Snowed In Day One!

When the news was correct about the snow earlier in the week I was pretty sure they knew what they were talking about with the impending Snowmageddon and I was stoked!!! I love snow and lots of it! Plus it was nice that it was coming on a Friday so we'd have the whole weekend to enjoy it as a family! 

Speaking of school...the kids had missed school on Monday and Tuesday from the snow that happened the previous Sunday. They had late start AND early release on Wednesday, went to a full day of school on Thursday and then had early release on Friday. 

Some places got 12 inches or more, but we had around 6-8. It was hard to tell since it was deeper in someplace from the wind. 

By the time the kids got out early from school it had already snowed at least 2 inches. Ella wanted the Dial kids to come over so I took the kids back to the house and Rachael went to her house to get her kids snow clothes. While the kids were playing they rolled 3 huge snowballs in the front yard. They ended up using up almost all the snow in the yard...it was down to bare grass. By morning you couldn't even tell that they had done that it snowed so much. 

Charlie had gone outside at one point and his paw prints were so cute in the snow. I meant to get a picture of them, but I forgot! 

Views of our backyard! 

Around 10am we started heading down to the Dial's since Rachael had texted me that Lance had a fire going. 

So much snow!!! 

The neighbors rose bush! 

The new traffic circle in our neighborhood. The day before the big snow storm hit they installed these tall signs showing people how roundabouts work. They have so many signs saying 'do not enter', 'one way' and tons of arrows. Michael thought that people would just end up driving up and over the roundabout, but I'd like to see them try now with the metal signs! 

Once we got to Lance and Rachael's house we jumped right into having fun in the snow. 

Lance has the best fire pit....it's actually an old washing machine drum that's sitting on top of this big metal bowl. The washing machine drum has all these tiny holes which make for great airflow for the fire and it's puts out a lot of heat! 

There dog Pearl was so cute...she wanted to be right in the middle of everything! 

While Lance was tending the fire Michael, Rachael and I were helping the kids build a snow wall. Rachael had a bunch of these toy bins that we used to compact the snow and they acted like big snow bricks. 

Love this lady!!! 

Once we got a wall built we decided to try to make an igloo out of it. 

Owen didn't want to use the bins...he just wanted to build his wall the old fashioned way. 

Eventually we got all the sides done except we kept the doorway clear. 

Lily and Jaymes had fun burying Jack. Jack had fun too even though his face doesn't show it. 

The kids decided it was time for a break so Rachael and I drove to MCD's and got lunch for everyone. 

After lunch Jack wanted to play the Pie in the Face game. 

Owen and Jack had fun playing together, but the best part was watching Pearl go around trying to lick off as much whipped cream as she could. 

We started to get the curve of the roof, but by that point us adults were all exhausted and my wrists were killing me. 

That's when Lance brought out the tubes and we decided to go find a place to have some fun. 

A few more pictures before we headed out...

After hours of trying to get the fire to take (the wood he had wasn't cooperating)...Lance was finally able to really get it going. As you can see it was hot...the snow was melting around it. 

Some of the kids had shored up the playhouse. 

Hanging out in the igloo! 

Precious Lilyann! 

We decided to head up to the new construction area that's closer to our house. On the way I saw that Penelope was even more covered than she was earlier in the week....almost totally covered! 

I don't think I've taken a picture of the house in a while. It looks so nice! I can't wait for it to get painted this spring! 

Our street used to be a dead end, but now with the new construction going in they have made our street a through street....hence the traffic circle. Well that road isn't opened yet so we thought that would be a perfect place to go tubing since we know it's flat and there isn't anything under the snow that's going to pop the tubes. 

At first we were bummed since it seems like the construction folks have really graded that area so it's not as steep anymore. We weren't sure if it was going to be fun, but we thought we'd give it a go. Michael and Lance rode down a bunch of times making the course. 

Then the kids lined up and waited for their turns. This area is fenced off, but the fence wasn't connected or locked so we were able to just walk right through. 

Almost after every run the course was getting longer and longer.

The kids were having a blast and so were the adults!!! 

It's exhausting walking up the almost flat hill! :) :) 

My handsome man! 

We had so much fun tubing and even some of the neighbors came out and had their first time going on a tube in the snow. Once we were all tired we went back to our house and had hot chocolate. It was a great snow day with friends!