Tales from Ivy Creek: Winter Catch-Up Part 1

Now that spring has arrived (not that you can tell based on our weather this year), I'm in the mood for spring cleaning. That means clearing out the backlog of blogging that I neglected to do all winter! Looking back at everything we did this winter, it looks like this is going to be part one of a three-part series.

The first major snowstorm of the season arrived in early December, and it did not disappoint, dropping over a foot of snow (which is not all that common around here - Minnesota does get a lot of snow, but it is spread out over a lot of different snow events - the typical snowfall this winter was more like 3"). The "official" backyard measurement...

12.5"

This was especially exciting because it meant that I could finally realize a lifelong dream - piloting my very own snowblower down the driveway! Ok, lifelong dream is a stretch, but I have been very excited to buy and use a snowblower since finding out I was moving to Minnesota. I had a shiny new Toro model delivered to the house right after Thanksgiving, and I was worried that it was going to be another winter like last year, where there was hardly any need for snowblowing at all.

Being a snowblowing newbie, I had to watch the neighbors for clues for proper snowblowing timing and technique. Soon, the neighborhood was humming with the sound of small engines and I had all the data I needed. Do you wait till it has stopped snowing when it's this much snow? (No) How early can you fire it up in the morning? (Unless you absolutely have to get out, wait until 7:30 or so) Can you throw it a little ways into a neighbor's yard if that's what's easiest for your layout? (Yep, everyone understands.) Is there a "right" way or pattern to do your driveway? (Nope, I was free to innovate and try out all the variants I had dreamed up). This may seem like a lot of unnecessary research, but I'm trying to fit in up here, I don't want to offend the natives with poor snowblowing etiquette. Imbued with confidence, off I went...

Good form!

I got the hang of it pretty quickly, and can now get the driveway cleared in under 10 minutes. Later storms would answer another critical question - how much snow do you need before you can break out the snowblower and not feel silly for doing so? At least in my neighborhood, the threshold is very low... 2" falls and everyone's out there with them. Works for me!

We also made sure to get Henry out in the sled. He had a great time riding around the street in his cozy highback surrounded by warm blankets. He especially likes going fast! We didn't get a great picture of his shrieks of delight, but here he is pausing for a photo with mama.

With the neighborhood coated in snow and the temps well below freezing, we spent a lot of time indoors this winter. This gave Henry a chance to catch up with his books and other toys. One of his favorite books this winter has been My Big Animal Book. He knows the signs and sounds for many of the animals in the book. We caught him practicing one day...

Gorilla

Wolf

Elephant

Chimpanzee

Another favorite activity has been stacking his cardboard blocks. The typical game we play is "how high can the tower get before Henry can no longer resist knocking it down?" (We average about 4 blocks).

Plenty of drink and snack breaks during play...

...which usually turns into hamming it up for the camera!

Balls remain as popular as ever...

There's mischief in those eyes!

...but he also added Sunday morning newspaper reading to his activities this winter.

Only the serious sections, though!

We've found all sorts of ways to keep Henry entertained indoors through the winter, but we're definitely ready for spring, so we can enjoy walks around the neighborhood, trips to the park, and romping around the yard.

The end of December brought another visitor...

Santa and his reindeer definitely stopped by the Fabrizio house this year.

The tree went up in the mud room (only place safe from Henry's curiosity) and the presents soon (over)flowed underneath. Henry's first train set and a new truck were just two of the fun gifts that Henry got from Santa.