Snowmowing. Almost as good as snowblowing. Almost.

The storm started late Friday morning and lasted until late yesterday afternoon. When it was all over we had 30 inches of snow. Sheesh.

Ben did a great job of keeping the driveway clear. But our street did not see a plow until this morning. Before the plow came by we were out playing in the snow.

I'm so ready for spring. Ben on the other hand, gets giddy at any talk of snow, let alone a blizzard. He never complains about shoveling.

Lucky for him, the weatherman is calling for another 6-10 inches on Tuesday night.

January blizzard

So we left the 80-degree sunshine behind in Cancun to come home to the forecast of 12-24 inches. {sigh}

It started last night and continued all through the evening and all day today. Here is what our deck looked like at 9am:

It was almost as tall as Owen!



Ben took a very strategic approach to the ordeal of shoveling. He was out four times last night to keep up with it so that he would be able to tackle what would be waiting for him this morning. I got Owen bundled up to join his Daddy to help.



"Mommy, my mitten fell off. I think I'm ready to go inside."


But not before Daddy deposited him into the snow to see if he would sink.



He didn't sink. Too light still.

Then it was time to curl up and watch a movie. Ben picked up the animated movie UP at Blockbuster.


It was pretty good. The big pot of chili that Ben had put on the stove before we started the movie was pulling me away though, so I didn't catch the ending. But given how much snow we've gotten, I think I'll have plenty of time to watch it again.

Here's what the deck looked like at 4pm:



When it was all said and done we ended up with 29 inches. We have yet to see a plow. Grandma and Poppie's flight tomorrow is cancelled, and they are re-booked on the Monday afternoon flight. Hopefully the airport will be functioning by then.

While we were away...

the monkey played! Owen had so much fun with Grandma and "Poppie" (his new name for Grandpa). Here are the pictures from their five days together:

A huge THANK YOU goes out to Grandma and Poppie for leaving the Florida sunshine and warmth to come up into the Virginia cold to stay with Owen while we went on a vacation!!!

Our first "baby-free" vacation

Thanks to Grandma and Poppie, Ben and I were able to sneak away to Cancun for a much-needed early birthday gift to each other. Our wonderful travel agent Scott booked us an amazing room at Secrets Silversands and we had a great time.






It rained the day we arrived and the second part of day 2, but we did get some sun and enjoyed many tropical beverages and incredible food. Our favorite of the many restaurants the resort had was the Mexican restaurant. Fitting, I guess, since we were in Mexico. We ate there for dinner two of the four nights we were there. Another favorite was the ceviche ~ I had it for lunch four times! YUM!








I did yoga two of the mornings we were there. It was held poolside, with the sound and view of the ocean right in front of us. It was so relaxing.










We returned home well-rested and tan, and so happy to see our baby. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Grandma and Poppie!!!