Lucy's First Sledding

Today snow fell in sufficient quantities to make it hard to drive up the drive way and, more importantly, easy to go down the hill in the backyard on a sled. Of course, the front yard is much steeper but has a rather inconveniently placed street at the bottom. So we sled in the back yard. Here's Jacob and Lucy suiting up for the first adventure of this winter:

Jacob wears his coolest hat-his own name AND tractors!

Lucy's supercute snowsuit

Jacob loved his gloves; they're as great as a craft!

Outside, we had lots of fun:

Jacob drags his sled back up the hill

Lucy is smarter--she gets someone to drag her!

View from Mt. Reninger

 Back inside, Lucy decided to try on Daddy's hat. The only problem was the size difference:

"I feel like a character from Fat Albert!"

Jacob wanted to get in on the fun and wacky head wear:

The pillow wouldn't stay on his head so he decided it was a camera

Fighting a losing battle

Today was day four of the snow removal marathon. Since we were walloped with over two feet of snow on Saturday, I've been slowly digging us out. On Saturday morning, I dug out the car and the front walk. On Saturday evening (after the snow stopped), I dug them out again and got down the driveway as far as the sidewalk.

Sunday I dug out most of the side walk in two shifts (morning and evening).

Monday morning I dug out the rest of the side walk (which included cutting some tree limbs that had fallen and been buried about a foot down in the snow) and in the afternoon cut our way out into the street. We went to Chick-fil-A to meet some friends for dinner to celebrate our escape. See pictures here. It was a lot of fun to catch up with people and just to get out. Arriving home, we didn't make it up the driveway due to snow and ice that had fallen from the trees.

Tuesday morning I dug out to the street again, since the plow came through at some point in the evening. Of course, that meant icy, solid snow. We managed to make it out to play date. Angie was off, so she came too. I dropped her and the kids off at Chloe's home while I headed off to the store for more provisions.

The store was swamped with people. Most of the milk and all the fresh meat were gone. Most of the produce was gone too. The only bananas left looked green enough to serve on St. Patrick's Day. Still, I managed to get some food for us. Then I had the luxury of shopping at the liquor store without the two tots. I could by four bottles of wine without any juggling! I returned to play date to hang out for another half hour or so. We came back home for lunch and naps.

After we all woke up (except for Angie, who didn't get a nap), we went to Arundel Mills Mall for our last chance to walk around, because...guess what...it's snowing again. Another 10 to 20 inches of snow is expected. Which means another day or two of shoveling. Just when I saw the finish line for the snow shoveling marathon, they move it back another 26.2 miles! Yikes!!

Long week since Thanksgiving...

Last week is definitely the sorest I have been in quite a long while. It all started on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, when I took my brother-in-law, his wife and one of their friends on a high ropes adventure course at Terrapin Adventures. It was an awesome experience (videos will be posted soon on YouTube), with all sorts of climbing and walking challenges (traversing rickety bridges, walking on two wires, climbing cargo nets, balancing across logs, etc.). We had lots of fun but I was pretty worn out afterwards.

Everyone flew home by Sunday afternoon, which left a golden opportunity (since the sun was shining and the air was warm) to rake leaves. I started by myself while Jacob and Lucy napped inside. Eventually, everyone else came out later. We filled about eight bags, which may not sound like much, but I'm the sort to mash down the leaves and squeeze as much as possible into the bags. It was a full day's work in a couple of hours. My soreness from the day before was just beginning to kick in; leaf raking and bagging only added more.

Monday had no major exercise. Tuesday was Tae Kwon Do night with my friend David. We do about 1.5 to 2 hours of martial arts, followed by hanging out (playing board or video games, watching movies, etc.). I was not recovered from the weekend, so this workout definitely prolonged the agony.

Wednesday was Angie's birthday. I ran around to get a bunch of things done. No heavy lifting happened, but I did get a lot of chores done at home so that we could have a fun evening of nothing in particular to do.

Thursday was the big moving out day for my sister Rosemary. I helped load the truck with all her stuff that was stored here for the past half year or so. Only a couple of heavy items were a challenge for lifting. She has a piano, but it is a digital one that is moveable by two. On the other hand, many trips from the basement had to be made for all the boxes, etc., that were stored down there. After dinner, I went to her new place to help unload. I was very glad to help her out, and by this point being sore was becoming the natural state of things.

Yesterday, we had a beautiful snowfall of about three inches. Since it's the first snow of the year, not much stayed except on grass and trees. Jacob and I sledded and threw snowballs in the back yard (see proof on Facebook). Not really a hard work out, but fun.

Also, Angie received Wii Fit Plus for her birthday. We tried it out yesterday and today. The new games are fun and challenging. I look forward to future soreness from this!