Snow Play

There was a really nice snowstorm on Monday. We got another 2.5 inches and another storm is supposed to come through on Friday.  Typically it snows once every 3 weeks or so here (last January it didn't snow at all for the whole month) so these past few storms have been out of the ordinary for us and really nice. Today was actually pretty nice so after naps Jared, Lydia and I headed up for some good old fashioned fun in the snow. We made a snowman, threw snowballs (softly) at each other and made a snow angel. Neither Jared or Lydia had ever done any of these things and they really enjoyed them. We built our snowman on our patio table and then had a great time sliding it across to each other.  There was quite a bit of snow in our backyard so we could have made it much bigger but this worked out great.  After we played outside we of course came in and warmed up with hot chocolate and marshmallows. It was very nice.

We were outside for about 45 minutes and I took so many pictures. Sometimes it's just hard to stop.  They were having so much fun. Even I had more fun than I thought I would. I think it helped that it was above freezing and there was no wind. 

 I haven't built a snowman since I was 6 or so. At least that I remember. The first time I tried putting it together I was trying to round out the bottom and I crushed it! I was much softer with my patting after that.  He slid across the table really well.

They were really excited about the marshmallows! 

We also had some fun with a snowman inside. I found this great project where you make a foaming, melting snowman.  It was super fun and easy.  Jared Lydia and I mixed up the dough (baking soda, dish soap, water) then squirted it with vinegar. I love how the dish soap made it bubble. We had fun building and melting our snowman.  This recipe made enough to do it at least 4 times. After we melted it the last time we played in the foam and then took the leftover dough and drew all over our island. It was a great indoor winter activity. After we cleaned up my sink was so sparkly. Baking soda really is great for cleaning.

Super Fun!

We also made a snowstorm in a jar.  We mixed baby oil, glitter, white paint, and water. Then after it was mixed in we dropped in Alka Seltzer tablets.  Jared and Lydia loved dropping the tablets in and watching it swirl around. It was snowing outside so we had our own snowstorm inside. 

We made lots of fun snow art projects as well. 

The mittens and the snowman on the right were projects Jared made at preschool. My favorite was our melted snowman. (Bottom right.) It was so cute and simple. People are so creative.