What a difference a day makes (or two)!

Well, on Thursday and Friday we were up in the frozen tundra of Crookston, MN. Not kidding, they were dumped on with snow the day before, to the tune of at least 12 inches. When we arrived late on Wednesday night, the temperature in the van read -13 degrees. The wind really howls up there, so the drifts left behind (think sand dunes) were 5-6 feet tall in places. The kids went sledding in the (flat) front yard, and had a blast! It is always fun to see big snow and extreme temps, even if it makes you wonder why anyone ever settled here to start with.

Katelyn tramps across the snow.

Evan prepares to descend a small mountain.
Evan embraces the thrill that 5 feet can give.Eva was actually on a diving board, folks. (it's always imagination, with this one!) But seriously, check out how she's eye level with the roof of the van!

We went to Crookston to visit Eric's mom, who recently had her knees replaced, but she made me promise not to post any pictures of her sweet scars and swollen knees. But, we had a really good time with her. Eric's mom, Eric, and his Aunt Bev might have set a record for total hours of Scrabble playing in two days!

Weather in Minnesota is unpredictable, to say the least, and today we enjoyed a high temp. of 65 degrees. I had to insist that Eva wear socks and shoes outside, though she is quite warm blooded and would have survived just fine. Ella and I sat calmly on the back steps soaking up precious sunshine while Eva ran up and down the sidewalk shouting, "It's spring, it's spring!" Later, she decided to help the sun along with it's work by shot-putting large cakes of ice into the air and jumping like a wild woman. The slushy ice rained down on her without dampening her spirit one bit! Our large collection of plastic lawn toys (thanks Grandma S!) are still securely iced to the frozen grass, but it won't be long before we're back in business.

Pure exuberance. I felt it too... just not the jumping up and down part!