Snow play

The week of rain that amounted to more than six inches of water produced A LOT of snow in the local mountains, and the last storm brought the snow level to a very low level.  So Saturday we took advantage and drove up to play in the snow.

Of course, it wouldn't be a multi-tasking-kind-of-day if I didn't do something else first, so I went in for my 3-hour glucose screening.  This is where multi-tasking got me in trouble a few months ago:  I forgot I had planned to get the 1-hour glucose screen one Saturday, ate breakfast, then remembered and decided to go in anyway.  Of course, I failed the screen, because you're supposed to drink the bottle of sugar water on an empty stomach.  Since I failed, I had to go back for the 3-hour glucose screen, which means drawing blood on an empty stomach (got that right this time!), then drinking the sugar water, then drawing blood again at one, two and thee hours after drinking.  Four blood draws, three hours.  My favorite way to spend a morning.  And it has to be a morning when Tom is home, because what sitter is going to come at 5:30 in the morning?

Anyway, I passed the 3-hour glucose screen.  But now I'm 28 weeks pregnant (almost) and they want me to have another glucose screen...so I have to take the 3-hour again!  One hour won't work since I've already failed...what a poor choice that was to go in anyway after having eaten breakfast!

To time it right before my 28-week check up, it had to be Saturday.  So I left the house at 5:30 to go to the same clinic that I went to last time, for an early Saturday morning line up.  Except they weren't open on Saturday.  A few hours later, after I found a clinic that was open Saturday mornings, I realized that the last time I must have gone on one of Tom's Fridays off, instead of a Saturday.  I need to check on line for the hours before going each time...hopefully there WILL NOT be a next time with this...I can't remember if there are any more glucose screenings after 28 weeks!

Fast forward...I made it home by 10 a.m. and we were piled into Tom's van by 10:20 a.m. with snow gear, lunch and sleds.  After hunting a little, we found a great picnic area that wasn't too steep, so the kids wouldn't fall off the mountain.  It even had picnic tables AND bathrooms (more than I expected!)

The kids had a blast!  The weather was pretty warm, so they didn't have the shock of cold snow and cold weather to deal with at the same time.  It was really a perfect outing.  I grew up in the northern U.S. with lots of snow in the winter, and I remember being very cold after playing in the snow as a young child...everything gets wet and cold very fast.

Tom and I think of Natalie as having pretty good balance and walking well, but she did not do well on the snow.  The unevenness of the already-trampled snow meant she fell a lot, and she didn't like falling.  We ended up seating her on a boogie board (usually for surfing...makes a great sled in the winter!) and she was happy playing in the snow that way.  She had been talking all morning about making a snowman, so I made her one and she was quite delighted.  Natalie kept saying, "I made a snowman!"  Ok, I'll let her take the credit.

Konrad was also enthralled with the snowmen.  I made him a small one, he called it, "Snow".  He kept saying, "Hi, Snow!"  I couldn't get him to say "snowMAN."

Lukas was all about sledding.  He could have handled a little bit steeper slope, but it's so hard to find just the right incline where he won't kill himself, so we settled for safe instead of sorry.

What a great day!