Snow Daze

So Owen and I finally got a weekend to ourselves . . . and we weren't about to let a silly blizzard stop us!  I picked Micah up early from school and drove the kids to Lancaster on Friday.  I came back and made it to the house by 2:30.

[Here I must add that only Grandma's quick thinking substitution of a turquoise skiing neck-warmer from the '80s kept me from having to drive right back to Lancaster with Jesse's blankie, "night night."  Here is a picture of him holding it in much warmer weather.  He generally does not sleep without it.  The only other time (other than last weekend) was last summer when we left it at home with the diapers in a bag in the middle of the floor when we left for the beach.  And then it was like that scene from Best in Show when the dog's owners freak out because they can't find "busy bee" and the dog is about to go on.  They think the dog is freaking out, but actually the dog appears unaffected while the owners go ballistic.  Once again, Jesse gracefully adapted because he didn't realize his mom would actually have brought it to him if he hadn't.]

Anyway, to get back to my account of our childless snow days . . .

It snowed 28.5 inches at Philadelphia airport (apparently the only place in Philly that measured it, since it was quoted each time measurements were listed).  And that meant that part of the snow day must be spent shoveling.  The shoveling was light and fluffy, however, and so not a big problem, especially if you were the one on sidewalk versus car-freeing duty.

After we shoveled and ate the seasonally appropriate tomato soup and grilled cheese I whipped up (against all of my intentions--the main point of the weekend for me was to get out of cooking anything), we set out for center city to join the ten other people braving the post-storm sidewalks. 

We got a rather filling, powder-based chai at a coffee shop that was open (Starbuck's was closed! How's that for unbelievable?); bought Owen an acceptable hat at an overpriced boutique (the hat is modelled in the first picture up at the top), because, hey, it was open, and you have to reward the people sitting there and getting 2 or 3 customers an hour; and then we went to Farmacia, my new favorite restaurant as of Saturday, which served local seasonal organic cuisine (this time of year: root vegetables, swiss chard, arugula, and the best smoked cheese from a local Amish purveyor--their word choice, not mine--I have ever tasted in my life).  Yum. 

We then tried walking to Barnes and Nobles on Broad Street (or Borders, to me they are too identical to bother telling apart), but after an 8 block walk in crappy boots, I was slightly annoyed to discover they were closed.  That night we fell asleep again around 10 and slept until almost 9 the next morning.  I definitely haven't slept that long since I was a young child (except for the night before, since we did go downtown for dinner Friday and walk all over the place that evening, too, but it doesn't make as good of a story because the snow didn't start until we left the restaurant).  

The weekend was lovely. 

Now we are snowed in again, but the blizzard is still raging and nasty.  And the kids are here, so that's a rather different experience.  A huge branch just fell off of our neighbor's tree with a loud crash right behind our kitchen window, pretty exciting.  Plus, lightening and thunder during a snowstorm is wild.  Stay warm!