The Benefits of Snow

I have to admit, living in a climate with snow (even if it feels like 6 months of the year) has it's advantages.  Last weekend my husband spent hours outside in freezing temperatures creating this snow fort out of the drifts left from the plow. At the time, I thought he was nuts. I can tolerate about 15 minutes of outside time in the winter. My daughter definitely takes after him.

He has fond memories of his childhood (growing up in the Catskill mountains) and many-a-winter crafting snow forts with his older brother.  His brother would carve these tunnels that were super unsafe and my husband was always the tester.  Apparently there were several occasions when they were not what an engineer would call 'structurally sound' and my husband was the one to discover this.

But this thing was incredible. A tunnel (reinforced with PVC tubes leftover from a project), 3 different slides, steps, and the top of our Christmas tree (don't ask).  My daughter just absolutely loved playing with her Daddy in the fort. She would have slept outside in it if her mittens hadn't betrayed her. Her last run concluded with, "OK, Dada. One more time, then cocoa."

I love that he took the time on a day off to create this. It teaches her so much to see him dedicate himself to a goal and not give up until it's finished. To see him go from an idea in his mind, to working to make it from scratch to being able to experience the finished project is so rewarding.  We watched out the window as he sculpted the snow a little at a time.  I hope she remembers this for a long time.  As you can see from the below video, she really enjoyed it.  Even if the plow did destroy it the very next day.

Playing in the Snow Fort