Winter weather

After a long stretch of beautiful autumn weather, where day after day we've enjoyed sunny skies and temperatures in the fifties, winter has paid a visit to Grand Junction. It was cold and cloudy on Saturday, and on Saturday evening it started to snow. On Sunday morning we woke up to about 3 inches of snow. We got flurries on and off throughout the day but nothing really accumulated.

We thought we would all bundle up and go across the street to the park and play in the snow. That's what Chris and I thought, but Cailan was not into the idea. He had been excited to see the snow at first, but when we started trying to get him dressed he got upset. "Nooo, I don't want to wear my snow boots!" It's funny because I remember Quinn at about that age saying almost the same thing: "No, I don't want to wear my snow suit!"

We compromised on his Keens, which are high topped and kind of sturdy leather, but then we hit another stumbling block on the coat. He didn't want to wear his new winter coat, but I put in on him anyway. He refused to put the hood up or put on the mittens. Finally, we went outside, where Chris was clearing the driveway and the cars. Normally I'd say he was shoveling the driveway but we haven't bought a snow shovel yet. He was using a sturdy broom and actually, the snow was dry enough that that was working pretty well.

Once we got outside, Cailan didn't want to walk on the snow. "Want Mommy to pick me up!" So I carried him around, and we looked at the snow on the trees and the bushes and watched some other kids playing in the snow. We talked about how all his ramphorhyncuses (maple leaves in the front yard he was playing with - I guess they kind of look like flying dinosaurs) were hiding under the snow. The wind was pretty hard, so I took him into the back yard which is more sheltered, but he still wouldn't get down on the snow. Then he started crying "My hands are cold! My hands are cold!"

So we went inside and sat on the couch and talked about how next time we go out to play in the snow he can wear his blue jacket and his orca mittens, as we snuggled under a fleece blanket and tried to warm his hands up.