Snow Mountain!

Today, we took Katie Anne to Snow Mountain at Stone Mountain Park.  Katie Anne says that her favorite season is winter because she loves the snow so much.  For the last several months, she's been looking forward to winter and playing in the snow.  We tried to explain to her that snow is rare in Georgia, but she didn't really believe us because, during the last two winters, we've had several good snow storms that she remembers.  

Snow - February 2010

Snow - December 2010

Snow - January 2011

She loved playing out in the snow, and she was expecting that trend to continue.  

Since we knew it was quite possible that she wouldn't see snow in her own backyard this season, we decided to try out a Snow Mountain day.  Saunders and I thought SJ wouldn't be able to handle it this year, so Gigi and Granddad kept the little man for us for the day.  (Thanks, Gigi and Granddad!) Since we had SJ safely taken care of, we decided to make it a Big KA Day Out!  We planned for Snow Mountain in the morning, Ok Cafe for lunch, and Beauty and the Beast 3D for the afternoon!  Katie Anne was so excited about doing all these special things with just Mommy and Daddy.

We started our morning at Snow Mountain, and it was a blast!  We all had an amazing time.  We went sledding for two hours - we did the big family tubing as well as individual tubing. 

 Catching a ride from Daddy-

 Almost choking poor Dad out!

 Obermeyer snowsuit booty!

 Riding the moving sidewalk-

Dragging her own tube!

Here comes Dad!

Here comes KA!

 Little girl in a giant tube!

 Then, we headed over to the snow field for snowman building, snowball fights, and a mini-tubing area that KA could do by herself.  She liked it, but she said it didn't compare to the fast ride of the big tubes!

 Time to make a snowman!

 Our finished snowman!

 The Snow Mountain snow is really more icy than powdery... much too hard for making snow angels!

Time for a snowball fight!

 Mini Tubing Time!

 Time to go!  KA was tired, so Daddy had to carry her out!

Next up in our big day of fun was a late lunch at the Ok Cafe!  We all love this place!  We had all the terribly  unhealthy but totally tasty things there - fried pickles, vanilla milkshakes, hamburgers, and fries!

Last stop - the movies!  We were all looking forward to kicking back, relaxing, and watching Beauty and the Beast 3D!

It was a great day out with our big girl!

Snow Day!

It's Snow-A-Palooza 2011! 

Last night, the big snowstorm (actually a snow thunderstorm - that was a little scary!) came rolling in.  It had been predicted that we'd have some major snow for the last several days, but you never can be really sure in Georgia.  We've had a lot of false predictions in the past, so you never know whether to clean out the milk and bread aisles or just laugh at those who do.  (And, they do clean the aisles out.  For REAL.  Don't believe me?  Click here to see the bread aisles in the local Walmart!)  We kind of split it down the middle - we prepared (with a baby, you've got to be at least somewhat prepared for major disasters at all times), but we didn't go nuts.  I will admit that last night, when the snow was coming down like crazy, the wind was howling, and the thunder was booming, I was worried that we hadn't done enough!  But, everything turned out fabulous - and we had a great snow day!

The house and Element in the snow...

 
We parked the Element at the street last night in case we needed to go anywhere, because there was no way we would get out of our driveway, even with the 4x4!

We got around 4" of snow here, but because of the wild wind last night, it was piled up in drifts way higher than that in places.  Luckily, we didn't lose power or water like we have in snowstorms past, so it was the perfect snow day - toasty warm inside and cold fun outside!  This morning, we bundled up and went out to play.  We went out twice - the first time, SJ was napping, so we really got to play with KA and stay out for a long time.  We tried our hands at snowman making, sledding, and making snow angels.  We came in for awhile to get warm and get SJ.  Gigi and Granddad walked over, and then we all went out to play again!  Katie Anne loves the snow - she is a fearless sledder, loves snowball fights, and will throw herself down into a snowbank to make snow angels with reckless abandon!  SJ wasn't such a fan - he was very glad that he was asleep during the first playtime, and he was happy when we came inside!  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from today's snowy adventures - to see more, check out my Facebook photo album by clicking here.