Abe just wasn't so sure about the snow. He really does not like to be cold--he's the only kid his age I know who routinely asks for his mittens and puts on his own hat! But he was definitely game and tried the snow over and over again. Turns out his favorite snow activity is eating it! Even though we only got 4-5 inches of snow, that is a lot for someone his size. And when you add a few inches of leaves and pine needles underneath it made for unsteady walking for him.
Gus on the other hand pretty much loves everything about the snow and seems hardly to ever even get cold.
A couple of our neighbors had sleds--the newer plastic one was, quite honestly, crap. The old wooden and metal one from my neighbors childhood was AWESOME.
Here is Gus getting stuck because the plastic runners would never really get going fast.
Here is our sweet neighbor Maddox coming to check on him.
I try to do new things when I can, and I too went sledding for the first time! I took Abe along for the ride.
Abe also climbed on behind Gus ... isn't that cute? I made sure Abe had his arms around Gus and thought it would be okay. Doesn't he look like he understands?
Not so much! I gave the sled one push and Abe went falling backwards immediately! He wasn't crying or upset, just laying there looking up at me. I was totally terrified that he was going to bang his head on the snow/pavement all the way down the hill so I tried to lift him to a sitting position by grabbing on to his jacket.
This must have been absolutely hilarious: me holding a laying down Abe by his jacket, running after the sled, Gus trying to make the sled go faster. Finally my brain kicked in and I grabbed Abe by the arms and lifted him up off the sled. That, by the way, is when he started to cry. Sledding down hill with his head hanging off and his crazy mom holding him by the jacket was apparently better than not getting to sled at all!
New mittens! I just winged the pattern from one of the 4 million free basic mitten patterns out there. I used cascade 220 and colinette cadenza held together to make a nice thick mitten and they worked great. The outsides would be completely soaked and the inside still dry and warm. Wool is a wonderful thing.
Gus and I had a lot of snowball "fights." A lot. He never got tired of it.
And in this news flash: children like sugar! We did the ubiquitous maple syrup heated and poured over snow to make candy. It was great fun; I made Gus do all the stirring so it was easy for me. The resulting candy is crazy sweet though--a few bites was plenty.
Love it!
Posted by: Tina Engberg | February 10, 2010 at 08:30 PM
This is a really fun set of pictures!
I had no idea you'd never been sledding - elis don't use dining hall trays for that? You and I need to go on vacation in a winter wonderland and tear up some hills. Have you been ice skating, snowshoeing, skiing?? Dude - we really need to hit the snow sometime.
It was also comforting to see that you are still really good at handling situations that require urgency without your brain turning into some void where only panic and comedy can come together.
Again, love the pics!
Posted by: kristin n | February 10, 2010 at 09:22 PM