Over the weekend, we had some pretty cold weather pass over the desert. A light sprinkle of rain left dusty cars with only a smattering of dried up droplets. But that's pretty good for the desert. I have lived here almost my whole life so at the sight of grey clouds I still slip on my flip-flops. I know not to automatically grab an umbrella. In fact, I don't think I own one.
Anyway, Julian, a little mountain town about an hour and a half up the road, received buckets of snow over the weekend. My parents own a little cabin up there, and after hearing their description of the beauty, I decided to load up the kids and maybe make a snow man. To be honest, I didn't think we'd see too much snow since the last couple of days have been so warm. We figured we would see a lot of it on the side of the road, maybe scrape some together for a tiny snow...something, eat some apple pie, and head for home. Oh my! I am happy to report that I was so, so wrong!!!
WARNING! Lots of pictures ahead! I went a little nutty on this blog, so I completely understand if you skip it!!
The first sign that we would be dealing with a TON of snow was seeing the snow-piled gravel driveway leading up to the cabin. My sweet gold mini-van may be rockin', but there is no way that baby can make it over a giant snowdrift! Ok, it looked giant through the windshield, but I did easily step over it, as did my two-year-old twins. Anyway, the girls were in heaven!!! Note the fleece scarves, mittens, and hats. They have been waiting years to pull this stuff out!
J.D. basically hated walking in the snow. This is probably the only picture I have of him, since the rest of the time, I was carrying him. Wet boots and all.
My romantic oldest daughter was in love with the whole scene. The glistening white snow, against the pristine blue sky was like a dream come true for her. The snow blanketed across the meadow was everything she thought it would be.
Cubby was convinced on the way up that snow would taste like ice cream. Emma actually warned her not to eat it all, she wanted to play with some! So here's the taste test.
It's cold...kinda good....
....but it ain't ice cream.
J.D. tried the white stuff, too. He ate little bits of it all day. My kids never go thirsty, ok?!
Finally, after the long journey on foot up the driveway, here is the sight that awaited us!
Check out those daffodils poking through the snow!
The eaves on the roof were dripping the entire time.
The cabin was freezing, it was much warmer outside. So Emma and I decided to walk up to check out the water level of the pond. She was one happy kid!
She made a snowball and I turned around just in time to get this shot. She was just about to throw it at my back, can you imagine that?! I turned around and let her have the whole target. Good times.
We certainly did muck up that gorgeous, perfect snow.
The pond was full and looked beautiful reflected against the bright blue sky.
More snowballs were to made.
Then Little G joined us at the pond. She just couldn't decide if she liked the snow or not. She wanted to wear mittens, but she wanted to touch the snow. She wanted to touch the snow, but the snow was so cold! Ahhh, the dilemmas of a two-year-old!
"These mittens don't fit, Mommy!"
"I don't want the mittens."
"Ok, I'll put them back on."
And then she trudged away angrily, but in a cute way.
I followed as she chewed me out under her breath. Not really, but I like the idea.
Then she decided to make snowballs like the other kids.
J.D. threw his snowballs into the pond.
Cubby ate her snowballs.
And then, since everyone was just about on the verge of tears, I of course suggest a family picture! Little G was the only open protestor. J.D. was just annoyed he was interrupted from snowball throwing.
Time to head to town for some "yunch," meaning "lunch" according to Little G.
Another long trek out to the car. J.D. is not pictured since he is being held by the photographer.
Yunch at the Rongbranch is pretty hard to beat for a handful of tuckered out little folks. Bar-b-qued pork sandwiches with ranch beans and fries? Um yes, we'll have four!
And they have coloring pages?
And they serve lemonade in cups WITH LIDS? I think I hear angels singing!
While in town, we had two other stops to make besides yunch. We had to get a pie (duh!), and we had to run by the hardware store to by some sledding discs. They were out of sledding discs, but J.D. was quick to find his heart's desire. I think he touched every tool in this aisle and whispered something fondly to each one. The boy is a tool man.
Pie time! We chose my ultimate favorite, peach apple pie. Here it is before the Walker clan dove in.
And here it is 2 minutes later. That is some good pie.
We had cinnamon ice cream on the side. We do not mess around with our pie and ice cream combos!
The day was winding down. The kids wanted to walk through the property once more and enjoy the winter weather.
They formed snowballs,
became upset when the snow made their fingers cold,
and then played a 3 on 1 snowball fight with Grandma D. Do I need to tell you who won? Apparently Grandma D concluded her victory by kicking over a snowman. Wow.
Now Little G was just too adorable to me in this moment. She was so tired, but equally determined to get to the car without anyone's help. She trudged through that snow with purpose!
On and on she walked...
...over hill and dale until....
....her mom interrupted her journey for a photo op. Is she not one of the cutest kids in the world, along with....
...the rest of these sweethearts who are buckled and strapped into their seats? This marks the end of our snow day. What a wonderful, beautiful day we had together!
The following pictures are just more of the sights of the snow in Julian. Enjoy!
