or how i learned to elevate the mundane

You are all no doubt aware of the amazing amount of snow the Seattle area has had over the past week.  It all started with the ominous NoSnow Day on Wednesday, December 17th where all the kids in Seattle were told to stay home due to the threat of snow.  My son declared it “The Worst Snow Day Ever”.  It may very well have been.

But that’s all been made up for starting on Thursday.  The snow has been AMAZING.  It has gotten so deep and so pervasive that the street we live on is now suitable pretty much only for sleds.  The kids have been using the street as a sled run for the last 5 days:

It has been a blast, I have to say. The street is at just the right slope as to make the sled run fun but not “too exciting”, if you know what I mean.  Also, one of the neighborhood kids created a little sled jump for that little added adrenaline rush for that run down the hill.

On top of all that, on Saturday night we had what was probably something that could only happen in the PNW (although, I will concede that it’s possible in areas of the South with little snowfall).  We had a neighborhood block party!

And it was pretty much an all-out block party including the obligatory barbeque (sausages, etc.), plastic lawn furniture, wine and champagne, milling about, and kids doing their own thing.  It was as surreal as it was totally amazing to have the neighborhood out there enjoying the snow and acting as if it were the middle of July except that it was 25 degrees outside.  Plenty of fun, and good neighborship to be had.  And the kids were maxed out to boot.  Within minutes of them getting into bed, they were out cold.  The perfect end to a perfect evening.