"Skating"

**Monday = Report ab minutes day! I'll post current standings tomorrow.

On the evening of the first snowfall of the year, our preschooler rounded up the family for a post-dinner "skate" through the neighborhood. (This was after a morning in which we'd sledded, made snow angels, smashed snow balls into trees, and completely trampled every inch of snow in our yard by 9 a.m.) I'm not a big fan of cold, in general, but it turned out to be exhilerating (especially when we got to stop at the bakery. "Everyone's so sparkly after it snows!" the server gushed. We were feeling so sparkly ourselves we didn't mind.)

The "skating" involves wearing footwear with as little traction as possible, running full speed, and then sliding on the skim of frost as far as possible. Turns out the baby loved the stroller version ... her giggles melted my grinchiness, anyway.