kids.  For the most part all you could see were a bunch of lumps in the water (their backs).  You could sometime see their noses come up, but the view was much better at the zoo the next day.

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

On Sunday we went to the zoo, which is of course one of Elizabeth's favorite places.  That girl and animals! 

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

And the girls had a lot of fun together.  And I think Vita and I had even more fun watching them together.

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

Then Sunday evening we moved over to see Clair and the family and I was shocked that Lizzie seemed to remember them.  To me it seems like only weeks since they moved but it has been about 1/3 of her life since Elizabeth saw them.  But she went right to Clair and jumped into playing with the kids with no hesitation.

It got even warmer in those last two days so we spent a lot of time outside.  Clair's kids had school/daycare during the day so we spent the mornings taking Lizzie outside to explore (and taking lots of pictures of it), the afternoons working, the early evenings letting the kids play together, and then girl time after the kids went to bed.

Elizabeth's reaction to the beach typifies how different she is from Nicholas.  It took Nicholas 3 or 4 years to get to the point of being excited about going in the water instead of scared of the waves.  Elizabeth was very unsure of the sand at first

From 2015 January

but was very excited by the water and fearless.  Only a couple months ago she was hardly walking and now she is literally running into the waves and I had to chase her down the beach.  This girl is pure spunk.

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

Also, the birds:

From 2015 January

Clair took those awesome beach pictures.

From 2015 January

She also took some other good ones while we were there.

From 2015 January

Elizabeth looks so different here. Her hair looks redder with the good camera and the humidity made it much curlier than it is in MA.

So many good memories with friends!

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

From 2015 January

Typing

Nicholas completed Mickey's Typing Adventure and broke the spell to free Mickey!  He is up to 7 wpm with 97% accuracy.  Go Nicholas!

From 2015 January