Snowday in the South.

We interrupt the chronological catch-up postings to bring you BIG BIG news: It snowed today in South Carolina!!! That's right, there was a rush on bread and milk at the grocery stores, and the snowplows were called into service in anticipation of mass panic on the highways. I think we might have had a total of 1/2", which was mostly melted by sundown. But it was enough to make a little boy's day. (And ok, maybe mine too).

I waited patiently all day for the snow to start. And it finally did around 2:00 or so. I basically had to force Max out into it at first. (He wasn't ready to commit to playing in it, hence no coat or gloves).

 

He really wasn't sure what to make of it; and to be fair, it was more like Dippin Dots than snow initially. 

But once Chris threw together a quick table-top snowman, Max started to get into the groove.

And of course we had to get Tessa in on the action. I didn't want her missing her first big snow!!

 

 

So then Max and Chris had to hustle off to the grocery store. Most Southerners freak out and refuse to leave the house as soon as one snowflake has been spotted; Chris can't wait to hit the road. (I wouldn't have let him go if it was really dangerous...but the roads were fine. After all, it was 60-some degrees just yesterday!) When they got back, we had a nice little covering in the yard, and Max was raring to go!

 

 

Tessa also got another taste of the white stuff. Clearly it never gets very cold here; hence the reason why she still has a tag on her winter coat. She's never worn it!

The last thing I saw before I took Tessa and retreated back into the warm house was this happy guy:

but minutes later, a wailing Max was carried into the house with EXTREMELY red and cold extremities. It really is a good idea to wear waterproof footwear and, I don't know, GLOVES when playing in the snow! But, never fear, after a quick warm-up by the fire and a bit of milk, he was ready to go again. And this time he recruited me as his playmate in the backyard. He first commanded that I build a snowman (which I was happy to comply with) and then, he set about destroying it!

CLEARLY, we were better prepared for snow-play Round 2...look at that fashion plate! (and, sadly, my outfit was MUCH worse...but you won't be seeing a picture of that one). I was afraid that he was going to make me stay out there with him until sundown, but we finally lured him back inside with another cup of milk.

We ended the day with movie night, or the Ludwigs version of "indoor camping". Ever since Chris showed Max his special pink sleeping bag, Max has wanted to go camping (nevermind that he has no idea what it is). He has also been begging for DAYS for popcorn, because one of the episodes of "Little Einsteins" that he watches shows the kids eating popcorn. So, while Chris and Max were out shopping earlier, they stopped by the Redbox, where Max picked out Madagascar 3 and we plunked him down on the couch with some Orville Reddenbacher, and there you have it: "camping".  What do you know? Turns out, I DO like camping...at least Max's definition of it.