Snow, snow, and more snow

Thanks to the Ithaca visitors' bureau, everyone knows that we have lots of snow and cold here right now. Since our last post about Philadelphia, it's been snowing a lot to a little almost everyday. We drove home from Philadelphia in a blizzard - I believe it was that same blizzard that shut down Lincoln schools that Monday. By that Monday night, we had about a foot of snow, but Ithaca has lots of plows running non-stop and people here know how to drive and get around. It was warm and the kids could play outside in piles and piles of snow. It wasn't quite warm and sticky enough for building snowmen and forts, but the kids made up a fun tunnel and burrow game. They even gave themselves a "scientific" name and declared themselves new-found species of trenchers and burrowers.

Hiking toward a replica of the Cornell bell tower in the woods.

In all that snow, we went for a winter walk in the woods with some plant biologists from Cornell. The snow in the woods was up to Isla's waist, but she did a great job of trudging along. The kids and I also did a decent job at staying interested in all the plant biology talk for about three quarters of the way. Then the cold, wind, and snow started to settle in. I don't think the others noticed our not always subtle whining. If they did, they were very nice about it.

Anarog getting the wintergreen smell from a black birch tree

The next day we went skiing about 30 minutes away from Ithaca. As is often the case with Isla, I was pretty surprised at her ability to pick up on a new physical activity. The weather was perfect, and obviously there was lots of snow, so the hills were pretty packed. We tried to get Benjamin and Oliver into a lesson twice, but we were so slow-moving that they missed the beginning both times and the instructor said they couldn't start late. Oliver claimed that Dad and I were fine teachers, and we probably had more fun learning together on the bunny hill. We even managed to get on and off the chair lift without shutting it down!

The following week was filled with more snow and colder temperatures. The wind chills picked up and even Chad said he was reconsidering his plans to retire to northern Minnesota.