A Marvelous Discovery

Well, it's still winter. Yup, still snow on the ground. Layer upon layer of snow. And it doesn't look like it is going anywhere anytime soon. So what is a mom to do. We need to get out of the house because we are going crazy being cooped up inside. We've not been doing as many winter activities this year either, which I think has kept us physcially healthy (not much illness in our house) but it's taking a toll on my sanity. Unfortunately the past few weeks have been cold. I mean really cold. Not just chilly, I'm talking the kind of cold that numbs your feet, bites at your skin, and freezes your nosehairs.It does seem like we are having a reprieve though, so we've been trying to get out of the house. We'd been keeping to the backyard, doing some sledding, and climbing on the large snowbanks from the plow on the back driveway. But the boys were getting restless, and even though they weren't ready to go inside, they were done in the backyard and ready to explore. So, we went for a little hike. The boys jumped on the sled and I pulled them up through the back orchard up to the new road behind our house. The snow was pretty solid on top, so it made the walking fairly easy. We had a great time looking for deer tracks and deer poop (a huge hit), and were thinking that maybe, if we were really quiet, we might even spot the real thing. That was when we were distracted by the pond. There it was, an oval of green, shining in the sunlight. The little duck pond had frozen solid and was beckoning to us to take advantage of that fact. It turned out to be perfect place for sledding, "skating", and even ice diving (you know, where you run onto the ice and then slide on your knees or belly . . . boy am I going to feel that tomorrow.) It was such a find. The sledding was great because even though the hill wasn't very high, once you hit the ice you took off. We had so much fun playing there yesterday that we actually came back today, and we'll probably go for a little while tomorrow as well. It's like our own special secret (or at least, it was) and it made me feel like a kid again. Enjoy the videos.