Snowpocalypse 2010

This winter has been exceptional in terms of snowfall for Virginia. We can go for a number of years with no measurable snow at all. So far this year we have had 6 separate measurable snows. In December, there was one snowfall that measured approximately 20 inches at our house. Each of the other snows has varied from an inch or two to about 4 inches.

We are currently in the midst of another major snow. It began snowing at our house at 9:40 a. m. on Friday, February 5. In total we received between 18" and 24".

That snow was followed by another approximately a week later with similar depths. Amazingly, all of our Cub Scout activities were able to continue as scheduled during January and February. Boy Scouts and basketball didn't fare so well. Many meetings and activities were canceled, and the basketball season had to be extended to make up for some of the missed games. Due to owning a tractor and a 4-wheel drive vehicle, my husband was able to dig us out within 24 hours of the snow ending, and he was able to return to work. It generally took me a week to be able to get out in the other vehicle, but it didn't really matter because virtually everything was closed or canceled. Several times the federal government closed, and the Metro also wasn't able to fully function. Both are rarities.

We were so tired of dealing with the cold and snow that we escaped to Florida for a week. Thankfully by the time we returned, there was no trace of snow!

After such a hard winter, we were looking forward to a mild summer. Stay tuned to find out whether or not that was the case.

Scouting in the Outer Banks

Since Scouting plays such an important part of our lives, I felt that it was important to elaborate on one of the things I only briefly mentioned in the previous post.

Our older son's Boy Scout troop generally camps at least once a month, except during December when we sell Christmas trees. Over the third weekend in January, 7 boys and 3 adults from the troop traveled to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. A family in the troop offered their beach house for the troop to use. Originally, the plan was to leave around 4:00 p. m. on Friday, but many things changed throughout the week, and they were able to move the departure time to 2:00 p. m. Travel down to the Outer Banks went well, and they comfortably settled in for the weekend. Two of the adults were able to have their own bedrooms, and the host shared a room with his son. Four Scouts shared one room, and two brothers shared another. Once they were settled the boys began playing the board game Civilization.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to elicit the details I would have liked from my son to expand this post as I had originally intended. So I will post it with the barest of details that I do know.

Saturday was a busy day. They visited Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers Memorial. They also toured Roanoke Island and the site of the Lost Colony. Finally, they went to Jockey's Ridge to experience the sand dunes.

Additional board games that were played over the weekend included Rail Baron and The Settlers of Cataan. As it was just a short trip, they left Sunday morning to return home.

Not So Lazy Weekends

I've been intending to write a post about our weekends, so here goes.

The first weekend of the new year began with a lot of housecleaning because the first Sunday of the year we were hosting my mother's extended family. By my mother's extended family, I really mean my grandmother and her siblings' families. Traditionally, my grandmother has always hosted this event, but her declining health has forced her to move into an assisted living situation. Last year the event was still held at her house, hosted by my mom and one of her sisters, but this year my grandmother's house has been rented out in order to bring in some funds to pay for her care. Therefore her house was unavailable, so since we have a relatively large home, we offered to host. Ultimately, we had 42 people at our house for a pot luck meal.

The following weekend brought the start of recreational basketball season. My older son had a game at 11:00 a. m. He made at least one basket, and his team won. Even though it was just a scrimmage, it gets the season off to a good start. After that we had lunch, and my younger son't game was at 1:30 p. m. Scoring isn't posted for his division. To end the day, we attended a birthday party for my older son's friend JG. We ended up staying until about 9:00 p. m. On Sunday we attended church and then relaxed at home for a little while. My older son is enrolled in Junior Cotillion, which meets once a month. This particular Sunday was their scheduled meeting for January. I dropped him off and went to get groceries. Afterward we went out to dinner.

The middle weekend of January proved to be very exciting. In the morning my older son had a basketball game. The team was down by 20 points, but they came back to tie it up at the end of regulation. They lost 59-54 in overtime. In the afternoon, our Cub Scout pack held its Pinewood Derby. My younger son won for the first time in 3 years. To celebrate we had dinner at Red Lobster. Sunday was a relaxing day with just church on the schedule.

The next to last weekend was very relaxing. Since my husband and older son went to the Outer Banks with the Boy Scout troop, it just left my younger son and me at home. With only one basketball game, we ran a few errands and went home to fix dinner. On Sunday we went to church and came home to await the return of the rest of the family.

This brings us to the last weekend of January and the first weekend of February, which are similar due to the fact that there has been snow. All of our activities for both Saturdays were canceled. Thanks to our 4-wheel drive truck, we were able to make it to church on Sunday.