Frosty and other winter fun

It was 40 degrees yesterday so we decided it would be a great day to try out the girls' new sleds. We started off making a snowman. Ella has been asking for a month now to make a snowman but the snow was just not good enough to pack. Well, with the warmer temps and wetter snow, Frosty "came to life one day". ;-)

We broke in the sleds on a tiny hill in our backyard which was just right for Ella. Lily didn't like touching the snow. She mostly played on the neighbors swing set while we played with the snow. Andrew convinced Lily to try riding on his shoulders for one sled run. Okay, to me, that would be much scarier than just going down the sled normally, but she liked the idea, so they tried it. One time was enough for her. It was really fun sledding (or "sliding" as native Minnesotans call it) and I haven't been on a sled since New Year's Eve 1994. Yes, it's been nearly 14 years now. Holy cow, that does not seem THAT long ago. Man, time goes by fast. Anyway, that fateful New Year's, I spun into a metal light pole on the side of the sledding hill and made a trip to the ER to make sure my ribs weren't fractured. They weren't broken, but definitely bruised. To say the least, I was not that much fun to party with that New Year's Eve! Yeah, good times.

This Christmas, I got a new zoom lens for my camera. Yesterday was a perfect opportunity to try it out and I love love LOVE it! It takes much crisper pictures than the standard lens that came with my camera. I'm a little sad the smaller lens doesn't take quite as nice pictures. But I'm loving the new lens and even though its bulkier, its fun to use. I'll be toting it around to our various outdoor activities. I'm sure at some point when the girls become more aware, they are going to be very embarrassed by their mother lugging around such a gigantic, conspicuous camera, especially compared to the microscopic digital cameras out there today. But, boy, its amazing the quality of pictures you can get with a good camera. Okay, enough photographic gushing. I'll be uploading pictures to the Shutterfly site later this afternoon so you'll be able to enjoy the MILLIONS of pictures we took yesterday. There's a few in this post to tide you over. :-)

The girls and I ventured outside again this afternoon. This time, Lily walked in the snow for a while. At first she had to hold my hand, but after a bit I made her do it by herself. She kept thinking she was "stuck" in the snow if her boots sunk in at all. And she did go down the hill with me on the sled at least three or four times. So there's improvement. She was interested in going down by herself and told me so. But when the reality of it hit. As I was about to put her on the sled, she changed her mind. At least she seemed to enjoy being out there a little more today.

Enjoy your winter adventures whether they are snow or sun related! :-)