Snowy Adventures

We have had a couple of nice days warm enough for the snow to melt. You know what that means - snowman time! Misha and I created three companions for Grandma and Grandpa in their front yard.


Misha and I pose with snowman number one.


Grandma took Misha sledding at the nearby park. He loved sliding across the ice rink on his sled!


This picture is classic South Dakota. Usually photos of parks have green grass in the background, sand beneath the swings, and children in t-shirts and bare feet. Of course, that's only for half the year. The other half looks like this! The snow was piled up so high under the swing that Misha didn't need any help getting on.


And I love this picture of the tire swing!


Then, of course, there is the epitome of Brookings winter extreme sports: sledding at Larson's Hill. No matter how much my Rocky Mountain snowboarder husband may scoff at it, to me it's still a good time. And for Misha, it was fantastic.

I took him out thinking we'd spend half an hour climbing and sledding down, at which point he would get cold, tired, and ready to leave. That didn't happen. We rode together once, then he was ready to strike out on his own. I gave him a big push and he was off. Since he's so light, he slid perfectly to the very bottom of the hill, to his great delight. Once he had tasted the thrill of the ride, there was no stopping him. We climbed up, we slid down. Over and over. And over. Even when his snow pants were soaked through and his legs were so tired from walking the hill that he'd stumble and collapse in the snow, he would insist that he wanted to sled down 20 more times.

At the top of the hill: ready to go!


To the top: the long trek back up.


Finally, we agreed on four more rides, followed by a romp on the hay bales placed at the bottom of the hill to prevent any ambitious sledders from flying into the road.


He used up the last of his energy jumping from bale to bale!