Saying Goodbye to Winter

Yesterday was our goodbye to winter. A last artic blast. We started the day at Nashoba Mountain for some tubing. The snow was definitely melting but the kids had a good time. Sophie had had a sleepover at Shannon's, so we went with her family. As you will see in the progression of pictures Sophie and Shannon peter out as the day wears on and at the end they get just plain grumpy. I have also included some pictures of a previous trip to the tubing park in February when the winter air was much more..well.......wintry (for lack of a better word).

In the afternoon we took the kids to a movie and then some neighbors stopped by and we had an impromptu game of snow baseball (we hit snow balls with bats instead of real baseballs). Unfortunately we have no pictures of this. The kids had a blast and were soaking wet by the end of the game and it all seemed like a fitting way to say goodbye to the kid's fluffy, transformable, moldable, slip slidy friend - snow.
In this picture Sophie and Shannon prepare to go down the mountain. At this point in the day they were still amenable to having their picture taken.















GOING,















GOING,













GONE! (well, almost gone)

This picture is taken from the top of the hill.
The next picture was taken from the bottom of the hill in early February. You can really see the difference in hte snow cover.







This picture was taken in early February, same place. Can you see any ground or dirt here?? Now look at the above picture.











This picture was taken of Hannah yesterday at the tube park. Notice how the jacket is stuffed in the tube and not on her. Also notice how the hat is slipping of her head. The only reason she has her mittens and snowpants on was to keep herself dry. Now a picture of Hannah in February......









Here you can see, the coat is on, there is actually a scarf, and the hat is also pulled down over her head. Her cheeks are also all rosy from the cold nipping at them!









And here's Sophie in February all bundled up.
She doesn't have her mittens on because she needs her hands to drink the hot cocoa. There was no hot cocoa yesterday!!!












And, back to yesterday. Forget the crazy guy in the picture, look at the lack of snow in the backround, evaporating before our very eyes.










As I said earlier, it didn't take long for Sophie and Shannon to lose steam. When you're seven a picnic table makes the perfect bed for two.












But never too tired to share a secret or two.
Sometimes Sophie and Shannon remind me of two kittens. When they are playful - look out. But, when they are sleepy, they are content and cuddly as they bask in the sun but don't bug them or you might see this:










Who woke us up?????












Hannah, who was not exhausted from a sleepless night gave us all a big smile. She also had some fun pestering the little girls (see below), after all, what else are big sisters for?








Sophie smiles for the camera unaware that Hannah is about to pinch her and put her in the mood two pictures up.













All in All, the whole day was a fitting farewell to our coldest season. As grownups we are always happy to put away the shovels and the big bulky winter coats away but for the young it is also putting away igloos, sledding hills, snowball fights, forts, and, of course, hot cocoa, and December and the promise of another snow day, is such a long way off! (Thank God!)