Gracie and the Big Snow, Round II

The last we saw snow round these parts it was December. It was a lame snow and not particularly fun to play in. Grace's boots were a little too big and she kept tripping over her own feet. That snow stuff sure was cold and she kept falling into it and flailing about like that kid in A Christmas Story. After about 15 minutes she had had it and we went back inside. This was a pretty big defeat for me considering it takes about 25 minutes to get her ready to go out in the snow. . .

So the big one hit this weekend and I was apprehensive about Grace playing in the snow. After fighting/wrestling with her for over 20 minutes to get dressed, I considered it a good sign that her foot had grown by half a size and her boots at least fit this time. Out we went into blizzard-like conditions and boy was I surprised! She LOVED it! No tripping this time and lots of exploring, screeching after the dog, "helping" dad shovel, and even sledding. We stayed outside for probably close to an hour. The only tears came when she went face down in the snow and, honestly, it was hard not to laugh when her little face popped up covered in the white stuff. Digby provided non-stop entertainment and I've never seen a dog who enjoys the snow like him. At one point he "ran away" but luckily dad could follow his paw prints in the snow. He knew he couldn't have gone far because, as he noted by the print pattern, the dog was literally running in circles.

Grace took her first solo sled ride which was enough for my heart to get stuck in my throat. When I asked her dad if she could take a ride with him, I didn't mean for Grace to go down the hill by herself (by "hill" I mean the gentle slope of our driveway but it might as well have been Kilimanjaro). Ironically, we had just watched Nemo the previous day and when I was "talking" to my husband about letting Grace fly solo, he did point out that "sometimes you need to let go." Point taken. . . .

After I began to freeze my bum off, I decided it was time to take a break and get warmed up. So I asked Grace, "Are you ready to go inside?" Then clearly and definitively she said, "No!" I burst out laughing because I do believe this was her first verbal "no." And she was serious. Oh the sadness that followed! Between her banging on the door to go back outside and the dog howling and whining to follow, I thought I'd lose my mind. But it was a great day and I can't wait for more like them.