the first snow

this time of year, my flip-flop sporting floridian children are sure to ask the same question (over and over) that they asked last winter: "why doesn't it snow here?"
every year, i give them the same explanation: florida is closer to the equator than the northern part of our country, so it doesn't get cold enough, etc, etc, etc. and they also get the story of how it snowed here when i was 10. but no matter how well you explain it, and no matter how right you are, it doesn't make them want to see snow any less! so when our recent travels to nashville coincided with a winter storm's recent travels through birmingham, the kids could not have been more excited.

by the time we were north of montgomery, i was already seeing some flurries. the kids were straining at first to see the rain/snow, but soon, it was definitely snow. this was our view as we headed toward birmingham.


all you northerners are laughing, but this was a big deal to us. :) the snowfall got heavier, and i was just praying that it was sticking just enough in birmingham for us to play in, but not enough to cause us problems on the road. before too long, our view turned awfully white. the kids could not have been more excited.


(photos courtesy of ethan and gram... i was driving.)

the snow suddenly stopped falling, and i was worried that by the time we got through birmingham, our opportunity to play in the snow would be (literally) melted away. but as we drove through birmingham, everything was white. the kids didn't notice that it wasn't actually snowing. they were in the middle of the most fun ispy game ever! trees covered with snow! roofs covered with snow! grass covered with snow! there were even cars covered with snow!


we got through birmingham and pulled into this rest area. and i was worried there'd be no snow left. the kids could not have been more excited.


i loved seeing each and every expression as their wish came true!


amelia was the first to pick up a snowball.


it wasn't long before they realized that gloves were a good idea!


the three happiest kids on I-65!



for the next hour, my children threw snowballs at each other, drew with sticks in the snow, and ran up and down a big ole alabama hill over and over and over.





all those footprints in the snow represent an hour of pure childhood joy!


my mom and i took turns thawing out in the car with snug-as-a-bug hallie while the other one supervised the snow-happy kiddos on the hill. i really wanted to at least get hallie in a picture with us all, but i was a little nervous walking on the ice-ish, slushy parking lot with a roly poly baby in my arms. and she voted to stay snug-as-a-bug.

here are my mom and i each with the kids. it was such a fun hour!



the sun was beginning to set, and we just had a little more than 2 more hours to go on our trip. so we loaded up these little floridian popsicles, changed into dry clothes, and were on our way.


"on our way" translated to driving 8 miles in 3 hours due to interstate delays/closings, but this is a fun post, and i don't wanna talk about the torture of sitting in the car for 3 hours going nowhere.

SO it was a wonderful dream of an afternoon for my children to see snow for the very first time. they loved every single minute of it and cannot wait to frolic in the snow again.

but today they wore shorts and flip-flops on january 28 in florida, so i'm thinking they'd better start dreaming about the beach.