The Dog Days

After such a promising beginning, January turned out to be cold, dark, freezing, frigid, gray, and COLD.  For weeks it snowed and snowed, (naturally, only on the days that Zach had work) and it was up to me and my minions to clear the driveway to avoid perishing in an icy igloo.

So, every morning we went through the exhausting process of suiting everyone up and headed outside.  Then came the back-breaking shoveling, followed by the exasperating process of persuading everyone to come back inside, and finally, the near-death experience of getting everyone out of their now wet and frozen clothes.  Luckily, there was always hot chocolate at the end.

 If the snow was only inches high (not feet) and Mom was feeling generous, we'd play at the freezing cold park or sled along the street (we didn't see the asphalt for a solid five weeks).

After the initial braving of the outdoors, it was pretty hard to convince anyone (especially Mom) to go out a second time, so the rest of the day we spent...

Building endless lego towers, houses, and superhero cars

 Playing with play doh.  So much play doh.

Watching shows with separate blankets, separate popcorn bowls, and not touching.

Visiting the "Dead Animal Museum"

 And then, when all the crazies were about to explode, we could always count on Dad for a good wrestling/mauling session.

It's still freezing in Elko, but after being below freezing (during the day!) for weeks, this high thirties weather feels practically balmy.  We have high hopes that the pile of snow in our backyard may yet melt before Easter.