From Brutal to Blissful

So... this is the craziest winter in all of history. Okay. Maybe not. But it certainly feels that way. I hesitate to even write about it since I know we are all pretty sick of talking about it, hearing about, and living through it. If it isn't the bitter, nasty cold it is the piles and piles of snow. 

The other night we got another 10 inches of snow. Todd always plows three of our neighbors' driveways as well as our own (and his mother's) so he was outside on his tractor until about 11 o'clock at night. First he plowed our driveway and then by the time he finished our three neighbors' (actually it was four because he felt especially charitable) driveways he saw that our driveway had another 3 or 4 inches of fresh snow. So he plowed our driveway again.  Madness.

At school the kids have been trapped inside for almost a month because the temperatures were below zero and it was too cold to go outside for recess. A sledding trip for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders (a reward for good behavior) was cancelled and rescheduled over and over again for 4 weeks straight on account of snow or below zero temps.

Finally this past week we had temperatures in the 30s. It felt like spring. Everyone wanted to go outside without jackets and take runs and ride their bikes (in the snow). The school sledding trip was taken. For three days we basked in mid 30s as if it were summer.  Then we had a massive snowstorm and the temps plummeted again. The highest temperature expected for this coming week is 12 degrees.

I think I can officially say we are DONE with winter. D.O.N.E.

That is why we decided to use this wonderful "No School" Friday as an escape from winter. The minute I found out the kids didn't have school I told Todd to take off of work. I had plans.

Seeing as how Joey's birthday is on Monday I wanted to do something special this weekend to celebrate. Todd is out of town on Friday night until Sunday so the "No School" on Friday came at the perfect time.

We kept it a secret from the kids just in case another horrible snow storm came through or one of the kids suddenly got sick.

This morning the kids were healthy and the weather (though windy and cold) was clear.

Immediately after breakfast we told the kids that for Joey's birthday treat we were all going to Blue Harbor to enjoy the waterpark for the day. Screams and cheers of excitement all around.

The minute we stepped into the hot air of the waterpark we knew we had made a good decision. It took approximately 2 seconds for the kids to rip of their jackets and sweatshirts and jump into the water and onto the slides.

Todd and I couldn't get over how much fun it was. I'd even call it relaxing. All of the boys can swim like pros and Grace was doing amazingly well. It was really the first time when Todd and I could sit back and play and relax and swim and watch while the kids had fun, instead of holding and wading and helping a little one. A little bittersweet for me, but mostly sweet. It was so much fun!

We played basketball in the water, we swam, we rode all the slides, we floated and played in the lazy river, and we even had relaxing time in the hot tub. It was perfection. The absolutely perfect way to spend the umpteenth freezing cold, windy winter day.




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