The 1st "real" snow of the 2011-2012 winter

The nighttime accumulation

(photo courtesy of Thor)

It finally came beginning yesterday evening, November 29th and continuing throughout the night. The "first (real) snow of the year." I say "real" because we got snow a few weeks back that fell in big beautiful flakes but didn't stick to the above-freezing roads. Along with this "first snow" came the first school cancellations as well. I admit I rolled my eyes a little thinking about how we're supposed to be prepared for this sort of thing in Michigan, but every day it snows is a snow-day for Pascal and me, so who am I to criticize? Even as I type though, the snow is melting and falling off the trees in large chunks, plopping on our roof, causing me to jump a little and wonder if Pascal is getting into trouble in his room during his supposed nap time.

We played outside this morning for 45 minutes after finishing breakfast and getting into our day clothes. This was Pascal's first real chance to play in the snow since last year he was all of 10/11 months old and not yet walking. The "playing" consisted of him eating ice, trying to walk in the deeper snow, falling over, crying, me helping him up, then carrying him around, going down the little slide in the backyard, riding on his little sled we found at an estate sale this past summer for $1.00, then rolling off the sled into the snow on his face, crying, me picking him up and heading back indoors. We peeled off our many layers (I stayed super warm and dry in Thor's snow pants) and settled onto the couch for some book reading and apple pie eating.

We'll see how long the snow lasts before it comes again (and again, and again, and again...). In the mean time, I'm thinking about making snow ice cream for dessert tonight.