Snow Day

I looked outside today and all I saw was this:
The view of the house across the street (which I can usually see perfectly).
The neighbor boy's car.
As soon as I saw this I changed whatever plans I had for the day that were going to take me out of the house. Being Saturday, I didn't have many plans (phew) and I figured the kids and I would just hunker down inside the house and watch/wait out the storm. Coming from Vermont, we're no stranger to storms, and truthfully, Indiana storms are more tolerable than Vermont ones (those Nor'easters are brutal). However, I'm not a fan of snow - in any form - and do whatever I can to avoid spending time in it.
My boys had a different opinion. "It's snowing!" Clayton screamed when he looked out the back window this morning. "I'm going to go change so I can go out in it!" "Me too! Me too!" shouted Noah (a.k.a. - Repeat). In record time, both boys were dressed and ready for the snow. When Disco saw them thundering down the stairs all excited and looking for snow clothes, he too got caught up in the excitement. He started running laps from the back door to the closet with the snow clothes, encouraging the boys to be faster so that they could all get outside! As I helped my little men put on snow pants, sweaters, scarves, hats, mittens, coats, etc. I told them that if they were going to go outside they had to be out for at least 10 minutes (I have a strict rule that if you are going to go play in the snow, you have to be out there AT LEAST double the time it takes me to get you into your gear). "Okay, but what if we want to be out there longer?" asked Clayton. I told them that they could stay out there as long as they wanted (feeling confident that they wouldn't last the ten minutes).
I was wrong. The three of them (I'm including the dog) bolted out the door and proceeded to have the time of their lives.
The snow came up past Clayton's knees. He loved that!
At first, Noah could hardly walk in the snow. He didn't let that stop him though.
Clayton and Disco taking the first ride down the slide. It was so full of snow that they did less actual sliding and more pushing the snow off the slide. Fun either way!
Noah and Disco got the second trip down the slide (a smoother ride for sure)!
The bottom of the slide.
Disco was going CRAZY! The boys would throw the snow and he'd go nuts chasing it all down. It was very entertaining to watch.
The boys ended up staying outside for about 30 minutes (much longer than I'd anticipated). Noah came in first because he'd lost a mitten (and I'm not about to go out there and find it), and Clayton followed shortly after. What better to help you warm up after playing out in the snow than a nice cup of hot chocolate!?!
So now everyone is warm and cozy inside the house while the storm continues on outside. Today I'm thankful for a warm home, delicious hot chocolate, and two little boys who are able to see the fun and adventure in a storm that would normally make me cringe.