Last week, we jumped drastically from a mild, comfortable fall into a bitter cold winter. The temperatures were literally in the 50's one day and then in the teens the next day. Talk about an abrupt season change! Early in the week, we got our first snowfall of the season.
Initially, Jaden and Cody were SO excited about the snow. They ran to the window and couldn't stop talking about the snow they saw. It was a wonderful morning distraction, as Jason happened to be out of town. Right after breakfast, we bundled up and headed out to experience the snow.
Unfortunately, I couldn't convince the boys to keep their gloves on, so they got cold quickly. I couldn't blame them-- it DID feel chilly! About all we did was walk on the grass for a bit before heading back inside.
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| Cody (in the hat with "two spikes") and Jaden in the blue coat |
Instead, we celebrated the coming of winter inside with the boys' first taste of hot chocolate. The more accurate name, however, was "lukewarm chocolate" as I just filled their mugs up with warm water from the tap. :) Also, I wanted to give them an authentic mug but didn't want the mugs to break... so we used straws. How's that for a hot chocolate experience?? :)
The boys thought the hot chocolate was only okay. They were much more interested in talking about the snowmen on their mugs and especially in eating the marshmallows on the side! Not many of the marshmallows actually made it into their mugs...
We tried going out on a few other days to have more snow adventures, but the boys really didn't like the cold. (We still have to toughen up these Montana boys!) Also, the transition into a big winter coat was a bit of a difficult one, especially for Cody. Anytime we'd go anywhere he'd cry and flail around, saying, "No big coat! Too big! Too big!" and try to pull his coat off. So.. we're still taking baby steps with our snow experiences!
Thankfully, this week the weather has warmed up to more bearable outdoor winter temps. (What do you think of that, TX and Arizona family members? "Warming UP" to the 30's??) In addition, Cody's coat tantrums are lightening up a bit, so we've ventured outside a few times successfully again.
On this particular day, we took out spray bottles filled with colored water. The boys picked the colors-- yellow and green.
They really enjoyed watching how the snow changed colors. Mommy enjoyed knowing that the yellow snow really was just from water!! :)
Hopefully, we'll have more snowy outdoor adventures to come. (Otherwise it could be a LONG winter indoors!!)
Your Wisconsin family members understand how warm 30 degrees can feel. We had a week or so of unseasonably cold weather also, where it was getting down to 4 degrees at night, and was cold and windy during the day. When the sun came out and the temperature rose to 30 last week, we all thought it was so warm that we didn't want to wear coats!
ReplyDeleteMegan used to dislike her winter coat also, especially the winter she was 2 1/2, but I let her go outside without a coat a few times (for a minute or two) and she eventually figured out that the coat was a good idea. Her favorite thing about snow that winter was eating snow and bringing snow inside to make snow ice cream.
I hope your boys enjoy the snow more and more as winter continues - the first snowfall of the year can be hard!
Your northern IL relatives can also relate to how warm 30 degrees is as well. It has been COLD around here. We did not get as much snow as you did but my kids were quite excited to see snow. I bet your boys will "warm up" to snow and cold.
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