Yesterday, school was canceled pre-emptively, so Wendy was invited to a friend’s house for a playdate.  She only lived a few blocks over, so we walked over in the softly falling snow.

It was coming down lightly, just barely beginning to accumulate.

When I came back a few hours later, the girls were running wild outside, having a great time.

She came home wet, happy, and exhausted.

So Friday it snowed, but didn’t seem to be that big a deal.  Waking up Saturday morning (today), it was a different story.

I went out around 9:30 to survey the scene and get a little cardio in shoveling.

I couldn’t find our yardstick, so Mike made one for me.   At around 10am, it was nearly 16″.

I requested a picture, to prove that I had been out there working.    After a good 45 minutes of effort, I think I had cleared a solid 15 square feet :).

Our crepe myrtle looked pretty in the front yard.

After lunch, we got the kids out in it.   I didn’t think they would last long, but surprisingly, did great.

Wendy found her own little “snow seat” from the shoveled area by the front walk.

Logan came out to play too.

Adam thought it was great fun, as long as he didn’t have to touch it or fall down in it.

I’m not sure if he was eating snow or throwing a fit.

They made an impromptu sledding hill from the pile-up.

Wendy went down face first and got a mouthful.

We decided to walk around the neighborhood.  Our street has faint tire tracks, probably made on Friday afternoon, but otherwise is totally snowed in.

The cross street below us has definitely seen some plow action.  The walking was easy here.

I was glad we didn’t have our car parked on the street!

Adam enjoyed being along for the ride.   This time, he knew better than to take off his mittens.

Daddy definitely got his workout in, towing this crew around.  “Yah, mule!”

One street down from us, a tree had knocked down the power lines.   Those neighbors are without power.   I am extremely thankful that we have power and that we have a wood-burning fireplace, if our power should go out.

A few more shots of the snowiness.

As of 3pm, our total seemed to be around 18″.   That’s what it measured on the street, and on top of our trashcan.

But in the backyard, I got a reading of 22″.  Not sure if that just a drift, or what.

In the meantime, we’ll continue to hunker down and enjoy some family time.