Venturing out in the "dead of winter"

Well, we finally ventured out in the snow today. After the blizzard on Tuesday, we have been stuck inside for the week. Today Brad and I found a couple minutes while Emily was napping so we could go outside and see this huge pile of snow. As you can see below, the snow was up to 3.5 to 4 feet in some places because of the drifts. Other places were as low as 3-6 inches. We thought it was pretty neat that even along the sidewalks the snow was up to Brad's waist or chest. Also, around the hill behind our house, there is a huge snow drift which caused some places in the snow to be probably around 6 feet deep. Other people had been out in the snow earlier this week and had built snow caves, sled runs, and snow forts. We loved tracking through the snow in the back and exploring!

It definately took some time to shovel out the sidewalks from all this snow.

This is our first snow cave we explored. The people dug into the snow about as deep as Brad. He was a little intimidated to get inside this snow hole, but I assured him that it was safe and it would be really cool! There as a small window at the bottom that Brad could look through when he sat down.

This is the top view: looking down into the hole.

Traveling to the backyard was not as easy as it may look. When just walking, the snow is about 1-2 feet deep, so this means... take a step - fall into snow - take another step - fall into snow! Needless to say, but I carried Brad - there is no way he could walk in it - and he had a great time as I fell into the snow with each step.

In this picture, Brad is standing on the drift. Meaning: He is stand in an area that when the snow melts, is not part of the hill, yet at this time, it is equal with the red fire "thing" which is on the top of the hill. (If this discription makes any sense... it means the snow is really deep where he is standing!)

This is a sled run that our neighbors were working on. They dug it into the snow hill so you go through a snow tunnel on the sled. The neighbor boy (who is at the bottom of the hill) went a couple of times while we were outside. He invited Brad to go, but Brad was not sure he was interested in going underneath the snow... maybe next year!

At the top of the hill some people built a snow fort. Brad thought this was pretty cool! The walls were about as tall as Brad! Perfect for a snow fight! (Hum... when does Jon come home?)

Peek-a-boo! Enjoy the snow! We love it!! (most of the time)