The rest of February 2021

Annual Mom/Son, Dad/Daughter Valentine's Date Night (global pandemic style). James and Emery got Panda Express take-out and then watched Dolittle upstairs and Case and I ate at Sonic and then watched Dolittle downstairs.  

The kitties just being cute, snuggling during this stupidly cold weather

Round one of snow came on Sunday, so we had a little fun with friends at Harding Academy. 

The evening concluded with dinner at the Butler's (with their pet snake)

Monday was President's Day (and a day off from school already) and that's when the BIG snow came! 5.5 inches. Biggest now in 30 years in Memphis! Here are some pics of day one and two of snow fun in Brierwood! 

Emery and Kaitlyn making snow balls with whip cream and chocolate sauce. 

We introduced CJ to snow cream ... he approved. 

The next few days brought a lot more snow fun and sledding. Pics from days three and four of snow fun in Brierwood! 

Tyler, Case, Caroline, Griffin, Sadie and Emery

And then on Wednesday night, we got four more inches, bringing the grand total to 9" of snow! Definitely an all-time record for Memphis. 

We literally shut it down at dark every night. These kids (and adults) just couldn't get enough. I think we all wanted to make the most of it, just in case it's another 30 years before it happens again. 

 

Let it snow (and ice)

I kicked the year off with a big Hilton conference in New Orleans. It was a successful week and I was grateful that James' parents were able to come to Memphis to help James out while I was gone. And to add even more excitement, it came a nice little ice/snow storm on Friday which made for a nerve wracking drive back from NOLA and caused James parents to stay an extra night (icing on the cake for the kids). I was sad to miss all the snow day fun but the grandparents took lots of good pics for me so I could document the occasion properly. 

Team Thinkwell in New Orleans (Jason, Marissa and Ashley)

Thankfully, it was so cold that there was still plenty of ice left over on Saturday for James and I to get in some fun with the kids. It. Was. So. Slick. Dangerously slick. I'm grateful no one broke any bones.

James' job was to keep Emery from crashing into the curb on the opposite side of the street but the ice was so slick that he flipped over Emery in an attempt to grab her and landed flat on his back. I am so sad that I didn't get the full wipeout on video. 

And if a couple snow days wasn't enough, we got another big snow the following Monday night and the kids were out of school another couple of days. This was beautiful white fluffy snow. No ice! We enjoyed many hours of outdoor play and some snow ice cream too. 

It was 11 degrees, so we had to cover up as much skin as possible. Colder here than in Russia. 

Caroline, Tyler, Emery and CAse