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Winter Entertainment

Oh, what do you do in the winter time when all the world is white?  (and cold)

Really, how do we manage to keep busy children entertained through the cold winter months?  Well, honestly, they do essentially the same thing they would any other time of year--play outside.

One benefit of living in  a winter climate is snow.  Playing in the snow provides hours of entertainment if the temperature outside is not too cold.  For my friends on the west coast, "too cold" means less than 15 degrees or "too windy" which makes it "too cold."  We have had a mild winter thus far, and we didn't really have snow to play with until Christmas Eve.  Since then, the kids have enjoyed sledding in the backyard, making snowmen, and building snow forts.  Best of all, they are old enough and independent enough to be playing outside in the cold without me.  I stay inside with Sean.

A few weeks ago, we had perfect weather for building snowmen and snow forts.  The snow was fresh and the weather was above freezing.

Ricky made a snowman.  By the time I got outside to take a picture, the snowman had lost his head.  I think Andrew knocked it off.  Ricky was frustrated, but Ricky cheered up a little when I offered to take a picture of him standing by The Headless Snowman.


 The girls built a massive snow fort.  I was impressed with their engineering.

 In the following picture, Makayla is hiding under the tarp.  The tarp seemed like a good idea for a roof until the kids left it outside overnight and it was either stolen or blown away.  We haven't seen it since, but maybe we'll find it again in the spring when the kids get out into the woods.



Three weeks later, the snow fort looks exactly like they built it.  The afternoon they built the fort, we had a light rain.  The warmth and rain were quickly followed by a few days of sub-zero temperatures (the first we have had all winter).  I don't think we could knock the fort down now if we tried.

Playing outside in the winter is fun, but sometimes you just rather participate in an indoor activity.

Before Christmas, Andrew's preschool class went on a field trip to Texas Roadhouse.  What a great deal!!  The children were given a tour of the kitchen, a free meal, toys, hats, and tokens for free future meals.




Andrew had a great time, and so did his friends.  They all had so much fun that one of the other preschool moms suggested planning a tour like this for the older children during Christmas break.  So, a few weeks after our first trip to Texas Roadhouse, I went again with Ricky, Andrew, and Sean.  The girls were not interested in going--especially since we had just gotten Band Hero for Christmas and they felt the need to perfect their musical talents while we were away.

Again, it was a great experience.  This second time, I bought a meal to eat with the boys.



So, that's what you do in the winter time.  You know what else you can do?  You can get away from the winter time!  Last year, we planned a trip to Disney World for this February, remembering how awful winter can be.  Even though winter hasn't been awful yet, we are looking forward to celebrating Sean's and Makayla's birthdays in 70-degree weather.  We'll also get to see Grandma and Grandpa Mergenthaler.  I have started writing up our itinerary and planning our packing, but I have a lot more to do before we leave.  I'm sure we'll have a great time!

Comments

Anjee said…
Emily and Makayla I LOVE your snow cave wow. How amazing you two are.

Aunt Anjee
February 21, 2011 at 12:25 AM
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