frozen in florida!

there's nothing that gets floridian kids more excited than the mere prospect of SNOW! real snow! in florida! in their front yard!


when we saw snow in the forecast for our beach town, we told ourselves it was too good to be true. but then we also hoped and hoped that it really would snow. every time we checked the forecast, the prospect of snow was pushed further into the wee hours of the morning, but we never lost hope. there was no snow in sight when the kids went to bed… but visions of snowflakes still danced in their heads. i set my alarm for every couple of hours, worried we would miss the snow if there was only a sad little dusting. that beeping went off at 4:30 am, and according to the weather channel, there was snow!


but there was no snow, jim cantori. just ice. teeeeeeny little pellets of ice all over the place.



when the kids woke up, they were momentarily disappointed at the absence of snow, but they didn't stay down for long because they looked out the window and saw icicles! on everything! even the beach toys! how's that for irony!?






we bundled up and braved the freezing temps… it was seriously COLD!


the kids were absolutely entertained by the frozen scavenger hunt… what frozen things could we find in the yard!? ethan was overly excited about his discovery: frozen MOSS!


"mommmmmmmm! looooooook!!! there's icicles on your VANNNNNN!"


we didn't want daddy's car to feel left out.


so it will forever live on in history.


the ice discoveries continued...




and then the icicle picking began! this girl makes me smile.


her smart mommy said, "ooooh, hold your hand out and your icicle will stick to your hand!" orrrr, it will fall and crash to the ground in a million little pieces. whoops. she didn't care… 'cause there were more where that one came from! and maybe there were more in the backyard!!!! as we headed to the back yard, we just pretended like this was snow on the ground.


this accumulation was most definitely worth documenting. my helpful children are also pointing to the ice buildup in the wagon just in case you didn't notice it. you know, the ice. in the wagon. in florida.


hallie slept through all the icy fun, but she did get a quick peek out the door.


and then she watched her ice-loving siblings through the window. i can't help but sing, "how much is that baaaaaaby in the window!?"



after the frozen frolicking, it was high time for a hot chocolate break! (yes, hallie was wondering where her hot chocolate is. she's still wondering.)


after thawing out during our lazy day inside, they headed back out to play in the ice before the sun went down.


(i actually typed "snow" at first… i guess i'm still in denial- ha!) now their mission was to gather enough ice to make an iceman. brrrr, it sure was cold. i froze just stepping outside to take a few pictures!!

we found this big ole' jagged piece of ice that just BEGGED to be elsa's ice palace, and the rest is frozen florida history. i helped the kids build up big pieces with piles of ice pellets, and we hoped that it would refreeze overnight and be super sturdy for playing the next day.


the kids were (surprisingly) careful with the frozen setup but still enjoyed hanging out with elsa and anna for a bit.


the girls stayed and chatted with their favorite plastic figurines a little longer while i cautioned them (over and over) to please not fall off the porch.




i probably said, "amelia, don't let go!" or something and then there was no turning back… "let it gooooo! let it gooooo!" the girls christened the for-real ice palace with their favorite ballad.


i just love these sisters. :)


their focus turned back to scooping up ice for the iceman. what do florida kids use to collect ice? beach buckets and shovels, of course! (especially since they were conveniently located on the porch from our last beach trip in… october. woops.)







it was obvious that the ice pellets were not going to stick together to make an iceman, so i added a little water to the bucket… and i thought maybe it would freeze into a solid something-or-other overnight. that satisfied the kids enough for that day, and i eventually convinced them to come inside. they would have stayed even longer if i hadn't told them to come in. when they did come in, they attacked their warm, resting daddy with their oh-so-cold hands!!!


the next morning, icicles were still hanging and ice was still on the cars. it took brian about 20 minutes to thaw out his windshield so he could go to work. according to the weather, the sun would be out before lunchtime, so the kids' ice hours were numbered.

we started out the day with a nice hot breakfast of s'mores dip! and then i sent that triple sugar high OUTSIDE!!


ethan's mission was peeling all the ice off the bushes. here's his first prized frozen leaf.


our ice palace did indeed strengthen overnight, and the girls brought out the whole frozen gang to join in the fun.


jackpot. they'd be happy out there all morning till the ice melted.







ok, so i had a little fun too. :)


hang with us for a couple more months, olaf, and i guarantee that you will love florida!


speaking of snowmen, we did get to make our little iceman! he was quite fragile, so i actually had to do most of the construction… hence no "in progress" pictures. it took me numerous tries to get his arms to stay in the slush. a mouth and buttons were completely out of the question. but the chocolate chips did stay as his eyes!


isn't he cute!?!? we were pretty stinkin' proud of our guy, but brian thought he was absolutely pathetic. (someone was a little cranky he didn't get another snow day at home, huh?!)


of course, we had to have a little photo shoot with our new friend "brrrlaf"…





and then the kids were DONE. they were cold and were ready to come inside. they had been outside for a total of TWENTY minutes! what happened to that morning with their frozen friends!?? i thought that ice palace would have at least bought me an hour of quiet! welllllll, apparently, the ice was melting just enough to be soaking their (not-made-for-ice) gloves, which in turn made for very frozen little fingers.

so inside they came, and it wasn't long before we heard the drip, drip, drip of melting icicles. a little later, we peeked out the window, and the neighbors' roofs looked like boring ole' roofs again. our buddy brrrlaf stayed in tact most of the day, surprisingly… but by 5pm, he was barely hanging on to one arm.


we were all pretty sad to see the ice excitement draw to a close. but now that the ice days are over, we floridians are ready to say goodbye to the cold! bring on the sun! and the warmth! and the beach! those beach buckets are getting awfully lonely on my porch.