Ice Day

Despite learning that all of our weekend events - breakfast with Santa, dance recital, and marathon - would be cancelled, we really enjoyed our ice day yesterday.  We we watched movies in a nest by the fire, made gingerbread cookies, danced along with the musical ornaments on the tree, did projects, drank hot chocolate, and played outside.

We had to go out first thing this morning, still in jammies, to see what the white was all about ...

 Sara said, "I wish this ice was snow."  It sure would have been more fun, but she loved looking at the ice-enclosed leaves and blades of grass.  And of course we had to taste some icicles.

 Later in the day we went out again, and because we don't own sleds, we improvised.  The laundry basket worked perfectly, and unlike sledding in thick snow where you can sometimes get stuck in a groove, the ice was the perfectly slick surface for a fast ride!

 We had to "skate" down the street to the park to check out the ice on the playground. 

 When we say "ice day" rather than "snow day", it's no joke.  Every surface is covered; the park was like a big rink.

 It's white like snow, but don't be deceived, Northern friends.  I was this close to getting my skates out of the attic.  Steve actually used the hammer on the driveway in an attempt to break up some of the ice.  It reminded me of living in KC, where we literally had to chisel our way into our cars on icy mornings.

 During our inside time today, Sara worked on decorating her room ...

 ... and the coat closet.

Obviously we didn't push Emma down the icy hill in a laundry basket, but she did enjoy hanging out in it inside.  It's the little things.

 And as an aside, do you remember in a recent post when I said that Emma started throwing a fit over having to wear pants?  Well, her big accomplishment today was learning to take them off by herself.  How guilty does she look in this picture (taken immediately after I glanced over and noticed she was sans-britches)?

The rest of our weekend will be a lot more low-key than originally planned due to all the cancellations around the metroplex.  We're stocked up on groceries and beverages, and - as you saw - equipped with a "sled", so we should be good to go until the roads are car-friendly again (or until we leave for work Monday morning, whichever comes first).  Stay warm, my friends.