Snow Daze

La Nina made her first visit to the NW Monday.  Monday got off to a slow start when Shannon tricked Tyler into going back to sleep at 6AM by changing his diaper, giving him a bottle and putting him back down.  Strangely,  despite a full night of sleep, Tyler went along with the rouse and slept for another 3 hours, as did the rest of us!   While we all slumbered the snow was quietly falling on the small park I call a my yard. 

As we dropped off Zach at school,  his teachers informed us that they had taken bets on whether Zach would show up wearing his customary athletic shorts.  Even though he was wearing pants when he arrived at school, shorts and not pants had been included in his first attempt at dressing for the day.  

Shannon and I then embarked on our commute which normally  takes only 25 minutes.  Although only an eighth of an inch of snow lay on the ground,  none of which covered the roads,  the careful drivers of the Puget Sound insisted driving slowly was the best course of action. Magically 25 minutes turned into 85 minutes. 

As the day wore on the flurries began to turn to flakes.  The National Weather Service, which had been playing Jekyll and Hyde with the forecast,  had changed their minds again and issued a winter weather warning for the remainder of the day,  despite arguing only a few hours earlier that the winter weather advisory, which was previously in effect, was being over cautious. 

Despite EY telling me it was ok to leave early to get home safely  and Seattle University informing students and staff that the University had closed and that all non-essential personnel were to leave before 3pm;  Shannon informed me that volleyball coaches were essential and that she would be staying until the end of practice at 7:00pm. 

So,  by time 7 rolled around,  the city was in complete gridlock.  The safe drivers had decided that the safest speed was in fact 0.  I pulled out my magical Android Smartphone, and it told me the bus would at my stop shortly.  No bus would come.  Undaunted by the below freezing temperatures,  the howling winds, the ice and snow, the late busses,    I decided that rather than die waiting for the bus,  I would walk the 1.4 miles to Shannon. 

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So I started off,  in my slick bottomed dress shoes, and my rather thin slacks towards the Archbishop Connelly Center.  For those of you unfamiliar with Seattle Geography,  there is a, rather steep, hill that separates Seattle University from Downtown Seattle.  As I walked up this hill in the wind and the snow,  past mostly non-moving cars.  Only a few blocks from the Wells Fargo Center, the roadway was littered with abandoned cars, haphazardly strewn about.  As I crossed a street and started up the next block,  I noticed a SUV sliding down the hill, very slowly.  Not fearing this at all,  I watched in amusement.  The driver, frozen with fear, watched the world slip by as his car drifted down the road with  motionless tires.   Suddenly the SUV spun around, now sliding slightly more quickly and backwards. The driver cringed.  A sizeable crowd of onlookers, which had mysteriously materialized, but who were most likely the drivers of the abandoned cars, gasped collectively.  The SUV smashed into a car parked on the road (angle parking).  The impact was violent, despite the low speeds of the two cars involved.  The SUV hit the car and continued sliding,  much to my surprise.  The parked car jumped and shuttered.  The tires started to roll over the curb.   It was then I realized I was standing in front of the parked car, and my only protection was the 6 inches of concrete curbing the parked car was about to breach.  Knowing my chosen footwear wouldn’t allow for sudden movements on the icy surface, my options were limited.  I determined that with the frictionless surface, and the usually constant and unrelenting downward pull of gravity,  moving up the hill was my safest play.  Disaster was narrowly averted and I set out to complete the first phase of my journey without further incident. 

The temperature was 24 degrees.  It took me 35 minutes to walk the 1.4 miles.  When I arrived at the Connelly center my jaw was numb, feet wet, hands red and aching.  Luckily, Shannon had the car warm and ready to go. 

3 hours later when we got to bottom of 140th (The beginning of the steep hill that climbs 300ft to our home) the street had been closed.   The bottom of the hill was a parking lot of cars that had attempted the climb and failed.   It is now that I am so grateful that my in-laws purchased a 4wd vehicle for their Daughter.  Using this feature (4wd) of the Xterra, we were able to navigate our way through the Maze of compact cars and mid-sized sedans, and charged full speed into the hill.  The tires never slipped,  not even as we drove up the steepest portion of the climb (our driveway).        

Now for the Children!

They were asleep when we arrived Monday night,  but Tuesday the fun began! 

Zach was worried the snow was going to melt,  and insisted we get outside early.  Here Zach is wearing his new coat.  He was happy to be out in the snow.   Its hard to say Tyler was excited to be outside.  In his puffy coat he didn’t move around much.  Plus the snow was up to his knees,  which slowed him down,  and he didn’t like it when he fell.  I his coat, he reminded us of the kid from Christmas Story.  Without our encouragement we later found him licking the broom handle.  I guess children really do this. 

Zach enjoyed the snowball fight the most.  He doesn’t like getting hit in the face with a snow ball.   He also doesn’t know how to pack a snowball,  so really,  he just throws snow powder at you. 

Here is Shannon trying to teach Tyler how to throw.  There has been concern over the late and/or improper development of his throwing motion.