Garden of Dandelions

 

When I just had two little girls to dress up, I bought everything in girly colors. Then came Tate. The first winter he was able to go out and play in the snow, he had to wear lavender snow bibs. So I wised up right then and there and got gender neutral colors in things that didn't really matter, like snow gear. Although he is wearing black snow bibs this year, they are size 2T! The girls have fit into their same gear for a few winters now (I bought it big) so there was nothing to pass down to him this season. And his boots are Drue's from last year so they are a wee bit girly. I had to cut off the poofy pom pom balls. Never fear, I plan on getting him bigger stuff soon. It hasn't hindered his play time at all.

 

During one of their snow days, they all wanted to head out and play in the dozen or so inches we got. So they got all bundled and headed out to the backyard. I did wait til the warmest part of the day and sent them out in balmy 11 degree weather. Yes, you read that correctly, I sent them out. Which implies that I stayed in. If you notice, all the pictures are taken from approximately the same angle. From inside my toasty living room through the window.

I enjoy playing in the snow, and definitely sledding, but not when it's under 20ish degrees. They headed straight for the swings and playhouse, and even whipped down the frozen slide. They acted like it wasn't any different than heading out to play in the summer. They did make a few snow angels.

 

I kept cracking open the back door (the snow was so high I couldn't open it all the way) and asking them if they were ok. The day before when I helped shovel the drive my hands almost froze off. And I hadn't been throwing myself face first into it the way they were. So I could only imagine how cold they were getting.

 

I kept going back and forth as to how long I was going to let them stay out there. I almost had myself convinced that they would know enough to stop playing and come in when they got too cold. But then I decided that would be like sitting them in a roomful of candy and expecting them to know when enough is enough and stop eating it on their own. They would be sicker than a dog. And if I let them play outside in freezing temps banking on them coming in when they got too cold, they'd probably be frostbitten. So I boiled some water on the stove, filled 3 little cups with marshmallows, and summoned them inside with two words, "HOT CHOCOLATE!".