Snow Fun

 It's been snowing a lot here lately and I've been doing my best to get Peter used to it.  He has a really hard time with cold and snow.  He always cries like crazy whenever I ask him to go outside with me.  Yet, every time he goes, he has fun, so I keep pushing him hoping that one day it'll click and he'll stop complaining so much about it.  Here are some fun pictures from recent snow adventures.

Our favorite place to play in the snow is on the trampoline.  Bouncing the snow around and collecting the ice chunks that form underneath and then smashing them on the concrete is always fun.  Being buried in the snow is also way better than being buried at the beach.

We went sledding a few more times.  There is nothing like having a private sledding hill.  Christian got the privilege of being the first one down.

Peter was a good sport the first few runs but then he got some snow spray in his face and he wasn't taking it anymore.  "I want to go home! We go home now!?" he wailed on repeat.  That's when Christian had the brilliant idea to introduce him to the joy of eating snow. 

"Peter, do you want to eat some snow?"

"NO! I want to go home!"

"Great, more for me!"

"More for you?"

"Yeah, there's only so much snow and if you don't eat any, I get it all!"

    *greedily takes a handful of snow and stuffs it in his mouth. 

    *Peter looks on, intrigued, and finally stops crying.

"I try it?"

"Well, ok. I guess I can share."

    *Peter tentatively licks the snow on his mitten.

"I like it! It cold!"

After that we sat him up against the fence, at the top of the hill, so he could "bask in the sun" like the lizards in one of his favorite books, and he was happy as a clam scooping and eating snow for almost an hour while Christian and I got our fill of sledding.  Well, I can never get my fill of sledding, but I was willing to call it quits.  Christian is a genius.

 

Peter's favorite part of sledding, though, was the parking lot at the end.  It was filled with large puddles of nasty dirty water.  He would scoop snow into the puddles, then jump and stomp onto it to make it melt away. 

I watched him splash with glee for a long time.  Then Christian got bored sitting in the car waiting for him and said, "Peter, I bet I can get into your car seat faster than you can!" No one can resist such a challenge!  "No! I winning!" Peter shrieked and ran toward the car.  Christian pretended to hurriedly try to climb into the little car seat as Peter raced to get into the car and when Christian sadly lost, we headed home with a Christian who was grinning like an evil villain.

At home we attempted a snow man, but it was such fluffy, non packing snow that we only managed a little snow mound.  To Peter, though, it was perfect.  He loved his little snow man.

In true Peter fashion, though, this little love pat turned into a fatal swipe as he crushed the snowman's head and wiped away all elements of a face.  "Why did you do that?" I asked.  "I in the mood, " he replied matter-of-factly.  Then he decided to see if the snow at home tastes as good as the snow on the hill.  He decided it did.  He ate the snow on the picnic table because that seemed appropriate.

Then he invited Kelly to join our lunch and Kelly and I became horses on a grand ride around the house.  Peter loved every minute of it.  I think mission accomplished - maybe he won't be so hesitant to go play in the snow from now on.