Sled-A-Palooza

You know what's made this winter different than all other winters?

It has nothing to do with the temperature or the snow or the number of sugar cookies I've consumed. (Well, not mostly, anyway.)

This winter is different -- and indeed, glorious -- because Connor and Natalie can both get dressed in their snow gear BY THEMSELVES and go outside to play.

Up to this point, they've lacked the coordination and the enthusiasm necessary for such an involved endeavor -- which meant we were almost LITERALLY indoors from late November until mid April. The Twin Cities offers many amazing indoor escapes for families, like the Children's Museum and countless indoor playgrounds and water parks and the Mall of America. But still. That's a long time to be inside. It's the very definition of cabin fever.

But this year, something clicked. Now, when the doorbell rings each afternoon around 4:00, signaling that the neighborhood kids have also arrived home from school, my kids jump from their Legos or their book reading and practically sprint for the mudroom, where they don snow pants and coats and boots and gloves and hats. Then they grab their sleds, run outside and play until the sun sets (or the cold forces them in, which happened more frequently during sub-zero January days).

Can I hear a hallelujah?

Like much of the U.S., the Upper Midwest has enjoyed a bit of a warm streak this week. Our days are bright with sunshine and the melody of melting snow. Our afternoon highs have been above freezing for the past three or four days.

So yesterday, when the kids were getting bundled to play outside, and their sweet little sister asked to "go too?" and I heard Natalie say, "Mom! Is it OK if we take Teyla outside with us for a while?" I decided to join the fun.

Warm weather aside, the snow is still knee-deep -- and that's for an adult.

Thankfully, Teyla is sled-portable.

The kids were super excited to take Teyla to the big sledding hill on the other side of our development. The peak is a huge mountain of leftover snow scraped from nearby streets and driveways.

But it continues down a real-life hill that ends in a small ditch, and since one of the neighborhood dads has helped the kids make a solid path for sledding -- complete with walls, like a mini-luge -- it has wicked speed and lots of twists and turns.

Sometimes, they even lost the sled.







Amid the whoops and screams and tumbles, the kids got "so hot!" that jackets were shed and cheeks nearly split from laughter.





"What?!? We're really hot! I mean, it's like 37 degrees!"

Teyla, meanwhile, contented herself with sitting by my side and watching the sled-a-palooza.

Oh. And eating snow. Forget sledding. That's the true winter Olympic sport for the three-and-under set.

Days like this, I love Minnesota.