Snow Trip

Okay, I'm backing up now, back to early January. I knew that I really really wanted to take the kids to see the snow, and that as soon as we had a Friday when it had snowed in the mountains, we should jump at the chance. (We need to go on a Saturday so that Michael can go and if you miss an opportunity, it can be really hard to get another one.) Anyway, about a week into January we had our chance!

Early Saturday morning we packed up the van and headed northeast towards Heber. Flagstaff is definitely the more popular area for Phoenix people looking for snow, but we'd heard there was great snow in the Payson/Heber area, had never been there, and it's a little closer so we figured we might as well check it out. The whole way, the kids watched movies and were SO excited about playing in the snow. Look how pretty it is there!

The kids were antsy to check out the snow so before we even found a good place to sled, we pulled over and let them get in it. It took about two minutes for the tears to start. They seriously hated it immediately. And they hated it before the cold even got to them. (!?)

Yes, she kind of fell into a deep patch of snow here, but she was definitely crying way before that.

Well, we figured the kids just needed to get away from the fluff and onto a sled, so we packed them back up into the car and found a place to sled soon enough. This turned out to not be any better. They absolutely hated the cold! Once or twice they stopped crying for about a minute, only to have it start up again. It was awful!!! There wasn't much me and Michael could do but just laugh about it. I mean, what in the world!? They didn't like sledding. Or snowballs. Or exploring the snow. Or looking at it. Or stomping in it. Or..... well, you get the picture. They just didn't like any of it. And - it really wasn't even that cold outside! It was seriously perfect playing-in-the-snow weather!

They'd been SO excited about building a snowman, so despite the endless crying Michael built them a snowman. And.... they cried the whole time. Shocking, I know.

Biggest shout out ever to Michael, who spent at least a solid hour trying everything in his power to help them have a good time, including carrying them up the hill and taking them down a small hill on the sled so that they never even touched the snow. They wouldn't budge. They just cried and cried. Joshua, who hadn't slept at all yet, finally fell asleep on me for a brief nap during all the crying. :-)

It was so ridiculous but also just so hilarious. At least it is now, now that a a couple months have passed. ;-)  We ended up finally giving up and going to eat at a Denny's in Payson. The kids thought Denny's was incredibly fun and we finally saw them smile. Hahaha. And then we went home. What a day! If you asked them, the kids would still be happy to tell you about how they do NOT like the snow. Maybe we'll try taking them again, but probably not for a few years. ;-)