SNOW!!

I think in Arkansas the historical chance of getting a white Christmas is about 5%...well we must be lucky this year because we got a white Christmas and MORE SNOW already! You may sense the sarcasm about the snow because I really like only 1-2 good snows for the year, just enough to sled for a day, build a snowman and then be able to carry on my everyday life. But this snow made it impossible to get around Christmas day, and is keeping me walled in for the past couple days with more on the way! Ug.

Regardless of my lack of enthusiasm I do realize it is a highlight for kids to have SNOW Days and the excitement in our house with Kaia is no different. We purchased a sled before Christmas to be prepared with all the great sledding hills around our new home. We all ventured out to break in the snow first thing but all the excitement turned to pain...

Kaia went down a few small hills just in front of our house and Jon made fun of the in-adequate hill she had chosen to sled on, recommending instead that they sled straight down on the road. Leave it to Jon to choose the fastest and most extreme sledding path option. Jon prepped Kaia with a speech "bail off if you are going to fast because you will stop" which Kaia ignored on her first trip, rather opting to lay on her belly and drag her legs to slow down her sled as shown here.

[caption id="attachment_251" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="First Trip down the road."][/caption]

Then Jon decides the 2 should go down the hill together in the double tube. Perhaps not considering the increased velocity equal to the increase in weight on the tube...

...the two went veering off the road creating a trail of "powder" in the air (now  I know for certain why they refer to snow as powder). They headed in a tailspin straight for a forest of trees 50 feet from their original intended path. Then they SLAMMED right into the trunk of an evergreen. The tree poofed in a cloud of it's own white powder as all the snow was violently shaken from the tree. Jon had collided spine to trunk and Kaia was tumbled off the sled.

[caption id="attachment_252" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Jon and Kaia spinning in a cloud of powder"][/caption]

Of course my camera read CARD FULL just a few frames before the collision so I missed getting the peak of their trip on film. So I was complaining about that, then in the seconds later Kaia was screaming. The kind of "I am in pain" scream every parent knows. So I am tramping down the hill in all my snow gear to see what's going on, considering what bones may have been broken. Jon didn't get up for several minutes, having taken the direct impact to his tailbone.Kaia was complaining about her back hurting and she wouldn't move from laying flat out on her belly. We finally calm the tears enough to get her to scoot onto the (completely DEFLATED) sled so we can carry her up the hill into the house. Now my crippled husband and myself (trying to keep my camera dry) have to drag the 100lb child up the hill! Ug. Both Jon and Kaia are sore and have taken pain killers but there are no broken bones, just bruises and scratching. No more sledding this year I suppose...snowman building is much more our speed in this condition!

At least someone had only FUn in the snow.

[caption id="attachment_253" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Snow dogs Buddy and Rosco wildly enjoying all the snow."][/caption]