Snow day

The automated phone message came through last night that Zachary's school was cancelled for today (we actually just got another one this evening indicating the school district is off tomorrow too, though Z doesn't actually have class Wednesdays anyway), so we all got to have a family day at home today -- and a good thing too, since the roads were still icy and littered with abandoned cars when we ventured out in the afternoon. But in the morning, we had family play time, both indoors and outdoors. The local walking distance junior high has an excellent hill for sledding, so we bundled everyone up and headed over with a cookie sheet in tow. (Mima and Papa stopped by later in the afternoon with an honest-to-goodness coaster that we can use for future sledding -- thanks Mima and Papa!)

There were already a few other families sledding, and a nice dad offered us his spare plastic toboggan, which had ample room for both a very well-bundled-up Zachary and a parent; Meh and I each had a turn riding down the hill with Z. Here's my run; he had a great time until he went flying past mommy, at which point you can hear the beginnings of some whining.

All in all, a great time for everyone. We came home for hot cocoa and a cozy afternoon indoors, only briefly heading out to grab supplies for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. We hope the roads are safe enough for our guests to actually attend! In other news, we finally captured the elusive Owen wave on film -- er, compact flash card: