An Early Spring?

Although Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter when he saw his shadow in PA - our local groundhog, General Beau Lee predicted an early spring here in Georgia.

Do we see blossoms adorning our tree?NO!
- it's SNOW!
The snow was forecasted to begin this past Friday afternoon. We are usually skeptical - we live in the south! But after last March's storm (see "In Like A Lion" post 3/2/09) people rushed to the stores to stock up on supplies and some schools were canceled for the day or were letting out early with the threat of winter weather.
Our kids were already out for their long weekend of winter break. And a winter break it was! We started seeing flurries as forecasted and then more and then more!
As soon as there was enough to scoop and play in the Jake and Natalie were outside (Alyssa wasn't feeling well that day).

They played outside until dark. Logan went out for a bit but didn't last too long - I hadn't found gloves for him and his hands got cold.

By night we had enough snow that I shook off our bushes and magnolias (we lost a bunch of shrubs and branches on our magnolias last March). Alyssa, as she watched the beautiful snow fall - from inside the house - said, "you really appreciate snow when you live in Georgia." She was right, I quickly got tired of the cold and snow when we lived in UT and often felt that if it ever got warm enough to melt the snow, winter should be over and there should be no more snow - that didn't happen, we always got more snow.
But now, I couldn't wait until morning to see what winter wonderland we would have.
We started out Saturday morning with a fire!

The day was beautiful, clear, and sunny.

Alyssa, feeling better, walked through the woods and took pictures.

She and I both loved seeing the snow mist off the trees, whether by the wind or weight of the snow. It's beautiful. I don't think I thought of it as beautiful when I lived in UT, just as a cold shower I hoped would missed me.The kids spent the day making snow angels,

and snowmen,

sledding,

and throwing snowballs.
I got gloves for Logan and he actually put on snow pants and his jacket and his hood! (something he normally does not do)

Last March he didn't even leave the garage without crying. And after not lasting long the night before, I loved seeing him smiling and playing in the snow - for hours!

It started getting warmer and the snow started melting. For a while Robert would shovel snow (mostly snow turned to slush) from the driveway onto the hill for a few more runs, but that didn't last very long either.

By the end of the afternoon most of the snow was gone - just some where it had been in shadow all afternoon or rolled into big balls for snowman bodies.
We had a great time while it lasted and can't wait for the next time it snow enough to play in.