It's Cold!

 After the holidays, we had weeks of cold weather and rain. So. much. rain. It's probably the wettest winter we've had since moving to VA.  The temperature would drop to *almost* freezing, but not quite cold enough to get snow instead of rain.  Poor Dan had to stand out in the miserable weather twice a day to direct traffic at school during carpool.  I bought him a heated vest for Christmas this year, and needless to say, it's been worth the money already!

Because of the weather, we were mostly stuck indoors.  We're very thankful that school's been in session for the girls so they could spend time with friends and teachers, and we could go to work.  There have been a few COVID cases at school and my work, but we weren't exposed in any of the instances.  I did work from home for a couple of weeks just to be on the safe side, after I learned that several people in my office who work in cubicles near me had contracted COVID.  I wanted to make sure I wasn't exposed so our family wouldn't have to quarantine from school. Although I don't think Dan would've minded a 10-day break. Heh! 

There was one nice day this winter when it wasn't freezing, raining, or extremely windy. We spent a lot of time outdoors to take advantage of it!  The girls had such fun riding their bikes around the Regent University parking lot, which is around the corner from our house. 

Emma is super close to riding without training wheels!

She also lost her two front teeth, and has the perfect 7-year old smile.

We celebrated my January birthday a little early while Robin, Rob, Naomi, and Miriam were still in town, which was awesome.  And of course we celebrated again on my actual birthday!

Our nephew, Rowan, turned 2 in January.  He's the cutest! We wish we could celebrate with him in person.

FINALLY!! We finally got a snow day at the end of January!  Our area of Virginia Beach got about 4 inches overnight, which was more than most other sections of Hampton Roads.  The girls were up before 6 a.m. and too excited to stay indoors. So we bundled up and went out to play at 6:30. (sorry, neighbors!)

The girls enjoying the fresh snow, way too early in the morning.  

We built Frosty!

And later in the day, we went sledding. Emma wanted to go down the hill by herself, but Hallie only wanted to go if Emma was riding with her.

The girls pretending they crashed into a tree.  Ha! They actually did bump into trees a couple of times, but fortunately there were no casualties.

We loved the beauty of the snow-covered trees. The sun melted most of the snow by the end of the day, but we enjoyed it while it lasted!

StoneBridge School had Spirit Week in February, and the girls loved dressing up each day.

Favorite Music Genre Day - both girls chose country music. Emma's loved country ever since she saw Trolls World Tour and fell in love with Delta Dawn's song, "Born to Die."

She's small, but I wouldn't mess with her if I were you.

Decade/History Day - they dressed as Laura Ingalls and a friendly Native American

Wacky Wednesday

Cartoon Character Day - Cinderella and Arial

Emma and her classmates were invited to their friend, Emma C's, birthday party at a roller skating rink. Most of them had never roller skated before, so it was like watching Bambi try to ice skate on the frozen pond with Thumper.  But after a half an hour, they were all mostly staying upright and having a great time.

The class taking a pizza and drink break

Dan is by far the best skater in the family, so he stuck with Emma to show her the ropes.

If the girls felt like toddling around the rink clutching the wall, they could hang out with me.

My favorite picture of the day. Hallie was hanging out in the middle of the rink (making everyone else swerve around her), just grooving to the music. 

We made good memories this winter, but we're ready for warmer temperatures!