going to the snow, part one.

when i was growing up, everyone used to say they were "going to the snow" or "going to see snow" when they were headed up to the mountains in the wintertime to, well, see snow.  it was nice and simple, you drove for hours to visit the snow, have fun in it, then turn your car back toward home and leave it behind.  that was the kind of snow i liked.  now, when we lived in minnesota, NO ONE ever said they were "going to the snow" for fun.  no, no, the snow there was meant to be lived in, shoveled out of driveways, scraped off of car windows, but was never meant to be a novelty.  that kind of snow was hard for me to deal with, being a california girl and all.  so me and snow almost had a break-up of sorts when we left minnesota.  i secretly thought to myself that if i never saw snow again, it'd be too soon.

but then, my monkey children came along and wouldn't you know it, they asked if they could "go to the snow" too since all their little monkey friends were taking weekend trips up for fun.  and then my monkey brother asked if we wanted to "go to the snow" (aka big bear) for a weekend with them.  well, as long as this was the fun kind of snow and not the live in kind, i decided to give snow another chance.

and well, we all had a blast!  i'll let the pictures do the talking.  this first set of pictures is from our first day in the snow...

baby in the snow.

"really, mom?  do i need to be bundled up this much?"

sledding through the snow...

jjjj family pic.

making snow angels.

and of course, there was sledding.  look at me screaming like a banshee even though it
was just a little hill and we weren't even going that fast.  and look, my daughter takes after me!

my mini screaming down the hill again.  makes a mama proud to see that.  :)

that's my girl!

cuz look- i even got mikey screamin' too!

but my brother's way too cool to be seen screaming down a baby hill.

speaking of babies...

oh, and here's an action shot of our feet while we were in
the midst of sledding down the untouched, powdery snow.

hmm, it looks like phil's a screamer too!

meanwhile, lauren was content to sit and sample some snow.

then mikey wanted to try sledding by himself.  so far so good...

mayday, mayday...

man down!  mommy to the rescue!

whew!  he's all right, folks!

father and daughter sharing an unflavored shave ice.

and what would a day in the snow be without some pouting...

some crying...

some snowman building...

and some bundled up babies?  :)
(lookit her staring me down, though.)

here is my husband sledding straight towards me.
without appearing to even try to veer away from me.

here is allie after deciding the snowgirl's head
was cold and very generously sharing her own hat.

here is lauren with her person of choice for the weekend.
(lookit her staring me down AGAIN, though!)

here is yours truly screaming her head off once again.

and here we are having another mayday moment...

and here we are just after eating it.

but don't worry, it's all good!

 here is a serious case of hat head.

here is attempt number one at a family photo.

here is attempt number two at a family photo.

and here are the hungry, grumpy, and
weary troops trudging back to the minivan.

but thankfully, it wasn't anything a little hot chocolate couldn't cure.

for him, too.

she required some nutella on toast though.

thanks for wading through all these pictures!  

bye for now, but there's more to come soon...  :)